Organizational Behaviour The Individual: Perceptions, Attributions, and Behaviour

Perception The process of interpreting messages of our senses to provide order and meaning to the environment helps to sort out and organize input helps to interpret

Perception: What is perceived? Selective attention is a function of : The characteristics of the perceiver (e.g. past experiences, motivational state, emotional state) Perceptual Defense - We protect ourselves against threatening information The characteristics of the target (salience) ambiguity The characteristics of the situation (salience)

Bruner’s Perceptual Process Model In unfamiliar situations cues are used to categorize the target.

Once initial perceptions are created: Selective: ignore other available cues Constancy: tend to perceive the target in the same way over time and across situations (initial impressions) Consistency: tend to select, ignore and distort cues so to create a homogeneous picture

Perceptual Biases Reliance on Central Traits: personal characteristics Implicit Personality Theory: which personality characteristics go together Primacy and Recency: early memory and recent memory Projection: assume others are like ourselves Stereotyping: assume characteristics by virtue of the category that they fall into

Social Identity Theory and Diversity Perceptions How we define ourselves Using a continuum from personal identity to social identity People adopt degrees of personal and social identity to define themselves depending upon the situation (what is salient) Explains how we categorize/perceive others We compare > define ourselves according to our differences We homogenize > define others according to their group/category (e.g. race, culture, gender)

Question While dancing, Ralph trips over Joan’s feet. Ralph trips over almost all other girl’s feet. Ralph almost always trips over Joan’s feet. Almost everyone else trips over Joan’s feet. Whose fault is it: Ralph’s? Joan’s? The circumstances? How likely is Ralph to trip on an icy sidewalk?

Smith, Jones, and Kelly were absent from work today Smith, Jones, and Kelly were absent from work today. To what do you attribute the cause? Smith is absent a lot, his peers are seldom absent, and he was absent a lot in his previous job. Jones is absent a lot, her peers are also absent a lot, but she was almost never absent in her previous job. Kelley is seldom absent, his co-workers are seldom absent, and he was seldom absent in his previous job.

Attribution Theory If target responds in X fashion to situation A… …3 information types are used to attribute the cause: Distinctiveness information: occur across a variety of situations (does target respond in X fashion generally or only in situation A) Consistency information: occur regularly (does target respond in X fashion at all times or only occasionally). Consensus information: act the same as the majority of people (Do most others respond in X fashion). (used or underused???) Attribution of cause will depend on the answers (what are our choices?).

Attribution Consistency Consensus Distinctiveness Likely Attribution Smith High Low Low Disposition Jones High High High Situation Kelley Low High Low Temporary Situation

Attribution Biases Fundamental Attribution Error: Tendency to underestimate situational factors & overestimate dispositional factors in controlling behaviour Self-Serving Bias: Tendency to attribute success to your own efforts, ability, & character, and to attribute failure to external factors such as luck, task difficulty, etc. Actor-Observer Effect: Tendency to be more sensitive to the situational events that effect your behaviour while others will be more likely to make dispositional attributions

Self-Fulfilling Prophecy When our expectations about another person cause that person to act in a way that is consistent with our expectations. Steps: Expectations formed about future performance Behaviour toward the person is consistent with our expectations Effects are produced on the person’s beliefs (self-efficacy), motivations and performance Behaviour fulfills expectations and reinforces original perceptions