Organizational BEHAVIOR M C SHANEV ON GLINOW 1 © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc Irwin/ McGraw-Hill Perception and Personality in Organizations 6 C H A P T E R S I X

Organizational BEHAVIOR M C SHANEV ON GLINOW 2 © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc Irwin/ McGraw-Hill Perception Process of selecting, organizing, interpretation, and storage of sensory data to give it meaning We don’t operate in the objective reality because all of our realities merely our own personal realities Individuals see what is important to them: –if you are hungry you are more likely to notice food, etc.

Organizational BEHAVIOR M C SHANEV ON GLINOW 3 © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc Irwin/ McGraw-Hill Emotions and Behaviors Organization and Interpretation Selective Attention Perceptual Process Model Feeling Hearing Seeing Smelling Tasting Environmental Stimuli

Organizational BEHAVIOR M C SHANEV ON GLINOW 4 © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc Irwin/ McGraw-Hill Gestalts - born in universal organization tools Perceptual Defense - subconciously screening out threatening information Perceptual Grouping - placing people and objects into groups Perceptual closure - filling in missing data Mental Models - broad theories that help us operate in our world Figure and ground - figure is the dominant feature, ground is surrounding stimuli

Organizational BEHAVIOR M C SHANEV ON GLINOW 5 © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc Irwin/ McGraw-Hill Selective Attention Characteristics of the object –size, intensity, motion, repetition, novelty Perceptual context Characteristics of the perceiver –attitudes –perceptual defense –expectations -- condition us to expect events

Organizational BEHAVIOR M C SHANEV ON GLINOW 6 © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc Irwin/ McGraw-Hill Splatter Vision Perception Fighter pilots, secret service agents, and bird watchers use splatter vision -- scanning everything and focusing on nothing. This reduces the chance of screening out potentially important information.

Organizational BEHAVIOR M C SHANEV ON GLINOW 7 © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc Irwin/ McGraw-Hill An Individual’s Social Identity ACMEWidgetEmployee Social Identity Theory Live in the United States U. of Vermont Graduate Employees at other firms People living in other countries Graduates from other schools

Organizational BEHAVIOR M C SHANEV ON GLINOW 8 © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc Irwin/ McGraw-Hill Social Identity Theory Features Comparative process –define ourselves by differences with others Homogenization process –similar traits within a group; different traits across groups Contrasting process –develop less favorable images of people in groups other than our own

Organizational BEHAVIOR M C SHANEV ON GLINOW 9 © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc Irwin/ McGraw-Hill Professors are absent-minded Our instructor is a professor Our instructor absent-minded The Stereotyping Process Assign category’s traits to the person Assign person to category based on observable info Develop categories and assign traits

Organizational BEHAVIOR M C SHANEV ON GLINOW 10 © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc Irwin/ McGraw-Hill How Accurate are Stereotypes? Some accuracy, some distortion, some error –rarely accurate for everyone in the group –we screen out inconsistent information Stereotypes are less accurate when: –little interaction with people in that group –in conflict with members of that group –stereotypes enhance our own social identity

Organizational BEHAVIOR M C SHANEV ON GLINOW 11 © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc Irwin/ McGraw-Hill Stereotyping and Power Status effects upon stereotyping Those with power are more likely to stereotype those without power –Powerful are less dependent have more things to pay attention to are more free to stereotype Lower status individuals –are more in dependent –sensitive to situations

Organizational BEHAVIOR M C SHANEV ON GLINOW 12 © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc Irwin/ McGraw-Hill Attribution Theory When people observe another’s behavior they use certain criteria to determine whether it fits that person’s general personality or is affected by other factors Subconscious process –Distinctiveness - same person in other situations –Consistency - same person in similar situations over time –Consensus - the figure person versus others

Organizational BEHAVIOR M C SHANEV ON GLINOW 13 © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc Irwin/ McGraw-Hill Attribution Process External Attribution –Perception that outcomes are due to situation or fate rather than the person Internal Attribution –Perception that outcomes are due to motivation/ability rather than situation or fate When do people make each type of attribution? –About our performance? –About others’ performance?

Organizational BEHAVIOR M C SHANEV ON GLINOW 14 © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc Irwin/ McGraw-Hill Rules of Attribution External Attribution FrequentlyConsistent with past Seldom Internal Attribution FrequentlyDistinctive from other situationsSeldom SeldomConsensus (Other people are similar) Frequently

Organizational BEHAVIOR M C SHANEV ON GLINOW 15 © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc Irwin/ McGraw-Hill Attribution Errors Fundamental Attribution Error –attributing own actions to external factors and other’s actions to internal factors Self-Serving Bias –attributing our successes to internal factors and our failures to external factors

Organizational BEHAVIOR M C SHANEV ON GLINOW 16 © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc Irwin/ McGraw-Hill Self-fulfilling prophecy Observer expectations of someone causes that person to act in a way that is consistent with the observer’s expectation Process –expectations formed –behavior toward the subject –effects on the employee opportunities self-efficacy - belief that he or she has the ability, motivation, and situational contingencies to complete a task successfully –employee behavior and performance

Organizational BEHAVIOR M C SHANEV ON GLINOW 17 © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc Irwin/ McGraw-Hill Self-Fulfilling Prophecy Cycle Supervisorformsexpectations Expectations affect supervisor’s behavior Supervisor’s behavior affects employee Employee’s behavior matches expectations

Organizational BEHAVIOR M C SHANEV ON GLINOW 18 © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc Irwin/ McGraw-Hill Other Perceptual Errors Primacy –first impressions Recency –most recent information dominates perceptions Halo –one trait forms a general impression Projection –believing other people are similar to you

Organizational BEHAVIOR M C SHANEV ON GLINOW 19 © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc Irwin/ McGraw-Hill ImprovingPerceptualAccuracy DiversityManagement Empathize With Others PostponeImpressionFormation KnowYourself ComparePerceptions Improving Perceptual Accuracy

Organizational BEHAVIOR M C SHANEV ON GLINOW 20 © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc Irwin/ McGraw-Hill Diversity Management Programs Communicates the value of diversity Increases awareness of perceptual biases Communicates info about cultural differences Doesn’t try to correct deep-rooted prejudice “Next level” moves to deeper understanding and sensitivity

Organizational BEHAVIOR M C SHANEV ON GLINOW 21 © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc Irwin/ McGraw-Hill Known to SelfUnknown to Self Known to Others Unknown to Others OpenAreaBlindArea UnknownArea HiddenArea Know Yourself (Johari Window) OpenAreaBlindArea HiddenAreaUnknownArea

Organizational BEHAVIOR M C SHANEV ON GLINOW 22 © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc Irwin/ McGraw-Hill Defining Personality set of traits and behaviors that characterize an individual relatively stable can change over time or because of major life events learning is important in the development of personality

Organizational BEHAVIOR M C SHANEV ON GLINOW 23 © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc Irwin/ McGraw-Hill Outgoing, talkative Courteous, empathic Caring, dependable Poised, secure Sensitive, flexible Big Five Personality Dimensions Extroversion Agreeableness Conscientiousness Emotional Stability Openness to Experience

Organizational BEHAVIOR M C SHANEV ON GLINOW 24 © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc Irwin/ McGraw-Hill Myers-Briggs Type Indicator Cognitive style - the way an individual percieves and processes information Two ways of seeking information –sensing –intuition Two ways of evaluating information –thinking –feeling

Organizational BEHAVIOR M C SHANEV ON GLINOW 25 © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc Irwin/ McGraw-Hill Four types of problem solvers Sensation Thinkers - bureaucrats concerned with formulating and following rules, persistent and decisive Intuitive Thinkers - innovative developer of ideas, but not great administrators Sensation Feelers - methodological, detailed oriented, like facts but not a great deal of change Intuitive Feelers - charismatic leader that visualizes possibilities

Organizational BEHAVIOR M C SHANEV ON GLINOW 26 © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc Irwin/ McGraw-Hill Other personality traits Locus of control - degree to which people believe that they, rather than external forces, determine their own lives Self-monitoring personality - sensitivity to situational cues, and ability to adapt their behavior to that situation Dogmatism - degree of flexibility or rigidity of a persons views Machiavellianism - extent to which a person manipulates others for personal gain Risk-propensity - willingness to take risks self-esteem - judgement of ones own worth