Organizational
Behaviour – Perception
[Link]
Department of Liberal Arts
Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad
Outline
´ Defining Perception
´ Basic elements of perception
´ Principles of Perceptual Selection
´ Perceptual Organization
´ Social Perception
´ Perceptual Biases
´ Implication to HRM
What is perception?
´ Process of giving meaning to sensory stimulus through
organizing and interpreting.
´ It is how we ‘see’ things.
´ Perception is an individual’s view of reality.
´ It is highly subjective.
´ Role of perceptions at work place?
Basic elements of
perception
´ Selection and screening of information
´ Organization of stimuli
´ Sub-processes of perception
´ Stimulus
´ Registration
´ Interpretation
´ Feedback
´ Consequence (the response)
Principles of perceptual
selection
´ How we select the stimulus?
´ External and internal factors.
´ External factors
´ Intensity
´ Size
´ Contrast
´ Repetition
´ Motion
´ Novelty and familiarity
Principles of perceptual
selection
´ Internal factors
´ Habit
´ Motivation and interest
´ Learning
´ Organizational role and specialization
Perceptual organization
´ Grouping
´ Closure
´ Figure-ground
´ Perceptual constancy
Perceptual grouping
Perceptual closure
Figure-ground
Perceptual constancy
Optical illusions
Social Perception
´ The process of combining, integrating and interpreting
information about others to gain an accurate
understanding of them.
´ Attribution: the process through which individuals
attempt to determine the causes behind others’
behaviour.
Social Identity
´ Personal identity: The characteristics that define a
particular individual.
´ Social identity: defining a person in the context of
his/her membership in various social groups.
´ Social identity theory: we perceive ourselves and
others based on both our unique characteristics
(personal identity) and our membership in various
groups (social identity).
The Attribution Process
´ Internal Vs External causes
´ Kelley’s theory of causal attribution:
´ Consensus: the extent to which other people behave in
the same manner as the person we are judging.
´ Consistency: how consistently the person exhibits the
behaviour in similar context.
´ Distinctiveness: the extent to which a person behaves in
the same manner in other contexts.
Attribution of Cause
´ Low Consensus, Low Distinctiveness, High Consistency
= Personal Attribution
´ High Consensus, High Distinctiveness, High Consistency
= Stimulus Attribution
´ High Consensus, Low Distinctiveness, Low Consistency
= Circumstance Attribution
Perceptual Biases in Social
Perception
´ Fundamental attribution error: the tendency to
attribute other’s action to internal causes while largely
ignoring external factors.
´ Halo effect: overall impressions of others affecting
specific judgments.
´ Team halo effect: the tendency for people to credit
teams for their successes but not hold to them
accountable for their failures.
Perceptual Biases in Social
Perception….
´ Similar-to-me effect: perceiving people who are similar
to us in positive light.
´ Selective perception: the tendency to focus on some
aspects of the environment while ignoring others.
´ First-impression error
Halo effect
Power of Perception
´ Self-fulfilling prophecy
´ Pygmalion effect
´ Golem effect
Job stereotypes
Stereotyping
´ A belief that all members of specific groups share
similar traits and are prone to behave the same way.
´ Negative impact:
´ Selective perception
´ Bias and prejudice
Some implications for HR
´ Impression management techniques
´ Bias and stereotyping during selection and appraisal
Stethoscope
Sewing machine
