Perception
Lecturer
RANA M. NADEEM
What is Perception?
Perception is our sensory experience of the world around us. It refers to the
interpretation of what we take in through our senses.
1. It involves both the recognition of environmental stimuli and actions in
response to these stimuli.
2. We gain information about properties and elements of the environment that
are critical to our survival.
Perception
The point is that none of us sees reality. We interpret what we
see and call it reality. And, of course, we behave according to
our perception.
Perception
Factors influencing perception:
These factors can be in:
The perceiver: attitude, personality, experience, intents,
expectations, interests.
The target: louder people get noticed, attractive people vs non
attractive people, colour
The situation or context: time, location, light, heat,
Perception
• Attribution Theory:
Attribution theory explains how we judge people differently
depending on the meaning we attribute to a given behaviour.
Basically, the theory suggests that when we observe an
individual’s behavior, we attempt to determine whether it was
internally or externally caused. Internally caused behaviors are
those that are believed to be under the personal control of the
individual. Externally caused behavior results from outside
factors; that is, the person is forced into the behavior by the
situation.
Perception
The determination, however, depends on three factors:
distinctiveness, consensus, and consistency.
Distinctiveness: Whether behaviour is usual( coming late daily) or
unusual (being late occasionally), this is called distinctiveness,
• Consensus: (faced with similar situation, do people behave in the
similar way or not).E.g. the other persons who took the same route
were also reached at workplace late.
• Consistency ( in a person’s action) e.g. Always coming late.
Perception
Fundamental attribution error:
• Whenever we perform badly, we blame externally.
• When I perform well, I take the credit.
• Success is attributed to internal while failure is attributed to
external factors also called self-serving bias.
Perception
Shortcuts (Errors)of perception:
o Selectivity:
“speed read” others
We should not become over selective
o Assumed similarity
“like me” effect
Understand that people are inherently different
o Stereotyping
judging someone on the basis of someone’s group.
e.g. “married people are stable employees”
Perception
Halo effect
When we form a general impression about a person on the
basis of a single characteristic, such as intelligence, or
appearance, we influenced by the halo effect.
Specific application in organizations
Employment interview
Performance Expectations - Self-fulfilling prophecy (Pygmalion Effect)
Expectations become reality. The terms self-fulfilling prophecy and Pygmalion effect
describe how an individual’s behavior is determined by others’ expectations.
E.g. If a manager expects big things from her people, they’re not likely to let her down.
Ethnic Profiling – Is it right to profile employees?
Performance Evaluations