(A) TARGET

It is what the perceiver sees or observes and tries to analyze, interpret and form
impressions. In other words in grammatical language “the object”.

( C) SITUATION

The third aspect which influences perception, is the various situations, the
predicates under which the process takes place.

When the PERCEIVER observes the object his/her interpretation is heavily

influenced by his/her personality traits, value systems, attitudes, motives,
interests, background, experience and expectations in short the colour of the
glasses which the person wears.

Perception is also influenced by the characteristics of the target, which the

perceiver is considering. They may be the size of the target, sounds,
movements, familiarly, similarity, proximity, background or the angle of view of
the target available to the perceiver at any point of time and so on. To cite an
example a girl wearing trousers and T-shirts, from a distance may appear to be a
boy. Similarly a Sikh gentleman drying his hair on a Sunday morning may
appear to be a woman from a certain angle.

Situation also affects perception to a great extent. The factors involved in a

situation may be time work setting social setting etc. For example a girl going
along to the college at 9 a.m.may not evoke any interest in the perceiver. But the
same girl moving along in the night say at 9 p.m may evoke considerable interest
in the same perceiver. Similarly a person coming out of a bar and meeting with
an accident on the streets in front of the bar will cause many eyebrows to rise
among the on lookers. In actual fact the person may have just gone into the bar
only to pass on some urgent message to his uncle working inside. The mishap
outside was only a coincidental accident , which can happen to any normal
person.

ANIMATE Vs INANIMATE OBJECTS :

In nature we perceive both animate and inanimate objects. They both become the
targets of a perceiver’s observations leading to various impressions under different
situations, inanimate targets are within the rates o f nature but do not have any life of its
own, as we know it . But a perceiver by the very sense of the term ‘implies a life of its
own” having internal facilities in addition to external appearances. Therefore, a
perceiver is influenced not only by his/her physical presence and positions but also by
internal causations as discussed earlier. Situations are neutral and affect both animate
and inanimate targets equally. Human innovations namely cameras, video systems etc.
also observe targets both animate and inanimate and are equally affected by various
factors. But they are programmed and guided in human beings and so they may be
considered only as adjuncts and tools facilitating human observations.

When a perceiver observes inanimate targets his perception is influence by only

external factors, as they do not have separate behavior of their own, other than caused
by natural physical laws. But when the same perceiver sees animate targets they are
confronted by external as well as internal factors in the shape of separate behavior
pattern which profoundly influence the perception of the perceiver. Thus the perception
formed by a perceiver about another individual is influenced not only by the physical
and personal characteristics of the perceiver but also the behavior patterns of the target.
This is further affected by the physical characteristics of the target along with the
situations in which it is placed. Since perceptions are influenced by the behavior pattern
of the target they lead to the Attribution Theory, which determines how behavior
influences perception. From time immemorial certain natural physical attributes of
inanimate objects have caused awe fear and devotion towards such objects in the
minds of people. Many religions attribute divinity to natural phenomena such as fire
wind lightning and objects like sun, moon and planets as well as lower order animals
like snakes, elephants, rats and so on.

PERCEIVER
PERSONALITY TRAITS MOTIVES
INTERESTS, EXPERIENCE
EXPECTATIONS VALUE SYSTEMS
SITUATION
TIME
WORK SETTING PERCEPTION
SOCIAL SETTING
TARGETS/OBJECTS
NOVELTY,MOTION
SOUNDS SIZE
BACKGROUND
PROXIMITY
SIMILARITY
FAMILIARITY

ATTRIBUTION THEORY

This theory attributes two sets of reasons for the behavior pattern of individuals.

i) Behaviour caused by external factors, which are mostly beyond the control of
individuals.
 ii) Behaviour caused by internal factors, which are under the control of the
individuals. It is obvious that inanimate targets do not have any behaviours of
their own and hence these factors are irrelevant in their case.

Individuals are assessed and specific opinions about them are formed as part
of the perceiver’s perception based on their behavior resulting from internal
factors. For example a person is perceived as good, bad, lazy, hard working
etc. depending on whether his or her behavior is caused by external factors or
his/her intrinsic values. An individuals negative behavior is mitigated to a very
great extent if the same is caused by factors beyond his control. Similarly a
person’s success stones are devalued to a great extent if they are caused by
external factors and not by his own intrinsic values or efforts. In such cases
we may attribute his achievements to luck or to favourable circumstances etc.
For eg. When student comes late to the class it may be due to external
factors such as a traffic jam on road beyond the person’s control or internal
factors indicating a causal nature or intrinsic laziness.

There are three factors which determine whether a behavior is caused by

external or internal reasons.

(I) Distinctiveness:

A particular behavior is distinct if it stands out as an unexpected occurrence

happening as an odd behavior. Then, the perception would be that it is
caused by external factors. On the other hand if the behavior is usual or quite
expected and not of a distinct nature then we presume that it is caused by
internal reasons. To quote the earlier example if a student comes late to the
class only one day his/her lateness may be attributed to some unexpected
external factors.

(ii) Consensus

If everyone in a group, who is faced with a similar situation responds in an

identical fashion, the behavior show consensus. The we presume the
causation is external and is justifiable. On the contrary, if the majority is
behaving in a particular fashion and a minority goes opposite, internal reasons
are attributed to the behavior of the few. Democracy is the rule of the majority
and their behavior is considered to be virtuous resulting the happiness of the
greatest number. The aunonty who disagrees is often stamped as recalcitrant
acting against common interest.
 (iii) Consistency

Consistency indicates whether the behavior of a particular target is habitual or

not. It is said one swallow does not make a summer. If the student
mentioned above comes late only once in a while then the causes are
considered external and he or she is let off. But if his or her late coming is
habitual, then the person is accused of as undisciplined or lazy etc.

FUNDAMENTAL ATTRIBUTION ERROR

The attribution theory appears to be quite logical falling in line with our general
experiences. But there is the possibility of errors and bases that control our attributions.
While forming perceptions about others the perceivers show a tendency to under
estimate external factors and over attribute internal or personal factors in assessing the
behavior of others. For example if somebody makes a mistake our tendency is to
attribute it to the carelessness, casualness and so on of the individual without
examining any possible reasons beyond his or her control. In the examples of the
student, his or her late coming more often than not, is immediately attributed to his or
her laziness. If somebody else’s child does any mischief we call the child nasty, where
as ones own child behaving the same way he or she is indulging in sweet childish
pranks. The above is called fundamental attribution error.

SELF SERVING BIAS

Individuals attribute own success to internal factors such as ability or efforts. On the
other hand the same persons when they assess own failures often attribute them to
external factors such as bad luck non-cooperation of co-workers etc.

These biases and errors are universal with some attitudinal differences between
cultures say between oriental and occidental cultures.

SELECTIVE PERCEPTION :

Because of the tediousness of choosing correct characteristics out of several choices to

base our conclusions we often become selective. Thus we perceive and select
characteristics that may be easily observed or identified in a person object or event just
as mariners select the brightest star in night sky as their guide or a car driver marking
the tallest building around as the landmark. It is true that we tend to notice easily and
take into consideration account things in which we have a vested interest i.e we see
only what we want to see. Moreover people interpret what they see on the basis of their
interest background, past experience attitudes value systems. It is just like an young
man very close to his mother tends to look for the qualities which he adores in his
mother in his future bride also.

Halo Effect
The common practice of forming general impressions about an individual on the basis of
a single characteristic, which the perceiver is fond of is called halo effect. For example
– Ramesh an young executive in the office who is a good singer has impressed his
boss. The boss creates an Halo around Ramesh in way that he automatically
concludes Ramesh to be as efficient in his work field also.

Stereotyping/Generalization

The practice of judging some one on the basis of ones perception of the group to which
that person belongs stereotyping. Generalization people into straight jacket behavior
patterns based on their castes ignoring general human nature is very popular in our
country. Thus Marwaries are usually categorized as money minded and only for trading
often using dishonest means. Several generalizations such as fat men are good
natured lean people are mean or people with broad foreheads are intelligent etc.
abound such perceptions are all over the world covering all nationalities. In Great Britan
Scottish people are considered to be miserly to quote only one as an illustration.

Contrast Effects

Persons are evaluated on the basis of comparisons with other people recently
encountered whose qualities may higher or lower on similar criterion. This often
happens during interviews or evaluation of examination answer books. While assessing
the performance of the student immediately following a brilliant answer paper may
adversely affect his/her marks. This can happen vice-versa also.

Effect of Recent Incidents :

A recent incident may help or jeopardize the assessment of a person irrespective of

his/her past performance however good or bad it may be.

Projection

Perceivers tend to project their own attitude beliefs principles, value systems, behavior
patterns etc. to the targets and perceive their accordingly. For example, an honest and
trustworthy person may tend to blindly trust all others with whom he comes into contact.
Similarly a suspicious or corrupt person may believe that other are also corrupt like him
and treat everybody else with suspicion.

Implications of perception patterns on Organization Behaviour

(i) Employment Interveiws :

Interviews are based on perceptional judgments. Therefore, all the above
shortcuts used in perception formation such as selective perception halo
effect, contrast, projection and stereotyping etc come into full play in
employment interviews making them highly subjective.
(ii) Performance Evaluation
Performance evaluation is very crucial in an organization as employees future
depends on them. Evaluation may be done objectively and subjectively.
Perceptions come into play in subjective evaluations. But many managers
prefer subjective evaluations as they are easier, flexible and that they are free
to exercise their discretion. As for example a worker may be very good
performance wise, but tends to be argumentative and temperamental. A
subjective assessment gives a leeway for the manager to teach him a lesson
whereas under an objective assessment system this may not be possible.
Moreover many jobs such as clerical, supervisory or even managerial
categories are not amenable to objective

(iii) Reward systems are often distorted when they are based on perceptions
rather than objective evaluations.

(iv) Perception of employee effort and attitude

Dependent on his/her performance alone. Very often an individual’s future in

an organization is not do perceptions about the effort the person is putting in
his/her work, sincerity, loyalty, honesty, commitment etc. also play a part.
Such perceptions are often judgmental subject to ad-hocism, distortions and
biases. Such biases may adversely affect very good performers whose
efforts, commitment etc. are perceived negatively. This effect is often
observed in teacher evaluating students who appear to be sincere
hardworking respectful, regular, disciplined etc. even when they do not
perform well in examinations.

(v) Performance expectations

If the perceiver say a Manager, sincerely expects a subordinate or group of

subordinates to perform well it is quite possible that the targets actually fulfill
his/her expectations. The opposite is also true, it becomes a self-fulfilling
prophecy that the targets behave in ways consistent with the original
perception. The tremendous power of positive thinking is manifested here.

(vi) Employee Profiling

In organizations employees are profiled according to the perceptions of their
caste, religion, linguistic and geographic segmentation and various other
considerations and are treated accordingly. Theory X and Theory Y are
examples of profiling of human being in general. Organizations tend to make
their rules, regulations, systems and procedures etc. in accordance with such
profiling. In India there are some castes, which are considered traditionally
criminal minded prone to thefts and dacoity. There are special rules, checks
and measures to keep a watch on them. When they are taken into
employment there are special procedures for verification of them
antecedents.
Decision Making :

All individuals especially managers and employees at other levels in an organization are
constantly called upon to take decisions as a reaction to problems arising in
organizations or life in general. This is done on the basis of various information data or
facts about the problems or situations, results expected, alternatives available urgency
etc. All these factors are affected by the quality of perception. Therefore perception
have a crucial role to play in the vital area of decision making in organizations as well as
life in general.

CONCLUSION :

Perceptions are very important in organization behavior studies as they influence the
attitudes of people working in organizations at all levels. These attitudes influence, the
behaviour patterns of the employees including the management. As we know well from
experience behavior patterns in organizations decide life success or failure depending
on whether they are favourable or unfavourable.