University of the People

Organizational Theory:
Factors Affecting Perceptions, Attitudes and Behaviors

Organizational Theory (BUS 5113)

 As a US immigrant who has been in the workforce for almost 10 years now, I have

experienced working in all kinds of environments. I have worked with people who were really

good in both work and social interactions, I have worked with the most difficult people, and I

have worked with the worst kinds of managers. All these factors made a huge impact on the way

I perceive people and situations, it improved my attitude towards work, and affected the way I

behave in any business settings. Unfortunately, there are factors that impede us from honing our

perception, attitude, and behavior for the better, and some of these factors that will be discussing

in the next paragraphs are considered to be the most prevalent.

Diversity in the workforce is always coupled with a certain level of stereotype. A

stereotype is defined in the dictionary as “ways of storing genetic information about social

groups (including races, genders, sexual orientation, age-groups, nationalities, professions,

political affiliation, physical or mental ability, and so on) (Amodio, 2014, pp. 670-682).” In an

experiment conducted to show how stereotype affects an individual’s judgment, McGlothlin and

Killen (2006) showed predominantly white elementary school students between 6-10 two sets of

pictures depicting children in ambiguous situations. On each picture, two children, a black and a

white child are by a swing set, with one sitting on the ground frowning while the other is

standing behind the swing with a neutral expression. The difference between the two pictures is

who is sitting and who is standing. For this, two scenarios might be happening: i) the child on the

ground may have been pushed by the child standing up, or, ii) the child on the ground may have

fallen off by accident. When children were asked what might have happened, most of them chose

the first scenario for the black child standing up.

 This only shows how stereotypes start at a very young age and it has grown to be a major

issue in today’s society. Stereotypes, when acted upon or used to influence management

decision-making, become what we call discrimination which can cause serious issues at work in

the sense that it clouds your assessment of a person whom you are working with or supervising.

Stereotypes could serve as either an advantage or a disadvantage depending on the social group

toward which the stereotype is subjected.

Prejudice, on the other hand, is an unfavorable opinion that was formed before having any

evidence and that is not based on reason or experience. While stereotype involves thoughts about

specific types of individuals that are typically exaggerated in nature, prejudice involves feelings

and attitudes about a person or group of people ("Stereotypes and prejudice," n.d.). If we further

analyze the experiment discussed in the preceding paragraphs, we can distinguish stereotype as

the thought that people of color are more inclined to violence, while prejudice as the feeling of

unease, fear, or even anger towards people of color as a result of the stereotype. Work biases are

prevalent in the workforce, and it is not just limited to race. In fact, in a study conducted by Yale

University, they found that both male and female scientists were more likely to hire men and pay

them more than their female counterparts because they view them as more competent (Swart,

2018).

Lastly, there is discrimination. This pertains to negative behavior or actions towards an

individual or group of people especially on the basis of sex, race, social class, to name a few

(McLeod, 2008). When we get hired, this topic is what we always get trained on during
orientations because it is regarded as one of the most important things that employees should

learn how to avoid doing. This is because discrimination is stereotype and prejudice that are

expressed in action. While stereotypes and prejudice are more internal in nature, they don’t

always become an issue unless acted upon. This is consistent with congruency between an

individual’s values and behavior (Pervin, Cervone, & John, 2005) or as Mahatma Gandhi simply

put it, “Your beliefs become your thoughts, your thoughts become your words, your words

become your actions…”

Personally, I have experienced being subjected to all three of these factors at my previous job.

Being of Asian descent, my manager’s expectations of me seemed to be higher than that of my

other non-Asian coworkers because to him, Asians are better in academics which is far from the

truth. Because of that, my job performance was always being criticized for not meeting his

stereotype-based expectations of me. This greatly affected my perception in a way that each time

I had to hand in my work, I would always expect to be criticized because I didn’t fit that

stereotype at all. My attitude got negatively affected as it caused me not to aim for better

knowing that I will never meet my manager’s high expectations. Ultimately, it affected my

behavior as I started projecting bitterness and lack of motivation at work to the point that I

eventually left and searched for a new job. This example may sound extreme, but it is sad to say

that they are not uncommon.

In conclusion, all the factors we discussed negatively affect the perception, attitude, and behavior

of both managers and workers in the workplace. They are traits unbecoming of a workplace and
they cause conflicts and disagreements no matter where they take place. Though these

malpractices are still prevalent everywhere, especially in countries with a much diverse

demographics such as the US, it is the responsibility of all parties involved to implement

measures to significantly prevent, injustices in the workplace. Every organization must invest the

time and effort to educate both managers and employees on how to avoid these negative traits

and develop standards of professional behavior in the workplace.

References

Amodio, D. M. (2014). The neuroscience of prejudice and stereotyping. Nature Reviews

Neuroscience, 15(10), 670-682. doi:10.1038/nrn3800

Dotsch, R. (2008, November 25). Prejudice Affects Perception of Ethnic Minority Faces.

Retrieved from https://www.psychologicalscience.org/news/releases/prejudice-affects-

perception-of-ethnic-minority-faces.html

McGlothlin, H., & Killen, M. (2010). How social experience is related to children's intergroup

attitudes. European Journal of Social Psychology, 40(4), 625-634. doi:10.1002/ejsp.733

Stereotypes and prejudice. (n.d.). Retrieved from

https://genderequality.gov.ky/resources/stereotypes-and-prejudice
Westra, E. (2017, March 1). How stereotypes shape our perceptions of other minds. Retrieved

from https://icog.group.shef.ac.uk/how-stereotypes-shape-our-perceptions-of-other-

minds/

Swart, T. (2018, May 21). 5 Facts About Prejudice At Work. Retrieved from

https://www.forbes.com/sites/taraswart/2018/05/21/prejudice-at-work/#43ab492c11c1

Pervin, L. A., Cervone, D., & John, O. P. (2005). Personality: theory and research. Hoboken, NJ:

John Wiley & Sons.

McLeod, S. A. (2018, May 21). Attitudes and behavior. Simply psychology. Retrieved from

https://www.simplypsychology.org/attitudes.html