“a nitude and Value (Module 3) Module 3 PERCEPTION, ATTITUDE AND VALUE PERCEPTION 1, Meaning and Definition of Perception ception refers to the stimuli that our senses gain from the surrounding. However, it includes the entare ess of analysing the environmental stimuli and deciding the actions to be taken accordingly Perceprual ss helps people to gain insight about those components of the environment that arc crucial for thest ence. Perception comprises of five senses which are touch, smell, taste, sipht ‘and swund Further, des cognitive processes that are needed to derive information like detecting {he face or recognising the of a person. e eption is the mechanism which enables a person to understand and orgafifieshis thoughts aad ideas ining to his environment, This complex psychological process’ thight not be thé, same for ‘wo differeat bons. Behaviour of a person depends on how he perceives reality rather than what the realicy actually is ice, perception is an important factor in an organisational setup. In an organisation. people respond ording to their perception about the facf rather than the actual fact. As a result, the judgement might not be tral ording to S.P. Robbins, “Perception may be defined as a process by which individuals organise and pret their sensory impressions in order to give meaning to their environment” ording to Joseph Reitz, “Perception includes all those processes by which an individual receives brmation about his environment - seeing, hearing, feeling, tasting, and smelling” fording to Kolasa, “Perception is selection and organisation of material which stems from the outside ironment at one time or the other to provide the meaningful entity we experience”. .2, Nature of Perception lure of perception is as follows: Nature of Perception Intellectual Process ological Process Subjective Process Lens Providing Worldview * Gately tntvenced ‘| ‘Socially Connected Lee Self- Fulfilling Intellectual Process: Perception involves selection, organisation and analysis of data from surroundings to gain some viewpoints. Herice, itis an intellectual process2 MMS First Semester (Organisational Behaviour) 1O\ 2) Paychological Process: Perception is based on the psychology of individuals. Hence, it can be said thy how 1 person acts, thinks or fels is influenced by the percepgion of his environment, 4 =| 3) Subjective Process: Two or more persons might obsérve the same event in a different mafner, This depends on their ability to choose what to understand, how to classify the information collected ang analysis of the event. Thus, perception is a subjective process. 4) Lens Providing Worldview: Perception acts as a lens because it equips a person with a viewpoint abou his surroundings and its reality. 5) Socially Connected: Every individual needs to understand the nature of other person every now and then because mind-set of an individual keeps on changing with time. Hence, itis said that perception is socially connected. 6) Culturally Influenced: Views of people can be influenced by their cultural values about the world. For example, people belonging to different cultures speak different languages. 7) Self-Pulfilling: When we talk about a person's perception, both the perceiver and the perceived, make the ‘enario more complex. For example, during hard times, people believe that present situation is bad and it ‘will become worse in the days to come. Hence, they start behaving selfishly. They just focus on protecting themselves and their families. 3.1.3. Importance of Perception Perception is important due to following reasons: 1) Helps in Understanding Human Behaviour: Every individual observes the world in a different way and deals with the problems differently. An object might not be perceived in the same manner as it really is. If a person purchases fruits from a particular vendor it is not due to the fact that vendor is selling the best fruits In the whole market but because the person perceives him to be doing so. It is due to the perception, that a job, which one person finds suitable and satisfying, might not appear as good to the other. Thus, perception plays an important role in understanding human behaviour. 2) Helps in Forecasting Behaviour: Different individuals behave differently when facing the same situation as they view the same situation differently. A person's behaviour can be predicted by understanding his current situation and current perception about the environment, 3) Facilitates Needs Determination: A person's perception is influenced by his needs. Hence, by, understanding the perception of a person about a certain situation, his needs can also be understood. Fé example, mirrors in an amusement park show different images of same object. 4) Assists in Handling Subordinates Effectively: If a manager wants to be effective and intends to avoi mistakes in the work environment, he needs to understand the perception of his employees. This would him in predicting the behaviour of employees as he would be aware of their viewpoints. 3.1.4. Components of Perception Human body has five sensory organs, i.e., eyes, nose, skin, tongue, and ears. Various actions, communicati (verbal or written), taste, smell, physical contact with people or objects stimulate these sensory organs. human being pays attention and identifies these stimuli, the process of perception begins. The messages are Converted into action and then behaviour. Following are the components of perception: 1) Stimuli: Stimulus means receiving information whose outcome is sensation. The senses and stimulation influence an individual's behaviour and knowledge. Apart from the physical senses like touching, hearing, tasting, and smelling; individuals possess gut feeling and intuitions known as sixth ‘A wide range of stimuli, such as feelings, information, action, consideration, etc., affect these senses. 2) Attention: Individuals do not pay attention to all the stimuli. Only few are attended by them and ignored based on individual's acceptance ability and stimuli's intensity. The recipient of the message the attention process gets indulged in analysing the stimuli and both his neural and sensory mec affected. The attention process is an important part in an organisation as it teaches them to behave or ina specific manner.MMS Fist Semester (Organisational Behavior) Uy P aentecsm and Turnover: Absence and tumover are some of the reactions to the individu Abeenton Managers most understand how each individual interprets his job and where thre i 7 Persiicant difference between what is seen and what exists and try to eliminate the distortions. Fail - geal with the differences when individuals perceive the job in negative terms will result in lecient absenteeism and turnover. 3) Job Satistuction: This isa highly sbjetiv, and felng ofthe benefits that derive from the job. Cleary elias thee critically inked to perception. If job satisfaction is to be improved, the worker's Perception job characteristics, supervision and the organisation as a whole must be positive. S2h Meaning and Definition of Attitude tude refers to the feeling and behaviour of an individual towards any object oF situation. Behaviour is of two paaat ice., positive or negative, which can be identified by observing the ‘gotions of an individual. The proper inctioning of an individual can be easily determined either by his behaviour or by his personality. Thus, it can i said that an attitude refers to outlook or point of view of a person regarding any object. In simple words, ' inking, feeling and reaction ofan individual towards various aspects of environment is known a8 his attitude, tude of an individual. With experience, an individual thers with his attitude and how he must react to both make his own viewpoint correct in fron. ‘him, thereby giving him a specific ty of a manager, he must be ‘he must know the attitude Experience plays a very crucial role in defining the atti becomes mentally prepared that how he can influence o! \ certain as well as uncertain circumstances. By this, he not only tries to | of others, but also develops a social relationship with other people around identification, For example, if an individual is performing the job responsibil aware thatthe attitude of a person has a great influence on his performance and thus, of his subordinate well in advance. s. The attitude of an individual not only thers. That is why most of the managers trategic changes of the Today, attitude has become the demand of most of the organisation influences one’s own performance bat also affects the behaviour of o! fare facing severe challenges in coordinating the attitudinal changes with the st organisation. ‘According to Bem, “Attitudes are likes and dislikes”. According to Allport, “Attitude is learned predispositions to respond to an object or class of object ina consistently favourable or unfavourable way”. age, “Attudes are an overall evaluation that allows one to respond in a consistently favourable According to ‘manner with respect to a given object or alternative”. or unfavourable 3.2.2. Characteristics of Attitude Characteristics of attitude include the following: 1) Attitudes have an Object: Attitude should be focused to some objective, ie», must be purposeful. The “abjective’ toe focused can ether be a single person or a social group, a physical object of 8 product or weet to be focussed can either be intangible item, such as “moral behaviour” or & even an action. The obj concrete item, such asa car If there is no focal point, an atitude of an individual cannot be acknowledged. Degree and Intensity: Feelings that an individual expresses by his attitude 2) Attitudes have Direction, as follows: i) Direction: Attitude dete object or against it. ii) Degree: The extent to which an individual isin favour or against the object. iii) Intensity: Degree and intensity are related to each other, but they are not identical. Intensity how strongly and confidently an individual is able to express his viewpoint about the particular mines the orientation of an individual, i¢., whether he is in favour of th or situation.TT tins AN a Value Maule) a” 4) Aititudlen have Strvctiees Ay Ania area ee inet WAY OF exhibiting an organisation, Attitudes are very important senmétinie they are silent and wometine ttl fella. Sometimes these attitudes are firm nnd specific. Tay’ The centr of thin toy deplete ns RY Ae universal in nature, Homan antvade 18 jet like a "Tinker ih far away from the centre 1) AtiuNles are Leneweds Atay on one's life ireepoctve ei " levelop trom experience, fe, they are learnt. Attitude has a great impact influenwed by his family members 4: Especially, in the childhood, the aitude of a child is greatly {amily towards « business and they jC Continues tl the entire life: For example, « positive atitude of & Niele negative aitude toward a servic wil be tranemited tothe child as well 32.3. Components of Attitude major compamente Of aide are as follows 1) Cognitive Cony 1 ' oapeel In ideale wong’ ie Cognitive component means the actual knowledge of an individual about an 8» cognitive component. For wasp: ett” fE8arding any situation or any person or any topic is known bout computers and its related aide 2 cognitive component of a computer operator is his knowledge 2) Mfective C . ) o ca te ‘ ieee Tone Components of human attitude that reflect one’s feeling of contentment, sadness, individual responds emai cg(, Se kHoWn as affective components. In other words, i is a way in which an HMpUler Operator ee lly towards an objector an individual, For example, an affective component of & Smpule® operator isthe amount of interes or degre ofexchement be has while working on computers 3) Behavioural Component: Behay ‘our of an individual towards an object is known as a behavioural component of his attitude, For example, a behavioural component of computer operator is based on his, experience with the computers and how much he has worked en it Hare the individual is computer freely, more positive attitude he would have towards the POPWES ror or tS POPU UTE OF MANAGEMEN ‘can be said that all these components are interrelated and pri idnisensiecenmnor oe mental structure for the construction of attitude. BIsak UBrary ZEQ 2S 3.2.4, Types of Attitude Sate ‘he employee's positive and negative thinking regarding his job and working environment is known as work- related attitude. According to behavioural scientists, there are three types of work-related attitudes: |) Job Satisfaction: Most of the people fee! that job satisfaction and attitude of an employee are synonymous. But, actually they are closely related to each other. The job satisfaction of an employee determines the ttitude of that employee towards his job. For example, an employce who is highly contented with his job will have « positive attitude towards his job, superiors, and fellow workers, He will be punctual and regular, which will increase his performance as well. On the other hand, an individual who is not contented with his job will surely have undesirable attitude towards his job as well as the organisation. He will remain absent frequently, which will adversely affect his performance, Methods Used for Measuring Job Satisfaction Job satisfaction can be measured by using various methods. Some of them are as follows: i) Survey: Most of the organisations use survey method to determine the job satisfaction of an individual in the field of compensation, promotion, management, performance and working environment. These surveys are classified into two categories, .c, standard surveys and customised surveys. Surveys readily available for the organisations are known as standardised surveys. However, organisations prefer customised surveys 1s they are conducted as per organisation's own requirement and hence are more effective. ii) Interviews Another way by which an organisation can measure the work satisfaction of the employees and can also improvise its relationship with its employees is interview method. Unlike survey methods, organisations using interview methods are able to understand the problems more easily as they are available in a more refined manner and are able to receive honest responses from the employees, But this can happen only if the employees have faith in the organisation and its management. ‘Targets: Under this method of measuring job satisfaction, organisation - elas eset various agpects that contribute to the satisfaction of an employee. In this method,MIMS frst Semester (Onganteational Hohaviour) Lig the performance of an employee is monitored in the form of promotions, bonue tweelved hy 4 ‘employee, his participation in various organisational programmes and the effort applied by Ney i org {0 achieve organisational goals, However, combining this method with xurvey and interview metho SAN Prove to be more effective in analysing the major cause of low job aatiatuction af the omploy Though, the information provided by this method is not direct, but atleast (Fwlarins the organinat regarding various job satisfaction related problems. 2) Job InvotvemenvEngagement: ‘The engagement of an employee in his present Job alko determine hg attitode of an employee. It is obvious that if an employee is cognitively occupied In @ Job, then, fe In satisfy with his job, depicting low absenteeism and positive attitude, More the people are concerned about theig Present job, more positive attitude they build up towards their work. Individuals having high job involvemeng level are very specific about the job they are performing and try to give out their best performance, Besides estimating the absenteeism rate, evel of work engagement also determines the rate of tmover tha may decrease if the employee is satisfied with his job. However, this turnover may inerease if the employes. is dissatisfied. Thus, it can be said that job involvement not only creates a positive attitude of an employog towards his job, but is also important for motivating and satisfying the employees. 3) Organisational Commitment: Organisational cc another important job-related attitude that Teveals the behaviour of an employee. Organisational commitment helps an employee to. maintain his relationship with the organisation for a longer duration and prioritise the organisational goals. The employes having the attitude of organisational commitment are generally proud of being part of that organisation and are identified by the organisation under which they are working and the goals for which they are working, It is generally said that organisational commitment is a good indicator of estimating the tumover rate ag compared to other commonly used forecasters. Employee's commitment towards the organisation reduces the absenteeism and tumover rate. It is not compulsory that the employee who has high job involvement | will always remain committed towards the company and the one who is committed towards the organisation will be highly involved in his job. But once an employee becomes dissatisfied with his organisation, it | finally results in resignation of that employee. S CSN 3.2.5. Sources of Attitude ‘The feelings, tendencies, emotions, etc., are developed over a period of time under the attitude formation Process. Following are the sources from where attitude is learned or acquired: 1) Direct Personal Experiences: Attitudes are formed through direct contact with an attitude object. When a Person starts working for an organisation, he develops an attitude towards desired job, salary, working environment, and administration. Attitudes towards job design, groups, appraisals, management competencies, and affiliation are also developed. Attitudes such as determination, commitments, loyalty, etc., and the differences between them are influenced by the prior work experience. These differences are considered by many managers worldwide. 2) Association: The associations and groups of which the individual is a part are a major source of attitu The impact on attitudes is higher, if the association is nearer. The demographic, geographic, physiological features of individuals also influence attitudes. 3) Social Learning: Sources of social learning are as follows: i) Family: Family members like mother, father, siblings, etc., influence an indi The early attitude patterns of an individual are a result of this primary group, ii) Peer Groups and Society: The approvals from an adult's peer-groups play a major role in shaping attitude. The judgements of others determine an individual's image and desire to seek appro Affiliation to a religion or society is another source of attitude formation. iii) Models: An individual develops certain attitudes by following or imitating a model. He notices behaviours of someone and tries to inculcate that behaviour in him as an attitude or belief. 'v) Institutional Factors: The institutional factors are generally the religious factors, which act as a so of attitude. Watching people to pray irrespective of their religions imbibes a religious belief or atti ; in an individual,