Dr .

Suvarna Sen
 Organizational Behavior
2
/ Perception
 Organizational Behavior
3
/ Perception
 Gestalt
Approach

Figure

Ground

Organizational Behavior
4
 Organizational Behavior
5
/ Perception
 Word Color Test

In this test DO NOT READ the words,

say aloud the COLOR of each word.

YELLOW BLUE ORANGE

BLACK RED GREEN
PURPLE YELLOW RED
ORANGE GREEN BLACK
BLUE RED PURPLE
GREEN BLUE ORANGE
Organizational Behavior
6
 PERCEPTION
PERCEPTION
 Concept of Perception

Perception
••People’s
People’s behavior
behavior isis
A process by which based
based onon their
their
individuals organize and perception
interpret their sensory perception of of what
what
impressions in order to
reality
reality is,
is, not
not on
on
give meaning to their reality
reality itself.
itself.
environment.
••The
The world
world as as itit isis
perceived
perceived isis the
the
world
world that
that isis
behaviorally
behaviorally
important.
important.
Factors
Factors That
That
Influence
Influence
Perception
Perception
Person Perception: Making Judgments About
Others

Attribution Theory
When individuals observe
behavior, they attempt to
determine whether it is
internally or externally
caused.

Distinctiveness: shows different behaviors in different situations.

Consensus: response is the same as others to same situation.
Consistency: responds in the same way over time.
Attribution Theory
 Perceptual Selectivity

Any characteristics related with a person or an object or an

event that increase the probability of perception.

Perceptual selectivity occurs because it is impossible for us

to assimilate everything we see- only certain stimuli can be
taken in.
 Errors and Biases in Attributions

Fundamental Attribution Error

The tendency to underestimate
the influence of external factors
and overestimate the influence of
internal factors when making
judgements about the behavior of
others.
 Errors and Biases in Attributions
(cont’d)
Self-Serving Bias
The tendency for individuals to
attribute their own successes to
internal factors while putting
the blame for failures on
external factors.
Frequently Used Shortcuts in Judging
Others
Halo Effect
Drawing a general impression
about an individual on the
basis of a single characteristic

Contrast Effects
Evaluation of a person’s characteristics that
are affected by comparisons with other people
recently encountered who rank higher or lower
on the same characteristics.
Frequently Used Shortcuts in Judging
Others
Stereotyping
Projection
Judging someone on the
Attributing one’s own
basis of one’s perception of
characteristics to other
the group to which that
people.
person belongs.
Specific Applications in Organizations

 Employment Interview
Perceptual biases of raters affect the accuracy of
interviewers’ judgments of applicants.
 Performance Expectations
Self-fulfilling prophecy (pygmalion effect): on the
basis of the preconceived expectation, performance
is judged.
 Ethnic Profiling
A form of stereotyping in which a group of
individuals is singled out—typically on the basis of
race or ethnicity—for intensive inquiry,
scrutinizing, or investigation.
 Specific Applications in Organizations
(cont’d)

 Performance Evaluations
Appraisals are often the subjective (judgmental)
perceptions of appraisers of another employee’s job
performance.

 Employee Effort
Assessment of individual effort is a subjective
judgment, subject to perceptual distortion and bias.
 Social
Social Perception
Perception
Social perception deals with how an individual perceives others.

Characteristics that influence the perceptions of an perceiver:

 If an individual understand his own personality well, it

becomes easier to understand others.
 Personal characteristics of an individual may affect the
way he perceives others.
 An individual who has high self-esteem is more likely to
perceive favorable aspects in others as well.
 How accurately an individual perceives others is based on
not just a single skill but involves many other skills