Lesson 9: Perception and individual decision making
1. What is perception?
perception
a process by which we organize and interpret sensory impressions to give meaning to our
environment
the world as it is perceived is the world that is behaviorally important -> our perception
becomes the reality from which we act
factors that influence perception
perceiver
interpretation of what you see is influenced by your personal characteristics – attitudes,
personality, motives, interests, past experiences, and expectations
target
we don’t look at targets in isolation, the relationship of a target to its background influences
perception, as does our tendency to group close things and similar things together
context
the time at which we see an object or event can influence our attention, as can location,
light, heat, or situational factors
people are usually not aware of the factors that influence their view of reality
2. Person perception: making judgments about others
attribution theory
attribution theory tries to explain the ways we judge people differently depending on the
meaning we attribute to a behavior
when we observe an individual’s behavior, we attempt to determine whether it was
internally or externally caused, based on three factors 1) distinctiveness 2) consensus, and
3) consistency
internally caused behaviors are those an observer believes to be under the personal
behavioral control of another individual
externally caused behavior is what we imagine the situation forced the individual to do
distinctiveness
whether an individual displays different behavior in different situations
consensus
if everyone who faces a similar situation responds the same way
Lesson 9 1/8
,consistency
if the person responds the same way over time
the more consistent the behavior, the more we are inclined to attribute it to internal causes
fundamental attribution error
the tendency to underestimate the influence of external factors and overestimate the
influence of internal factors when making judgments about the behavior of others
self-serving bias
when people tend to attribute ambiguous information as relatively flattering, accept
positive feedback, and reject negative feedback
the concept of attribution theory significantly advances our understanding of person
perception by helping us identify why we draw certain conclusions from people’s behavior
common shortcuts in judging others
selective perception
we make selections based on our interests, background, and attitudes
halo and horns effect
halo: we draw a positive impression about an individual based on a single characteristic,
such as intelligence, sociability, or appearance
horns: we draw a negative impression about an individual based on a single characteristic
Lesson 9 2/8
, contrast effect
we don’t evaluate the person in isolation, our reaction is influenced by other people we
have recently encountered
stereotyping
when we judge someone based on our perception of the group to which he or she belongs
stereotypes or shortcuts called heuristics
we generalize inaccurately or too much
specific applications of shortcuts in organizations
employment interview
our individual intuition about a job candidate is not reliable in predicting job performance,
so collecting input from multiple independent evaluators can be predictive
performance expectations
people attempt to validate their perceptions of reality even when these perceptions are
faulty
self-fulfilling prophecy, Pygmalion effect
expectations become reality
performance evaluations
an employee’s future is closely tied to his or her appraisal-promotion, pay raises, and
continuation of employment are among the outcomes
3. The link between perception and individual decision making
decision
choices from among two or more alternatives
problem
a discrepancy exists between the current state of affairs and some desired state, requiring
us to consider alternative courses in action
one person’s problem is another person’s satisfactory state of affairs
Lesson 9 3/8
1. What is perception?
perception
a process by which we organize and interpret sensory impressions to give meaning to our
environment
the world as it is perceived is the world that is behaviorally important -> our perception
becomes the reality from which we act
factors that influence perception
perceiver
interpretation of what you see is influenced by your personal characteristics – attitudes,
personality, motives, interests, past experiences, and expectations
target
we don’t look at targets in isolation, the relationship of a target to its background influences
perception, as does our tendency to group close things and similar things together
context
the time at which we see an object or event can influence our attention, as can location,
light, heat, or situational factors
people are usually not aware of the factors that influence their view of reality
2. Person perception: making judgments about others
attribution theory
attribution theory tries to explain the ways we judge people differently depending on the
meaning we attribute to a behavior
when we observe an individual’s behavior, we attempt to determine whether it was
internally or externally caused, based on three factors 1) distinctiveness 2) consensus, and
3) consistency
internally caused behaviors are those an observer believes to be under the personal
behavioral control of another individual
externally caused behavior is what we imagine the situation forced the individual to do
distinctiveness
whether an individual displays different behavior in different situations
consensus
if everyone who faces a similar situation responds the same way
Lesson 9 1/8
,consistency
if the person responds the same way over time
the more consistent the behavior, the more we are inclined to attribute it to internal causes
fundamental attribution error
the tendency to underestimate the influence of external factors and overestimate the
influence of internal factors when making judgments about the behavior of others
self-serving bias
when people tend to attribute ambiguous information as relatively flattering, accept
positive feedback, and reject negative feedback
the concept of attribution theory significantly advances our understanding of person
perception by helping us identify why we draw certain conclusions from people’s behavior
common shortcuts in judging others
selective perception
we make selections based on our interests, background, and attitudes
halo and horns effect
halo: we draw a positive impression about an individual based on a single characteristic,
such as intelligence, sociability, or appearance
horns: we draw a negative impression about an individual based on a single characteristic
Lesson 9 2/8
, contrast effect
we don’t evaluate the person in isolation, our reaction is influenced by other people we
have recently encountered
stereotyping
when we judge someone based on our perception of the group to which he or she belongs
stereotypes or shortcuts called heuristics
we generalize inaccurately or too much
specific applications of shortcuts in organizations
employment interview
our individual intuition about a job candidate is not reliable in predicting job performance,
so collecting input from multiple independent evaluators can be predictive
performance expectations
people attempt to validate their perceptions of reality even when these perceptions are
faulty
self-fulfilling prophecy, Pygmalion effect
expectations become reality
performance evaluations
an employee’s future is closely tied to his or her appraisal-promotion, pay raises, and
continuation of employment are among the outcomes
3. The link between perception and individual decision making
decision
choices from among two or more alternatives
problem
a discrepancy exists between the current state of affairs and some desired state, requiring
us to consider alternative courses in action
one person’s problem is another person’s satisfactory state of affairs
Lesson 9 3/8
