PERCEPTION AND INDIVIDUAL DECISION MAKING

OBJECTIVES
vTo understand what the processes involved in perception are. vTo understand why perception is important in predicting others behavior in organizations vTo be able to identify individual biases & errors in perception. vTo learn how decisions are made in organizations and to understand different influences on decision making.

PERCEPTION
WHAT IS PERCEPTION ? PERCEPTION is a process by which individuals organize and interpret their sensory impressions in order to give meaning to their environment.

Why Perception Is Important?

Peoples behavior is based on their perception of what reality is, not on reality itself. The world as it is perceived is the world that is behaviorally important.

Factors that influence perception

FACTORS INFLUENCING PERCEPTION

1. Factors that shape (and can distort perception): Target Situation Perceiver 2.Whenan individual looks at a target and attempts to interpret what he or she sees, that interpretation is heavily influenced by personal characteristics of the individual perceiver. 3.The more relevant personal characteristics affecting perception of the perceiver are attitudes, motives, interests, past experiences, and expectations. 4.Characteristics of the target can also affect what is being perceived. This would include attractiveness, gregariousness, and our tendency to group similar things

together. For example, members of a group with clearly distinguishable features or color are often perceived as alike in other, unrelated characteristics as well. 5.The context in which we see objects or events also influences our attention. This could include time, heat, light, or other situational factors.

SOCIAL PERCEPTION

Social perception: The process of combining , integrating and interpreting information about others to gain an accurate understanding of them. It is all abut understanding others and ourselves. Social perception theories and investigations deal with the nature, causes, and consequences of perceptions of social entities, including ones self, other individuals, social categories, and aggregates or groups to which one may or may not belong. The content of a perception can be virtually any property. Individual attributes may include personality traits, behavioral dispositions, physical characteristics, and ability evaluations. Group attributes can include properties such as size, cohesiveness, cultural traits, stratification patterns, network patterns, legitimacy, and historical elements. With some notable exceptions, however, the field of social perception traditionally has emphasized the micro side, focusing on individual inferences regarding one individual or a very small number of other individuals.

Person Perception: Making Judgments About Others.

Attribution Theory : An attempt to determine whether an individuals behavior is internally or externally caused.

ATTRIBUTION

THEORY

KELLEYS THEORY OF CASUAL ATTRIBUTION: The approach suggesting that people will believe others actions to be caused by internal or external factors based on three types of information: consensus, Consistency, and Distinctiveness. When we observe an individual behavior , we attempt to determine whether it was internally or externally caused. Internally caused behaviors are those we believe to be under the personal control of the individual . Externally caused behavior is what we imagine the situation forced the individual to do. That determination , however, depends largely on three factors: 1.Distinctiveness: It refers to whether an individual displays different behaviors in different situations. What we want to know is whether the observed behavior is unusual. If it is, the observer is likely to give the behavior an external attribution. If this action is not unusual, it will probably be judged as internal.

2. Consensus: The extent to which other people behave in the same manner as a person we are judging. If others do behave similarly the consensus is considered high if they dont the consensus is considered low. 3. Consistency: The extent to which people we are judging acts the same way at other times. If a person does acts the same at other times, the consistency is high and if he or she doesnt then the consistency is low.

Social identity : Who are you ?

Social identity : Who a person is, as defined in terms of his or her membership in various social groups. A Social identity is the portion of an individual's self-concept derived from perceived membership in a relevant group. SOCIAL IDENTIFICATION is the process by which we dene ourselves in terms and categories that we share with other people. In contrast to characterizations of personal identity, which may be highly idiosyncratic, social identities assume some commonalities with others. This chapter introduces several key issues surrounding social identity, including form and content, assessment, development and change, and identity negotiation

Identity

is a term that is widely used and, as a consequence, can mean many different things to different people. Identity is sometimes used to refer to a sense of integration of the self, in which different aspects come together in a unified whole. This intrapsychic emphasis is often associated with Erik Erikson, who introduced the term identity crisis as part of his stage model of psychological development. Another common use of the term, particularly in contemporary times, is identity politics, where the reference is typically to different political positions that are staked out by members of ethnic and nationality groups.

Many forms of social identity exist, reflecting the many ways in which people connect to other groups and social categories. In our own work, we have pointed to ve distinct types of social identication: ethnic and religious identities, political identities, vocations and avocations, personal relationships, and stigmatized groups (see Table I). Each of these types of social identication has some unique characteristics that make it somewhat different from another type. Relationship identities, in particular, have some special features. A. GENDER IDENTITY: Ones gender most typically as a man or woman is one of the most frequently mentioned identities when people are asked to describe themselves, and it is also one of the categories most often used by others to describe us. Similarly, the development of gender identity has been a central topic for developmental psychologists. Because gender is such a fundamental category, it is perhaps not surprising that a great many meanings and implications are associated with gender.

Types of social identity

B. ETHNIC AND NATIONAL IDENTITIES: For many people, ethnicity is a central element of self- denition and becomes an important social identity. In the past, social scientists categorized human beings in terms of basic racial categories, such as Asian, Caucasian, and Negroid. With increasing awareness of the arbitrary nature of the social construction of race, these categories are less frequently used. More common today is categorization on the basis of ethnicity, defined in terms of culture, language, and country of origin. Works by theorists such as William Cross on African American identity exemplify the approach to this form of categorization and identication.

Social identity theory: A conceptualization recognizing that the way we perceive others and ourselves is biased on both our unique characteristics and our membership in various groups. Social Identity Theory is a social psychological analysis of the role of self conception in group membership, group processes, and intergroup relations. It embraces a no of interrelated concepts and sub theories that focus on social cognitive, motivational, social-interactive and macro social facets of group life. The approach is explicitly framed by a conviction that collective phenomena cannot be adequately explained in terms of isolated individual processes or interpersonal interaction alone and that social psychology should place large scale social phenomena near the top of its scientific agenda. Social identity theory defines group cognitively in terms of peoples self conception as group members. A group exists psychologically if three or more people construe and evaluate themselves in terms of shared attributes that distinguish them collectively from other people. Social identity theory addresses phenomena such as prejudice, discrimination, ethnocentrism, stereotyping, intergroup conflict, conformity, normative behavior, group polarization, crowd behavior, organizational behavior, leadership, deviance and group cohesiveness.

Social identity theory

THE PYGMALION EFFECT

What is Pygmalion Effect

The Pygmalion effect, or Rosenthal effect, refers to the phenomenon in which the greater the expectation placed upon people, often children or students and employees, the better they perform. The effect is named after Pygmalion, a Cypriot sculptor in a narrative by Ovid in Greek mythology, who fell in love with a female statue he had carved out of ivory. The Pygmalion effect is a form of self-fulfilling prophecy, and, in this respect, people with poor expectations internalize their negative label, and those with positive labels succeed accordingly. Within sociology, the effect is often cited with regards to education and social class.

The Pygmalion Effect

Your expectation of people and their expectations in themselves are the key factor in how people perform well at work. Pygmalion effect have evolved to characterize the fact that an individual behavior is determined by other peoples expectations. This characteristic is particularly relevant when we consider performance expectation on the job. Every manager has expectations from the people who report to him. They consciously or unconsciously communicate these expectations. People consciously or unconsciously read and perform in ways that are consistent with the expectations of manager.

Pygmalion in Management
Performance depends on expectations. High expectations means superior performance while low expectations means inferior performance. What manager expects of their subordinates and the way they treat them largely determines their performance. A unique characteristic of a superior manager is the ability to create high performance expectation that subordinates fulfill. Less effective managers fail to develop such expectations and as a consequence the productivity of subordinates fall.

Impossible Dreams
Expectations must pass the test of reality. Expectations should be realistic as unrealistic expectations can easily de-motivate the subordinates No motivation or response is aroused when the goal is perceived to be virtually certain or virtually impossible. Failure in meeting the unrealistically high expectations leads to high rate of attrition either voluntarily or involuntarily. So it is drastically important of managers to examine a goal before it is set in front of the subordinates.

Pygmalion motivation grid

Hi gh

Pe rfo rm an ce ou tco me
Low Low

Self motivated performer

High performers, as expected

Low performers, as expected

Under performers

Your expectations

High

Quadrant 1
High performers, as expected These people meet your expectations and continuously improve their performance. This can be a virtuous circle, where high performance is motivated by your high expectations.

Quadrant 2
Low performers, as expected Here, you have low expectations of people, and they tend to perform and improve less than others. This can be a vicious circle, and theres a risk that these people are demotivated by your lower expectations of them.

Quadrant 3
Self Motivated Performers Despite your lower expectations of this group, these team members perform well. Perhaps their last three tasks were unusually successful or perhaps you need to adjust your expectations.

Quadrant
Under performers

Despite of your high expectations this group are failing to improve their performance.

The Golem Effect

The Golem effect is the negative impact on subordinates' performance that results from low leader expectations toward them. The Golem effect is the negative or dark version of Pygmalion: behavior reflecting low or negative supervisory expectations generates negative results in subordinates performance The Pygmalion effect is a well-documented phenomenon, which describes how high expectations on the part of an authority figure to lead to high performance on the part of a subject. The Golem effect designates the opposite effect whereby low expectations encourage low performance. .

The Golem effect has been observed in various settings, so we know it exists, but its actual workings are less well documented: in particular, how low expectations are triggered and conveyed. So Golem effect is felt in all facets of life. Be is studying in school, college or working is an office.

Perceptual shortcuts

These shortcuts allow us to make accurate perceptions rapidly and provide valid data for making predictions. Five major perceptual errors: Stereotyping Halo effects Selective perception Projection Contrast effect

Stereotyping

Stereotyping:
Occurs when an individual assigns attributes to another

solely on the basis of the others membership in a particular social or demographic category. judging someone on the basis of ones perception of the group to which that person belongs. Stereotyping leads a person to perceive and respond to others as members of one group or another, ignoring in the process the specific characteristics of individuals.

Profiling: a form of stereotyping in which a group of individuals is singled out typically on the basis of race ,ethnicity- for intensive inquiry , scrutiny ,or investigation.

Halo Effects
This is the tendency to judge specific

qualities or traits from an overall impression or knowledge of just one trait. When a general impression is drawn about an individual on the basis of the single characteristics such as intelligence, sociability, or appearance, a halo effect is operating.

Selective Perception

Selective perception:
Perpetuates stereotypes or halo effects The perceiver singles out information that supports a prior

belief but filters out contrary information People selectively interpret what they see on the basis of their interests, background, experience, and attitudes

PROJECTION
Arises out of a need to protect ones own self-

concept. People assign to others the characteristics or feelings that they possess themselves. the tendency to attribute ones own characteristics to other people.

Contrast effect
Evolution of a person's characteristic that is

affected by comparisons with other people recently encountered who rank higher or lower on same characteristics.

Application of shortcuts in organization.

Employment interview Performance expectation Performance evolution