Perception PDF Notes - ORGA 316 SB05

Perception January 8, 2025 7:51 AM What is Perception? Where individuals organize and interpret their impressions to give meaning to their environment. Perception is important because behaviour is based on perception of what reality is not on reality itself. The accuracy of our perception determ...

Perception January 8, 2025 7:51 AM What is Perception? Where individuals organize and interpret their impressions to give meaning to their environment. Perception is important because behaviour is based on perception of what reality is not on reality itself. The accuracy of our perception determines the effectiveness of our action. Why does perception and judgement matter? - The most obvious applications are in the workplace Ex. Employee interviews, performance evaluations, brand and company image - Self-fulfilling prophecy: a person will behave in ways consistent with how he or she is perceived by others. How mindsets influence behaviours Fixed mindset example: I am either good at something or I am not. I don’t like to be challenged. My abilities determine everything Growth mindset example: I can learn anything I want to. I want to challenge myself. My effort and attitude determine everything Factor's that influence perception The perceiver: when you look at a target, your interpretation of what you see is heavily influenced by your personal characteristics The target: a target's characteristics also affect what we perceive. The relationship of a target to its background influences perception The situation: context matters. The time at which we see an object or event, the location, light, or any other situational factors. For example is someone is all dressed up for an event you may not notice but if they were show up to class in the same outfit everyone would notice. The target - A human tendency towards wholeness of perception or experience -> meaningful - The whole is more than the sum of its parts - Gestalt principles: similarity, proximity, closure, good, figure-ground Implicit personality theory - A set of concepts and assumptions that we use to describe, compare, and understand people (often unconsciously) - Personality characteristics that go together: warmth and generosity, coldness and seriousness, intelligence and forehead height Attribution theory Attribution theory says we judge people differently depending on what meaning we attribute to a given behaviour. We attempt to determine whether the behaviour was internally or externally caused. - When individuals observe behaviour, they attempt to determine whether it is internally or externally caused Internal forces: personal attributes such as ability, skill, amount of effort or fatigue External forces: environmental factors such as organizational rules and policies, the manner of superiors or the weather. This theory can be used to evaluate an employee's behaviour on a new task. How attributions get distorted Fundamental attribution error: the tendency to underestimate external factors and overestimate internal factors when making judgements about other's behaviour Self-serving bias: the tendency to attribute one's successes to internal factors while putting the blame for failures on external factors. Perceptual errors - Confirmation bias - Automatic vigilance - Halo effect - Contrast effect ORGA 316 SB05 Page 1  - Contrast effect - Stereotyping - Conformity Selective perception: people selectively interpret what they see based on their interests, background, experience and attitudes Selective perception biases - Confirmational bias: the tendency to seek out information that is inline with expectations and existing knowledge - Perceptual defence bias: automatic discounting or disconfirming stimuli and is used to protect the individual against information to an existing perception or attitude - Automatic vigilance: suggests that negative social information which has the potential to harm a person is automatically and quickly attended to - Halo effect: drawing a general impression about an individual based on a single characteristic, such as intelligence, likeability, or appearance - Contrast effect: a person's evaluation is affected by comparisons with other individuals recently encountered - Stereotyping: judging someone on the basis of the group to which that person belongs. Prejudice is an unfounded dislike of a person or group based on their belonging to a particular stereotyped group. - Conformity: a group - or simply the people around us- can affect our perception. Can be used by emphasizing existing support for your ideas or point out what others are doing for example competing companies are doing it. Impression management: processes used by individuals to influence and control the views that others form about them. Used to influence other's perception Might be used during selection, career strategies, marketing ORGA 316 SB05 Page 2