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eleventh edition
organizational behavior
stephen p. robbins
© 2005 Prentice Hall Inc. All rights reserved.
5–0
Chapter 5
Perception
ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR
S T E P H E N P. R O B B I N S
E L E V E N T H
© 2005 Prentice Hall Inc.
All rights reserved.
E D I T I O N
WWW.PRENHALL.COM/ROBBINS
PowerPoint Presentation
by Charlie Cook
OBJECTIVES
LEARNING
After studying this chapter,
you should be able to:
1. Explain how two people can see the same
thing and interpret it differently.
2. List three determinants of attribution.
3. Describe how shortcuts can assist in or distort
our judgment of others.
© 2005 Prentice Hall Inc. All rights reserved.
5–2
Perception
It is a process by which individuals
organise and interpret their sensory
impressions to give meaning to their
environment.
It includes which information to
notice, categorize and interpret it.
ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR
S T E P H E N P. R O B B I N S
E L E V E N T H
© 2005 Prentice Hall Inc.
All rights reserved.
E D I T I O N
WWW.PRENHALL.COM/ROBBINS
PowerPoint Presentation
by Charlie Cook
What Is Perception, and Why Is It Important?
Perception
A process by which
individuals organize and
interpret their sensory
impressions in order to
give meaning to their
environment.
• People’s 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.
© 2005 Prentice Hall Inc. All rights reserved.
5–4
Factors Influencing Perception
Operate to shape and sometimes distort perception
– Reside in the perceiver
– Part of the object or target being perceived
– Exist in the context of the situation in which the
perception is made
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5–5
Factors That
Influence
Perception
E X H I B I T 5–1
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5–6
Perceptual Process
 Selective Attention: The process of filtering (selecting &
screening out) information received by our senses.
 It is influenced by the percievers emotions.
 We remember information consistent with our
attitudes and ignore information that is inconsistent.
 Some times we screen out large blocks of information
that threaten our beliefs and values this is called
perceptual defence.
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5–7
Perceptual Organization.
 Perceptual Grouping: The perceptual organization process
of placing people and objects into recognizable and
manageable patterns or categories.
 Mental Models: The broad world views or theories in use
that people rely on to guide their perceptions and
behaviours.
© 2005 Prentice Hall Inc. All rights reserved.
5–8
Social Identity Theory
 A theory that explains self perception and
social perception in terms of personal
identity and social identity.
 Social identity is a comparative and
homogenizing process.
 We are more favourable to our own groups
because we identify with them.
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5–9
 Stereotyping: It is a process of using a few
observable characteristics to assign people
to a preconcieved social category and then
assigning less observable traits to those
persons based on their membership in the
group.

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5–10
Problems with stereotyping.
 Stereotyped traits do not describe accurately describe
every individual in a particular category.
 We often misinterpret information that is inconsistent
with the stereotype.
 Sometimes we develop inaccurate stereotypes.
 We develop inaccurate stereotypes of groups that
enhance our own social identity.
 Sterotypes may result in prejudice.
© 2005 Prentice Hall Inc. All rights reserved.
5–11
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.
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5–12
Attribution Theory
E X H I B I T 5–2
© 2005 Prentice Hall Inc. All rights reserved.
5–13
Attribution Theory
 Judging people differently depending upon meaning
attributed to a behavior
 Determine whether caused internally or externally,
depending upon
1. Distinctiveness - different behavior in different
situations
2. Consensus - same behavior in similar situations
3. Consistency - same behavior over time
© 2005 Prentice Hall Inc. All rights reserved.
5–14
Attribution theory
 The attribution process involves in deciding
whether an observed behaviour or event is largely
caused by internal (based on internal attributions)
or external (based ion external
attributions)factors.
 Attribution internal or external is based on
consistency, distinctiveness and consensus each
of which may be low or high.
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5–15
Consequences of attribution
 Affects subsequent reactions to that event.
 Affects implications of reward allocation based on
performance feedback.
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5–16
Attribution errors.
 Fundamental attribution error: The tendency to
incorrectly attribute the behaviour of others to
internal rather than external factors.
 Self serving bias: A perceptual error where success
is attributed to internal factors while failures are
attributed to external factors.
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5–17
Self fulfilling prophecy: A phenomenon in which an
observers expectations of someone causes that
person to act in a way that is consistent with the
observers expectation.
Self fulfilling prophecy may be positive or negative.
Expectation formed.
Behaviour towards employee.
Effects on the employee (self efficacy).
Emploee behaviour and performance.
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5–18
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
judgments about the behavior
of others.
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5–19
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.
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5–20
Frequently Used Shortcuts in Judging Others
Selective Perception
People selectively interpret what they see on the
basis of their interests, background, experience,
and attitudes.
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5–21
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.
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5–22
Frequently Used Shortcuts in Judging Others
Projection
Stereotyping
Attributing one’s own
characteristics to other
people.
Judging someone on the
basis of one’s perception of
the group to which that
person belongs.
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5–23
Perceptual Errors
 Primacy effect: Aphenomenon in which we form an opinion based on
first information.
 Recency effect: A perceptual error in which the most recent
information dominates our perception about the person.
 Halo effect: A perceptual error in which our general impressions are
based on one prominent characteristics.
 Contrast effects: Comparing individuals who are diferent or high or
low on a particular characteris tics.
 Projection Bias: A perceptual error in which we believe that others
hold the same beliefs and attitudes as us.
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5–24
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): The lower or
higher performance of employees reflects preconceived
leader expectations about employee capabilities.
 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.
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5–25
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.
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5–26
Improving Perceptions
 Diversity management programmes.
 Empathise with others.
 Postpone impression formation.
 Increase Empathy.
 Compare perceptions with others.
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5–27