Learning Outcomes – Perception

 Recognize the three factors influencing

perception
 List the shortcuts that are used to the
advantage or detriment of understanding
others
 Explain the fundamental attribution theory
 Through self assessment, gain insight on how
one’s own perception impacts understanding
of people and situations

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 Perception
 Perception is the way people organize
and interpret the world around them in
order to give meaning to their
surroundings.
 People’s behavior is based on how they
interpret reality, not reality itself.
 The world that is perceived is the world
that is behaviorally important.
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 Perception
 Perception is influenced by:
 the perceiver.
 the target.
 the situation.

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 Factors Influencing Perception
 Factors in the Perceiver:
 attitudes.
 motives.

 interest.

 experience.

 expectations.

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 Factors Influencing Perception
 Factors in the Target:
 motion.
 sounds.

 size.

 background.

 proximity.

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 Factors Influencing Perception
 Factors in the Situation:
 time.
 work setting.

 social setting.

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 Characteristics and Beliefs of the
Perceivers Affecting Perception
 Projection – Attributing one’s own
characteristics to other people.
 Selective perception – People selectively
interpret what they see on the basis of their
interest, background, experience, and
attitudes.
 Stereotyping – Judging someone on the
basis of one’s perception of the group to
which that person belongs.

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 Characteristics and Beliefs of the
Perceivers Affecting Perception
 Halo effect – Drawing a general positive
impression about an individual on the basis of
a single characteristic.
 Contrast effect – Evaluating a person’s
characteristics that are affected by
comparisons with other people recently
encountered who rank higher or lower on the
same characteristics.
 Horn effect – Drawing a general negative
impression about an individual on the basis of
a single characteristic.
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 Attribution Theory
 A person tries to determine whether
another person’s behavior is caused by
internal or external factors. This is
conditioned by three attributes:
 consensus in behavior.
 consistency in behavior.
 distinctiveness in behavior.

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 Attribution Theory

Individual Behavior

Distinctiveness Consistency Consensus

Low High Low High Low High

Internal External External Internal Internal External
cause cause cause cause cause cause

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fee,Sinclair
 Attribution Theory
 Locus of Control
 Internal – People who believe they
control their own destiny.
 External – People who believe that
external factors control them.

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 Attribution Theory Errors
 Self-serving bias
 This is a tendency for
individuals to attribute
their own success to
internal factors and place
blame for failures on
external factors. Their
approach is self-serving.

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 Attribution Theory Errors
 Fundamental
attribution error
 We tend to underestimate
the influence of external
factors and overestimate
the influence of internal
factors.

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 Perception Applications
 Dating
 Interviews
 Self-fulfilling prophecies of performance
 Performance evaluations
 Employee effort
 Employee loyalty

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 Summary
 Perceptions affect awareness of
problems.
 Perceptions affect analysis of problems.
 Perceptions affect interpretations of
data.
 Perceptions affect judgment of potential
outcomes.

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 Summary
 We need to study perceptions in
a systematic manner to improve
our decision-making
performance.

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 Jedi Wisdom
 Let go of your anger.
 Let the force flow
through you.
 Don’t center on your
anxiety.
 Do or do not. There is
no try.
 Let go of your conscious
self. Act on instinct.
 Beware the dark side.
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 Keep your
concentration on the
here and now.
 Your eyes can deceive
you. Don’t trust them.
 Don’t give in to hate.
 Once you start down
the dark path, forever
will it dominate your
destiny.
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 Looking Ahead
Have a
 Read Chapter 4 – Values great day
and Attitudes
 Work self-assessment

“It is your attitude toward life

that determines life’s
attitude toward you.”

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