Perception

It is a process by which we organize and interpret sensory impressions to give meaning to our
environment.

Factors influencing perception:

Attribution:

Attribution theory tries to explain the ways in which we judge people differently, depending
on the meaning we attribute to a given behavior. 1 It suggests that when we observe an
individual’s behavior, we attempt to determine whether it was internally or externally caused.
That determination, however, depends largely on three factors: (1) distinctiveness, (2)
consensus, and consistency.

Distinctiveness refers to whether an individual displays different behaviors in different

situations.

If everyone who faces a similar situation responds in the same way, we can say the behavior
shows consensus.
An observer looks for consistency in a person’s actions. Does the person respond the same way
over time?

Basic Errors:
When we make judgments about the behavior of other people, we tend to underestimate the
influence of external factors and overestimate the influence of internal or personal factors. This
fundamental attribution error can explain why a sales manager is prone to attribute the poor
performance of her sales agents to laziness rather than to the innovative product line introduced
by a competitor.

Individuals and organizations also tend to attribute their own successes to internal factors such
as ability or effort, while blaming failure on external factors such as bad luck or unproductive
co-workers. People also tend to attribute ambiguous information as relatively flattering and
accept positive feedback while rejecting negative feedback. This is the self-serving bias .
U.S. newspapers prominently report the names of individual executives when firms do poorly,
whereas Asian media cover how the firm as a whole has failed.
Bias:
Selective perception: Any characteristic that makes a person, object, or event stand out will
increase the probability that it will be perceived.
Halo and Horns Effect: The halo effect occurs when we draw a general impression on the
basis of a single characteristic. The horns effect, on the other hand, is when we draw a
negative impression from a single characteristic.
Contrast Effects: We do not evaluate a person in isolation. Our reaction to one person is
influenced by other persons we have recently encountered.
Stereotyping: Judging someone on the basis of our perception of the group to which he or
she belongs.
Specific Applications of Shortcuts in Organizations: Employment Interview, Performance
Expectations and Performance Evaluation.
Pygmalion Effect:
Named after A Greek Myth, Pygmalion.
He fell in love with the statue he had carved.
Persuaded The Greek Goddess to bring life into the statue.
Viola! The statue was brought to life and was named Galatea

A has certain
beliefs about
B’s ability

B exert his/her A forms high

resources and expectations
perform on B

Exhausts some
B develops
of his
positive beliefs
resources to
about
induce B to
his/herself
perform

Rosenthal and Jacobson (1968) Experiment:

An experiment was initialized at an elementary school.
A faulty information that few students have potential intellectual ability was communicated
to the teachers at the beginning of the academic year.
Eight months later, the IQ scores of those students, who were described as intellectuals, were
higher.
The findings attributed to the Pygmalion effect with four factors: Climate, feedback, input
and output.
Discussions in the class: (Refer running notes/ your attentive friends)
 GESTALT Principles.
 Steve Jobs: How he persuaded Wendell Weeks to convert LCD manufacturing unit to
Gorilla glass manufacturing unit.
 The Picasso Bull.
 RK Narayanan: Tiger comes to Town