Perception, Values, & Personality

Compiled
by

Prof. Rajiv Kumar

IIM Calcutta
 Channel Richness
• Channels in order of most to least channel
rich
1. Face to face dialogue
2. Videoconference
3. Telephone conversation
4. E-mail
5. Inter Office Memos
6. Letters
7. Notice Board
Communication (1)
Communication (2)
 What is Perception?
• Data from sensory organs
• A process
– Receive data
– Organize and giving meaning to the data
Closure Principle
Impact of Context: Titchener Illusion
Figure Ground: Rubin’s Vase
 Perceptual Distortions in Organizations
• During selection interview
• During work: Dearborn & Simon (1958)
• During performance appraisal

Schermerhorn et al., 2008

 Some Problems in Perception
• About me
– People notice my actions and appearance (Spotlight effect)
– I am above average (Lake Wobegon effect)
– Confirmation bias
• About others
– Followers of some religion are terrorists (Stereotypes)
– A punctual person must be responsible too (Halo effect)
– What is good for me must be good for others (Projection)
– Self-fulfilling prophecy
 Attribution Theory
• Three factors
– Consistency
– Distinctiveness
– Consensus
• Self-serving bias
• Fundamental attribution error
– Less in some cultures
Once upon a time there was a woman named Abigail who was in love with a man
named Gregory. Gregory lived on the shore of a river. Abigail lived on the opposite
shore of the river. The river that separated the two lovers was teeming with man
eating alligators. Abigail wanted to cross the river to be with Gregory. Unfortunately,
the bridge had been washed away by a heavy storm the previous evening.
 
So she went to ask Sinbad, a riverboat captain, to take her across. He said he would be
glad to if she would consent to go to bed with him before he takes her across. She
promptly refused and went to a friend named Ivan to explain her plight. Ivan did not
want to be involved at all in the situation. Abigail felt her only alternative was to
accept Sinbad's terms. Sinbad fulfilled his promise to Abigail and delivered her into the
arms of Gregory.
 
When she told Gregory about her amorous escapade in order to cross the river,
Gregory cast her aside with disdain. Heartsick and dejected, Abigail turned to Slug with
her tale of woe. Slug, feeling compassion for Abigail, sought out Gregory and beat him
brutally. Abigail was overjoyed to see Gregory getting his due. As the sun set on the
horizon, people heard Abigail laughing at Gregory.
Please rank the five characters in the story
beginning with who you consider to be the most
offensive and end with the one you consider to be
the least objectionable. That is, the character that
seems to be the most reprehensible to you, should
be ranked, then the second most reprehensible and
so on, with the least reprehensible or objectionable
character ranked the fifth.
 Individual Differences
• Characteristics of people:
– Reflexes: Involuntary and almost instantaneous response to a stimulus
– Instincts: Behaviors that are not learnt
– Learnt behaviors
– Beliefs
– Attitudes
– Traits
– Values
• Behavior = P*E
– Personal determinants
– Environment: Physical and social environments
 Traits
• Internal dispositions that render behaviors
– Coherent
– Consistent across situations
– Stable across time, and
– Predictable
• Revisiting the earlier equation: All kinds of reciprocal
impacts are possible
– But strength varies
• Assessment through self-report or objective
measures
 Big Five Traits
• About 18,000 different words to describe different traits
in English dictionary
• Reduced to “big-five” traits
– Conscientiousness: Works as per a plan, is not easily
distracted, perseverant, thorough, reliable
– Extraversion: Talkative, energetic, outgoing, meets people
– Agreeableness: Helpful, trusting, forgiving, not quarrelsome
– Neuroticism: Depressed, tense, worries a lot, gets nervous
and upset easily
– Openness: Curious, inventive, values artistic things, has wide
interests, plays with ideas
 Some More Points
• Generally these traits are normally distributed
• Personality a better predictor in weak situation
• Factors leading to personality
• Heredity
• Environment
• 50:50 split between heredity and environment
• Some important personality attributes:
• Big-5
• Locus of control
• Machiavellianism
• Type A & Type B
 Neutral Object Satisfaction Questionnaire
Indicate whether you are on average satisfied, neutral, or dissatisfied with each
Of the following:
1. The city in which you live
2. The neighbors you have
3. The high school you attended
4. The climate where you live
5. Movies being produced today
6. The quality of food you buy
7. Today’s cars
8. Local newspapers
9. Your first name
10. The people you know
11. Telephone service
12. A4 size paper
13. Restaurant food
14. Modern art

Judge & Hulin (1993)

 Emotions
• Nature of emotions
• Emotional Intelligence: The ability to
understand individuals to act wisely in human
relations:
– Awareness of self
– Managing one’s emotions
– Motivating oneself
– Empathy
– Handling relationships
 Emotional Labor
• Emerged from service jobs
• Difference between felt emotions and
displayed emotions
– Norms of displaying emotions in organizations
• Surface acting
• Deep acting
• Implications of these variables:
– PO Fit
– PJ fit