“ WE DON’T SEE THINGS AS

THEY ARE, WE SEE THINGS AS

WE ARE.”
 Perception

“Perception refers to the interpretation of what we take in

through our senses.

“ Perception is the process by which people select, organize

and interpret information to form a meaningful picture

People’s behavior is based on their perception of what reality

is, not on reality itself
Perceptual Process Selecting Stimuli
External factors : Nature,
Receiving Stimuli Location,Size,contrast,
(External & Internal) Movement,repetition,similarity
Internal factors : Learning,
needs,age,Interest,

Organizing
Interpreting Figure Background ,
Attribution ,Stereotyping, Perceptual Grouping (
Halo Effect, Projection similarity, proximity,
closure, continuity)

Response
Covert: Attitudes ,
Motivation,
Feeling
Overt: Behavior

Organizational Behavior / Perception 4

Factors influencing Perception
A number of factors operate to shape and sometimes

distort perception. These factors can reside in the

perceiver, in the object or target being perceived or in

the context of the situation in which the perception is

made.

Organizational Behavior / Perception 5

Factors influencing Perception
Factors in the perceiver
• Attitudes
• Motives
• Interests
• Experience
• Expectations

Factors in the situation

• Time Perception
• Work Setting
• Social Setting
Factors in the Target
• Novelty
• Motion
• Sounds Size
• Background
• Proximity
• Similarity
•
Organizational Behavior / Perception 6
 Person Perception: Making
Judgments About
Others
Attribution
Attribution theory Theory
is concerned with how and why
ordinary people explain events as they do.
A person tries to determine whether another person’s
behavior is caused by internal or external factors.
When we explain the behavior of others we look for enduring
internal attributions, such as personality traits. For
example we attribute the behavior of a person to their naivety
or reliability or jealousy.
When we try to explain our own behavior we tend to
make external attributions, such as situational or
environment.
 Errors and Biases in Attributions

We blame people first,

not the situation
 Errors and Biases in Attributions

It is “our” success but “their”

failure
Frequently Used Shortcuts in Judging Others
Selective Perception
■ People selectively interpret what they see
on the basis of their interests,
background, experience, and attitudes
Halo Effect
■
Drawing a general impression about an
individual on the basis of a single
characteristic
Contrast Effect
■
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
6-10
Frequently Used Shortcuts in Judging Others

Projection Stereotyping
Attributing one’s Judging someone on the
own characteristics basis of one’s
to other people. perception of the group
to which that person
belongs.
 Self-Fulfilling Prophecies

A self-fulfilling prophecy is when a person unknowingly

causes a prediction to come true, due to the simple fact that he
or she expects it to come true.

In other words, an expectation about a subject, such as a

person or event, can affect our behavior towards it.

Example : You expect your new roommate to be shy so you

dont speak much to him after he moves in, and he therefore
does seem shy

12
 The Pygmalion Effect

The Pygmalion effect, or Rosenthal effect, is the

phenomenon whereby higher expectations lead to an increase
in performance. The effect is named after the Greek myth of
Pygmalion, a sculptor who fell in love with a statue he had
carved.
The Pygmalion effect is a type of self-fulfilling prophecy
where if you think something will happen, you may
unconsciously make it happen through your actions or
inaction.
It occurs in the workplace when a manager raises his or her
expectations for the performance of workers, and this
actually results in an increase in worker performance.
13
 Specific Applications in Organizations

▶Employment Interview
▶
Perceptual biases 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.

▶Performance Evaluations
▶
Appraisals are subjective perceptions of performance.

▶Employee Effort
▶
Assessment of individual effort is a subjective judgment subject to
perceptual distortion and bias.
 Impression Management
Behaving in ways so that others
perceive us how we want to be
perceived

Individual attempt to control or guide

others impression by changing or fixin g
his or her setting, appearance and
manner
Impression management is a goal-
directed conscious or unconscious
process in which people attempt to
influence the perceptions of others
about a person, object, or event.
Need of impressions
Impression Management Techniques

Self-
Favors
Descriptions

Flattery Association
Verbal Self-
Presentation
Opinion
Acclaiming
Conformity

Apologies Excuse
Organizational Behavior / Perception 18
Tactics of Impression Management

Self Promotion
Talk proudly about your experience or education.
Make people aware of your accomplishments.

Ingratiation
Take an interest in your colleagues’ personal lives to show them that you are friendly. Use
flattery and favors to make your colleagues like you more.

Exemplification
Try to appear like a hard-working, dedicated employee. Stay at
work late so people will know you are hard working.

Intimidation
Be intimidating with co-workers when it will help you get your
job done.
Let others know that you can make things difficult for them if
Supplication
they push you too far.
Act like you know less than you do so people will help you out.
Pretend not to understand someOthgrianngzaittooni galaBienhasvooi mr / 19
How To Improve Impression Management

Set goals.
Commit to the change
you want to create.
Dress appropriately
Learn to shake hands
Keep your body language

open smiling and

Keep feel
confident
Thank you