MPOB-11

PERCEPTION
LESSON-11

Definition and Nature of Perception

Definition and Importance

Perception is the selection and organization of environmental stimuli to provide meaningful

experiences for the perceiver. Perception implicates the search for, obtaining and processing of
the information in the mind. It can also be referred to as a psychological process where people
obtain information from the environment and make sense of their worlds.

Very often two people who have been the same thing end up interpreting it differently. The
reason for such an occurrence is because of the involvement of an extremely complex cognitive
process mentioned above- perception. Each person has a unique perception resulting in
individual differences in processing information, which is received. Perception plays very
important role in shaping the personality of an individual. Since through the process of perception
individuals organize and interpret their sensory impressions so as to provide meaning to their
environment, it is possible that what is perceived by the individual may be quite different from
actual reality.

For example- a college lecturer based on his perception that an intelligent though naughty
student will enjoy working on a challenging assignment will ask him to work on a tricky
assignment. On the other hand student may not be feeling the same way and would have
preferred working on an easy assignment. So when he is given the tough assignment, he may
interpret that his lecturer is punishing him, whereas lecturer’s perception and belief is that he is
motivating his student by asking him to work, on a challenging assignment. This perception can
very often lead to complications and problems in real situations.

Nature of Perception:

It is to be noted that perception is unique, interpretation of the situation by the individual and
that it is not identical recording of it. Thus we have to remember.

Perception is a complex cognition process, giving a unique interpretation of the world which may
be very much different from reality at times.

There is lot of difference between the perpetual world and the real world.

Many of the problems occurring in organization (related to organizational behavior) are often
found to be the problems of perception.

Basic elements in perceptual process

It has been noted that often different people perceive a situation differently, in terms of what is
selectively perceived and how it is organized interpreted and finally perceived by them.
Individuals receive stimuli from the environment through their five senses namely- taste-smell-
hearing-sight and touch. There is tendency to selectively pay attention to certain aspects
interplay of a complex set of factors some are the internal factors while some form a part of
external factors.
The next step involves the perceptual organization and since there will be variations in how
people interpret what they perceive? That is person organizes the stimuli selected into
meaningful pattern depending upon the circumstances and the state of mind of those involved.
The following are few basic elements in the perceptual process:

Environmental stimuli
* Could be objects or people or events
the immediate environment.
Observation (Senses)
Perpetual Selection Taste Smell
External factors Internal factors Hearing Sight
Size Personality Touch
Intensity Learning
Contrast Motivation Perceptual Organization
Motion Perceptual Grouping
Repetition Continuity Closure
Novelty Proximity Similarity
Familiarity

Interpretation
Perceptual Errors Attributions response
Perceptual Internal versus Convert Overt
defense external Attitudes Behavior
Stereotyping causes Motivations Feelings
Halo effect causes for success
Projection and failure
Expectancy effects

For instance a firm handshake between the union leader and the personal manager may be
interpreted as friendly gesture from the manager to look into their problems or that the union
leader has joined hands with the management against them (the workers). Thus while studying
OB understanding of perception is important especially because perception of events and
behaviors.

Will vary among employees (individually) and may be inaccurate also.

An individual’s interpretation of the sensory organism will lead to response, which may be overt
(actions), covert (motivation, attitudes and feelings) or both. Since each person selectively
organizes the sensory stimuli received there could be different interpretations and responses.
Thus knowing of perceptual can help explain why people behave differently in the same situation.

Factors influencing Perception

It has been understood that each one of us may see the same person, object or event and yet
think of it differently. Supposing you visit an arts and craft exhibition took a look around and then
asks your friend also to visit the exhibition. Later on, when you exchange notes with your friend
you will be surprised to note that your friend’s views and expressions about the display differ
significantly. Why is this so? This occurs because of the influence of several factors on
perception. Usually individuals are involved in a process of perpetual selection whereby people
filter out most stimuli so that they can deal with most important ones. This process depends on
several factors, which affect the perceptual process.
The Perceiver

The understanding of what a person interprets when looking at the object or target being
perceived will be influenced by the personal traits of the individual who perceives this. For
instance, we presume an individual is planning to purchase a car then it is observed that he
starts noticing other brands of cars (falling within his budget) with more interest.

Of course, this results in the purchase of a particular brand of car, which is influenced by his
perception and this is how factors associated with the perceived can greatly influence his or her
perceptual process.

Attitude influences a person’s perception- for instance- Suma and Uma are two friends who have
cleared their bachelor’s degree in management and are interested in pursing further studies and
get into reputed Business Management institutes for obtaining MBA degree. IN order to improve
their personality, both of them get enrolled into a well-known Personality Development center.

Suma enjoys interacting in a small group because of personal interaction between the lecturer
and the student group. However, Uma basically being an extrovert preferred to be a part of large
group so as to enjoy anonymity amidst the group.

When both Suma and Uma sat down for the first session on personality development with a class
of fifty students. Suma seemed unhappy to be amidst a large class while Uma looked relieved to
be able to merge unnoticed into the large class. This example reveals that both Suma and Uma
saw the same thing but interpreted it differently.

Unsatisfied needs or motives influence an individual’s perception strongly- the particular aspect
was highlighted in a study with hungry subjects. This research study revealed that people who
had been hungry for as long as 16 hours saw more frequently images of food when they were
shown blurred pictures in comparison to those who had been hungry only for a short time.

The perceptual process can also be influenced by one’s interests – for instance, a fashion
designer is much more likely to notice a beautiful outfit worn by a girl crossing the road rather
than the traffic policeman. This can be because his chosen profession has narrowed down his
focus.

One’s experience in the past can also narrow down one’s focus. And newness or novelty also
influences perception – an individual has the tendency to perceive those things (or objects) to
which he or she can relate. But very often one’s past experience may reduce or nullify an object’s
interest.

In India the breaking away of the joint family set up and making way to the working couple
nuclear family set up had not been easily accepted by the society especially during the 70’s and
80’s of the 20th century.

However, from the 90s onward with a significant increase in the number of women joining
industries and also occupying senior managerial positions there is gradual change and people’s
negative perception/ views/ apprehensions about women executives.

Expectations also influence an individual’s perceptions – At times expectations can also distort
one’s perception such that if we expect to see something we may actually end up seeing that.
For instance, it we expect lawyers to be unscrupulous, politicians to be corrupt, youngsters to be
rude and so on.
The Target:
Perception is impacted by the motion, sound, size and other such characteristics of the target,
and this will usually occurs because the target is not perceived in isolation but along with its
background. Moreover, we have tendency to group close things and similar things together.

What one sees and perceives (observes) will generally depend on how one separates the figure
from its general background. For instance when the lecturer uses the blackboard for teaching
and for writing uses white chalk piece the students are not seeing them as patches of white chalk
but will recognize each alphabet and see the words accordingly.

At times even physical and time proximity makes one put together objects or targets even when
they are unrelated. For instance, recently we have been hearing of plane crashes involving
fighter planes and domestic plane carriers. Suddenly many people may conclude that it is
dangerous to travel by air. Though the above incidents may be unrelated their proximity in time
may have led people to develop such unrealistic perceptions about flying.

At times people have the tendency to perceive people, objects or events that are similar to each
other also as being grouped together. Greater is the similarity more is the probability of
perceiving them as a common group. For instance there is tendency among people in India to
perceive that all foreign tourists are rich. This perception is based on the white skin ignoring all
the other unrelated traits.
Factors influencing perception:

The perceiver The target The situation

Attitudes Background Time

Motives Physical-Time proximity Work environment
Interests Novelty Social Environment
Past experience Motion Light
Expectations Sounds Heat etc

The Situation

The context in which we perceive events or objects is also important. There are elements in our
surrounding environment, which influence our perception. For instance- if the MD of a company
calls for meeting with his GMs and on that day a junior manager makes a small mistake the GM is
more likely to register and notice that, which otherwise on any other normal day would have
been overlooked. If say a person attired in a dhoti kurta were to enter the office premises, he is
likely to draw more eyes compared to it he were to be attired to the same dress when walking
around in the compound of his house.

This means the perception is influenced by various situational factors such as time, location light,
etc. These may simultaneously impact the perception process if an extremely complex process.

Perceptual Organization

Perceptual organization is the process by which people group environmental stimuli into
recognizable pattern. That is an attempt is made to explain what happens during the perceptual
process when information from the situation is received. A person is not likely to perceive
patches of color, or light or smell. On the contrary the person usually perceives some organized
patterns of stimuli and clearly whole objects, which are identifiable.
For instance, if your father gifts you a motor bike you do not merely perceive the color, or
mileage or looks or the seat cover but you perceive the motor bike as a whole. Simply stated a
person’s perceptual process organizes the incoming information into a meaningful whole. Even
though it is still too early to clearly state on how the human mind assembles organizes and
categories information. Now let us take a look at some forms of perceptual organization namely,
figure-ground principle, perceptual grouping, perceptual constancy, perceptual context and
perceptual defence.

Figure Ground Principle:

According to this principle perceived objects will be separate from it’s background i.e. the figure
is always perceived to be in contrast to its background and hence will be noticed. Of course the
manner in which the figure is perceived will depend upon the background.

Perceptual Grouping:

This fundamental principle of perceptual grouping refers to the tendency to group several stimuli
into a recognizable pattern. This grouping is usually done on the basis of continuity, closure,
proximity, and similarity. These factors are briefly explained below:

1. Continuity: The tendency to perceive objects as continuous patterns.

2. Closure: This refers to the tendency to close or complete an object of events and perceive it as
a whole even though only a part of the object is evident.
3. Proximity: This refers to the tendency to perceive a group of objects to be related merely
because of their closeness.
4. Similarity: More is the similarity between the objects (or ideas) greater is the tendency to
perceive them as a common group.

Examples relating to factors affecting Perceptual Grouping

Suppose four employees leave the marketing department, for

Proximity completely unrelated reasons, and marketing manager perceive
They have all left together to join some other organization.
P
E Organization like TVS Electronics require their regular employees
R Similarity to wear a blue colored uniform dress to the factory, while marketing
C staff are required to wear white shirt black trousers and this enable
E the firm to identify the employees based on their functions.
P
T Marketing researchers generally make predictions for future based
I Continuity on assumptions that current events and trends likely continue.
O
N In a crucial meeting CEO may perceive consensus amongst heads of
departments even one or two heads had not fully agreed with CEO.

Above diagram gives different views expressed by two corporate personnel on the issue of
whether Indian can be a service economy? Each perspective will communicate about various
factors influencing the writer’s perceptual process. For instance- Mr. Subramaniam’s views on
positive growth in the future of the manufacturing and agriculture and services areas can be said
to based on the principle of continuity and principle of similarity.
In he second perspective Mr. Jamal has whole-heartedly agreed that Indian have always proved
to be suitable for services. The principles of perceptual constancy and perpetual especially
making use of factors such a similarity, continuity etc and thus it will not be wrong to infer that
there are several factors which simultaneously impact each person’s process and make it an
extremely complex cognitive process.

Perceptual Constancy:

Perceptual constancy can be said to be a sophisticated form of perceptual organization.

Constancy will highly be appreciated in this tremendously changing and highly complex world.
Perceptual constancy works on the principle of learning and that it emanates from patterns of
case. According to this principle, irrespective of the information received by the senses, the size,
shape, color, brightness and location of an object remain fairly constant.

The patterns of cues are very often learned by the individual. This learning takes place even
though each situation is different and there are interactions between inborn and learned
tendencies within the entire perceptual process.

It is this constancy, which helps people to make sense and order out of the chaotic world we live
in. for example, say with the sudden exit of the financial executive from the firm ABC statements
in the desired sequence.

Perceptual context and perceptual defense:

Perceptual context is the highest form of perceptual organization. It is in this context, which
gives meaning and value to simple stimuli events situations and other individuals in the
environment.

The organization structure and organization culture are a primary context for the employees and
all their behavior will be relevant to this. For example within the organization a piece of
information communicated in the form of a circular a notice a suggestion a pat on the back or a
smile a raised eye brow or furrowed brow will acquire a special meaning and added value when
placed in the context of the work organization. Since each context is unique it will impart a
special connotation or meaning to stimuli.

Perceptual Defence:

Perceptual defense can be said to a form of perceptual error, which occurs in reference to
perceptual context. It is based on the principle that may prompt a person to build up a defense
(or a block or refusal) or culturally unacceptable or threatening. Simply put perceptual defense
refers to the tendency among people to protect themselves against ideas, objects or situations,
which may seem threatening.

In the organizational context perceptual defence can result in negative consequences. This could
lead to misunderstandings between the Trade Union members and the management or even
supervisor – subordinate relationships.

For instance there is evidence to suggest that this perceptual error can result in a failure to
perceive the need to be creative and find ways to solve problems. While adopting perception
defense the individual continues in the customary fashion even though there is evidence to prove
that business as usual is not accomplishing anything.
While discussing about perceptual selection it is noted that people have a tendency to perceive
things that are supportive and satisfying and ignoring unpleasant or disturbing things. Sometimes
such a behavior is termed as escapism though it may seem to be a defensive gesture or device.
In organizational set up perceptual defence plays a very significant role in understanding union
management or manager- subordinate relationships.

Social Perception:

Of particular interest in organizational behavior is the process of social perception or person

perception. Person or social perception is the process by which individuals attribute
characteristics or traits to other people. It is closely related to attribution, which will also be
discussed hereunder.

The concept of social perception has relevance to organizational behavior because here the
objects are important. It is the knowledge of individual differences in perception or other people,
which plays a crucial role in employee behavior in work environment. Thus social perception is
merely concerned with the knowing how one individual perceives other individuals.

We usually categorize factors that influence how a person perceives another in terms of
characteristics or attributes of the person being perceived, characteristics of the perceiver, and
situation or context within which the perception takes place.

Characteristics of the Perceiver:

If a person knows himself it will be easier for him to see others accurately.
One’s own characteristics affect the traits one are likely to see others accurately.
People who accept themselves are more likely to see the positive aspects of other people.
Perceiving others accurately is not a single skill

Characteristics of one being perceived

There are also certain characteristics of the person being perceived which can influence the social
perception process. The following are characteristics of the perceived one, which influences social
perception. One gets influenced by the status of the person perceived. To simplify the viewer’s
perceptual activities, the person being perceived is usually put into two categories- status and
role. The visible attributes of the person perceived also affect and influence the social perception
process.

Thus it is such attributes, which make the social perception a very complex phenomenon, and it
is important to note that usually one’s social perception process is greatly influenced by one’s
own characteristics and also the characteristics of the other person.

Situation:

The setting or situation also influences one’s perception about others. The situation may be
particularly significant especially while understanding first impressions or primary effects.

For instance, you happen to meet somebody for the first time in a five star hotel accompanied by
a well known personality, whom you admire and respect, this association is likely to have a
positive influence on your assessment of the new acquaintance. But if he is with some one whom
you dislike intensely you are likely to form a negative first impression.
Of course, the initial perception may change over a period of time when you interact more with
the person and get to know him better. Nevertheless, the first impressions may come in the way
to color your later perception of the individual.

Attribution:

Attribution refers to the tendency one develops to explain the ways in which one judges other
people’s behavior. Very often we make attempts to understand the more lasting causes behind
other’s actions by interpreting their traits, motives, and intentions through the attribution
process. Simply sated attraction is the complex process in which we observe others behavior and
try to infer causes behind it from various areas.

With reference to social perception there are types of attributions which people generally tend to
make. These are dispositional attributions (such as personality traits, motivation or ability) or
internal factors. Situational attribution (social influence of others, equipments) or external factors.

The attribution theory makes attempts to explain how individuals when observing behavior
attempt to determine whether it is internally or externally caused based on three factors. These
are distinctiveness consensus and consistency. There are significant contributions from attribution
theories especially in the areas involving psychological and personality processes like motivation,
performance, performance appraisal, and leadership.

Problems in social perception:

There are two common problems or errors, which affect the social perception process- Halo
effect and Stereotyping.

Halo effect error: Evaluation of another person solely on the basis of one attribute either
favorable or unfavorable is called the halo effect. This means the halo effect blinds the perceiver
to take notice of the other attributes, which also are to be considered if evaluation is to obtain a
complete and accurate impression of the other person. Managers have to make efforts to guard
against the halo effect especially during a preliminary interview with a prospective employee or
rating an existing employee’s job performance. One trait may be singled out and used for passing
judgment on the performance of the individual.

Stereotyping: Stereotyping refers to the tendency to assign attributes to a person solely on the
basis of a category of people of which his or she is a member- people have a tendency to expect
someone identified as a doctor, lawyer or politicians to possess certain positive attributes even if
they have met few others who did not have these attributes.

Stereotyping often results in attributing favorable or unfavorable traits to the person being
perceived. Very often the person may be aware of only the overall category to which the person
being perceived belongs and is thus put into a stereotype.

The perceiver fails to recognize the characteristics that will distinguish the person as an individual
and his unique traits and qualities. Stereotyping affects social perceptions in organizations where
the most common stereotyped groups are managers, blue collared workers, supervisors,
administrative staff and trade union members.

The other common perception errors, which affect the perceptual process, are: Projection- the
tendency for individuals to see their own traits in others.
Expectancy effects: it is the extent to which prior expectations bias perceptions of events, objects
and other persons.

Impression Management: Impression management sometimes also referred to as self-

presentation may be defined as an attempt by an individual to manipulate and control the
impression that others form about them. In a simple way impression management can be said to
be the process by which people attempt to manage or control the perceptions others form of
them. People have a tendency to present themselves in such a way that they seek to impress
others in a socially desirable manner.

Impression management is an another example of individual differences and this plays an

important part in understanding a person’s perception. Impression management has two distinct
facets.

Impression motivation – the degree to which an individual actively manages the impression that
he or she makes.

Impression construction- (how an individual has consciously chosen an image to convey and also
on how he goes about doing that.)

Almost everybody is concerned about the impression that he or she makes on others, at least
part of the time. In organizations also the employee may be motivated to control the way his
superior perceives him. Of course, the extent of motivation to impression managed will depend
on the relevance of impressions to the person’s goals, value of these goals and the difference
between the image one would like others to hold and the image one believes others already
have.

Impression Motivation
(How much the individual cares about
the impression that he or she is making?

Impression construction
What image does one want to convey?
And how to go about doing it?

Impression Management

It is said that there are five factors which have relevance on the kinds of impression that people
try to construct – namely self concept, desired, and undesired identity, images, role constraints,
target’s values and current social image. However, there is only little information on how people
select ways to manage other’s perceptions of them. But there is no doubt about the fact that in
organizations the impression made on others may make significant implications on an employee’s
career.

Impression Management Strategies:

Here we briefly touch upon two basic strategies used by employees to manage impressions.
When an employee tries to minimize his responsibility for an unfavorable event or say he wants
to be out of trouble, he may use a demotion preventive strategy. Whereas, when an employee
wants to maximize responsibility for a favorable outcome or wants to portray a better image of
himself or herself then he or she may use a promotion enhancing strategy.
The demotion preventive strategies may take the form of:

(a) Justification of action: If not completed his work the employee may try to justify himself by
saying that he was not keeping well.
(b) Forwarding an apology: The employee may apologize to the boss for some unfavorable
happening and tries to impress upon his boss that hs is extremely sorry for the occurrence and
promises to see that it does not reoccur.
© Disassociation: When an employee is indirectly associated with something that went wrong, he
will try to convey the impression that he was only distantly associated and in spite of being
against the decision action was overpowered by others.

Some of the promotion enhancing strategies can take the form of:

(i) Entitlements: When an employee feels that he has not been given due credit for the work
done he will communicate either formally or informally to the right people that he was happy his
suggestions are working correctly.
(ii) Enhancements: When an employee may have received credit but feels that he deserves more,
he will highlight about how his efforts in the future can result in enhanced profits.
(iii) Obstacles disclosures: Under the strategy the employee is trying to create the perception that
since his achievements have been on account of the big obstacles (either personal or
organizational hindrances) cleared by him he deserves more credit.
(iv) Association: Here the employee tries to be seen with the right people at the right time to
create the impression that he is well connected and associated with successful projects.

The above strategies are adopted to build impressions and perceptions and thus employees have
to be wary of such deliberate attempts at manipulations while evaluating people.

ENDS