PERCEPTION

PERCEPTION AND
AND
INDIVIDUAL
INDIVIDUAL DECISION
DECISION MAKING
MAKING
What
What Is
Is Perception,
Perception, and
and Why
Why Is
Is ItIt Important?
Important?

Perception
A process by which
••People’s
People’s behavior
behavior isis
individuals organize and based
based on
on their
their
interpret their sensory perception
perception of of what
what
impressions in order to reality
reality is,
is, not
not on
on
give meaning to their reality
reality itself.
itself.
environment.
••The
The world
world asas itit isis
perceived
perceived isis the
the worldworld
that
that isis behaviorally
behaviorally
important.
important.
Person
Person Perception:
Perception: Making
Making Judgments
Judgments About
About
Others
Others

Attribution Theory
When individuals observe behavior, they attempt to
determine whether it is internally or externally
caused.

Distinctiveness:
Distinctiveness:shows
showsdifferent
differentbehaviors
behaviorsinindifferent
differentsituations.
situations.
Consensus:
Consensus:response
responseisisthe
thesame
sameasasothers
otherstotosame
samesituation.
situation.
Consistency:
Consistency:responds
respondsininthe
thesame
sameway
wayover
overtime.
time.
Errors
Errors and
and Biases
Biases in
in Attributions
Attributions
Fundamental Attribution Error
The tendency to underestimate the influence
of external factors and overestimate the
influence of internal factors when making
judgments about the behavior of others.
Errors
Errors and
and Biases
Biases in
in Attributions
Attributions (cont’d)
(cont’d)

Self-Serving Bias
The tendency for individuals to attribute their
own successes to internal factors while
putting the blame for failures on external
factors.
Exercise
Exercise on
on Perception
Perception
Exercise
Exercise on
on Perception
Perception
Exercise
Exercise on
on Perception
Perception
Exercise
Exercise on
on Perception
Perception

Count every ' F ' in the following text:

FINISHED FILES ARE THE RESULT OF YEARS OF

SCIENTIFIC STUDY COMBINED WITH THE
EXPERIENCE OF YEARS... HOW MANY ?
Frequently
Frequently Used
Used Shortcuts
Shortcuts in
in Judging
Judging Others
Others

Halo Effect
Drawing a general impression about an
individual on the basis of a single
characteristic

Contrast Effects
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.
Frequently
Frequently Used
Used Shortcuts
Shortcuts in
in Judging
Judging Others
Others

Projection
Attributing one’s own characteristics to other
people.

Stereotyping
Judging someone on the basis of one’s
perception of the group to which that person
belongs.
Specific
Specific Applications
Applications in
in Organizations
Organizations
 Employment Interview
– Perceptual biases of raters 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.
 Ethnic Profiling
– A form of stereotyping in which a group of
individuals is singled out—typically on the basis
of race or ethnicity—for intensive inquiry,
scrutinizing, or investigation.
Specific
Specific Applications
Applications in
in Organizations
Organizations (cont’d)
(cont’d)
 Performance Evaluations
– Appraisals are often the subjective (judgmental)
perceptions of appraisers of another employee’s
job performance.
 Employee Effort
– Assessment of individual effort is a subjective
judgment subject to perceptual distortion and
bias.
The
The Link
Link Between
Between Perceptions
Perceptions and
and Individual
Individual
Decision
Decision Making
Making

Problem
A perceived discrepancy
between the current state
of affairs and a desired Perception
Perception
of
ofthe
the
state.
decision
decision
Decisions maker
maker
Choices made from
among alternatives
developed from data
perceived as relevant.
Outcomes
Assumptions
Assumptions of
of the
the Rational
Rational Decision-Making
Decision-Making
Model
Model

Rational Decision- Model

ModelAssumptions
Assumptions
Making Model
•• Problem
Problemclarity
clarity
Describes how
•• Known
Knownoptions
options
individuals should
behave in order to •• Clear
Clearpreferences
preferences
maximize some •• Constant
outcome. Constant
preferences
preferences
•• No
Notime
timeor
orcost
cost
constraints
constraints
•• Maximum
Maximumpayoff
payoff