COMM222- Ch3

The process of interpreting the messages of our senses to provide order and meaning to the environment

 Some of the most important perceptions that influence organizational behavior are the perceptions that organizational members have of each other

• 1. Perceiver
• 2. The Target
• 3. The Situation

a. The perceiver’s experience, needs, and emotions can affect his or her perceptions of a target

b. Past experiences lead the perceiver to develop expectations, and these expectations affect current perceptions

c. Frequently, our needs unconsciously influence our perception by causing us to perceive what we wish to perceive

d. Emotions, such as anger, happiness, or fear, can influence our perceptions

e. Perceptual Defense

The tendency for perceptual system to defend the perceiver against unpleasant emotions

a. Perception involves interpretation and the addition of meaning to the target, and ambiguous targets are especially susceptible to interpretation and addition

b. The perceiver does not or cannot always use all the information provided by the target. In these cases, a reduction in ambiguity might not be accompanied by greater accuracy

a. Every instance of perception occurs in some situational context, and this context can affect what one perceives

when the perceiver encounters an unfamiliar target, the perceiver is very open to the informational cues contained in the target and the situation surrounding it

 Gradually, the perceiver encounters some familiar cues (note the role of the perceiver’s experience here) that enable them to make crude categorization of the target

 The perceiver begins to search out cues that confirm the categorization, actively ignoring or even distorting cues that violate initial perceptions

• o Perception is selective
• o Perceptual constancy
• o Perceptual consistency

Retain cues that are consistent with one’s expectations, needs, and mood, and reject cues that are inconsistent.

Perceive a target in the same way over time or across situations, even in light of contradictory cues.

Select, ignore, and distort cues so that the retained cues fit together to form a consistent image of the target.

The tendency for a perceiver to rely on early cues or first impressions

The tendency for a perceiver to rely on recent cues or last impressions

Relying on information about the person that is most interesting to you

Beliefs that certain traits go together

Assuming that others are or think like you

Generalizations about people in a social category, ignoring variations in that group o Stereotypes help us develop impressions of ambiguous targets, and we are usually pretty familiar with the people in our own groups o Language can be easily twisted to turn neutral or even favorable information into a basis for unfavorable stereotypes o Knowing a person’s occupation or field of study, we often make assumptions about their behavior and personality o Not all stereotypes are inaccurate o This raises an interesting question: if many stereotypes are inaccurate, why do they persist? o Sometimes, it is easier for the perceiver to rely on an inaccurate stereotype than it is to discover the true nature of the target.

The process by which causes or motives are assigned to explain people’s behavior

Explanations for behavior based on an actor’s personality or intellect, e.g. lazy, intelligent

Explanations for behavior based on an actor’s external situation or environment, e.g. bad luck, poor weather

Attribution cues that reflect how consistently a person engages in some behavior over time

Attribution cues that reflect how a person’s behavior compares with that of others.

Attribution cues that reflect the extent to which a person engages in some behavior across a variety of situations.

Observers often operate in a rational, logical manner in forming attributions about behavior

 The various cue combinations and the resulting attributions have a sensible appearance

 Fundamental attribution error: The tendency to overemphasize dispositional explanations for behavior at the expense of situational explanations

Actor-observer effect

self-serving bias

The propensity for actors and observers to view the causes of the actor’s behavior differently

The tendency to take credit for successful outcomes and to deny responsibility for failures

The labor pool is changing, and at the same time many organizations are seeking to recruit more representatively from this pool so that they employ people who reflect their customer base—an effort to better mirror their markets

 Globalization, mergers, and strategic alliances mean that many employees are required to interact with people from substantially different national or corporate cultures

Members of a social group feel they might be judged or treated according to a stereotype and that their behavior or performance will confirm the stereotypes

Racial and ethnic stereotypes are pervasive, persistent, frequently negative, and often self-contradictory

Considering their numbers in the workforce, women are severely underrepresented in managerial and administrative jobs

 There is evidence that gender stereotypes are partially responsible for discouraging women from business careers and blocking their ascent to managerial positions

 Stereotypes of successful middle managers do not correspond to stereotypes of women

 The most recent research indicates that both men and women of varying age, education, and work experience still describe a good manager as possessing predominantly masculine characteristics

 One recent study found that when women are successful in traditional male jobs, they are less liked

 Women suffer from stereotype that is detrimental to their hiring, development, promotion, and salaries

 On the other hand, hiring and promotion decisions might confront managers with ambiguous targets or situations and prompt them to resort to gender stereotypes in forming impressions

 We tend to make certain assumptions about people in certain age groups (whether they be physical, intellectual, psychological capabilities)

 Older workers are seen as having less capacity for performance

 Older workers are seen as having less potential for development

 They tend to be perceived ad more honest, dependable, and trustworthy, (in short, more stable)

 To combat this discrimination, Canada’s Association for the 50 Plus (CARP has worked with the Ontario Human Rights Commission on a public awareness campaign

•  Select enough minority members to get them beyond token status
•  Encourage teamwork that brings minority and majority members together
•  Ensure that those making career decisions about employees have accurate information  Train people to be aware of stereotypes
•  Awareness training program should be accompanied by skills training that is relevant to the particular needs of the organizations

•  Build senior management commitment and accountability
•  Conduct a thorough needs assessment
•  Develop a well-defined strategy tied to business results
•  Emphasizes team building and group process training
•  Establish metrics and evaluate the effectiveness of diversity initiatives

A psychological state in which one has a willingness to be vulnerable and to take risks with respect to the actions of another party

 Trust in management is on a decline, and trust influence organizational processes and outcomes

ability, benevolence, and integrity

 Perceptions of trust in management are positively related to job satisfaction, organizational commitment, job performance, and organizational citizenship behavior

 “Trust Index”

Employees’ general belief that their organization values their contribution and cares about their well being

A theory that states that employees who have strong perceptions of organizational support feel and obligation to care about the organization’s welfare and to help the organizations achieve its objectives

 First, applicants are usually motivated to present an especially favorable impression if themselves

 active deception

 Second, interviewers have a tendency to exhibit primacy reactions

 Less importance to positive information

•  University of Calgary and David Zweig of the University of Toronto:
• o Question sophistication
• o Question consistency
• o Rapport buildings

Job applicants interpret their recruitment experiences as cues or signals about what it is like to work in an organization

 Objective and Subjective Measures

 Rater Errors

The tendency to perceive the job performance of ratees as especially good

The tendency to perceive the job performance of ratees as especially ineffective

The tendency to assign most ratees to middle-range job performance categories

The rating of an individual on one traits or characteristic tends to color ratings on other traits or characteristics

A rater gives more favorable evaluations to people who are similar o the rater in terms of backgrounds or attitudes