Perception & Attribution

Dr. S.P. Chauhan

 SIGNIFICANCE OF PERCEPTION

• Perception is important in the study of OB because

people’s behaviour is based on their perception of
what reality is, not on reality itself.

• An important feature of Perception is to understand

that it is a unique interpretation of the
situation/event or person, not the exact recording
of it. Thus it may be quite different from the reality.
 PERCEPTION
• Perception is the process by which people select,
organise, interpret and respond to information
from the world around them.

• It is a psychological process by which people make

sense of their world.

• Through perception people process information

inputs into responses involving feelings and action
(behaviour)
 WHAT IS PERCEPTUAL SELECTION

Individuals tend to selectively

pay attention to some
aspects of the environment
and selectively ignore other
aspects.
 WHAT IS PERCEPTUAL SELECTION

Selective Perception : Tendency to selectively

interpret what one see on the bases of
one’s intererst, background, experience
and attitude. Selective Perception is also
our tendency to choose information that
supports our viewpoints. Because we see
what we want to see. SP allows us to
“speed-read” others.
Read the following
 ASPECTS OF PERCEPTION

SOCIAL PERCEPTION : (Perception of Others)

How an Individual perceives other individuals

IMPRESSION MANAGEMENT: (Self Presentation)

How an individual attempts to manage or

control the perceptions others form about
him/her
 Factors Influencing Interpretation

• Perceptual Set
Perceptual Defense
(protect oneself against ideas,
objects or situations that are
threatening or to deal with
conflicting messages)
 Factors Influencing Interpretation

• Stereotyping (gender, age, race,

ethnicity, caste). Generalization about a
group.

• Halo Effect(+ve)/Horns Effect [-ve]

(based on one trait)
 Factors Influencing Interpretation

• Contrast Effect

• Projection (project one’s

own feelings, personality
characteristics, attitudes or
motives onto others)
 Factors Influencing Interpretation

• Expectancy Effect –
Self Fulfilling prophesy,
Pygmalion Effect
 Self-fulfilling Prophecy Cycle

Superior forms
expectations about
employee

Employee’s
behaviour
become
Expectations
consistent with affect superior’s
superior’s behaviour
expectations Superior’s toward
behaviour affects employee
abilities & self-
efficacy
 Person Perception

Primacy Effect : First information

– Pay less attention to subsequent
information
– Ignore information that contradicts
with the first impression
 Person Perception

Recency Effect:

Most recent information

dominates
earlier information loses
significance
 ATTRIBUTION
Finding an explanation to the cause of
one’s own and other’s behaviour.

What is Fundamental Attribution Error?

Tendency to incorrectly attribute the negative
behavior of other people to internal more than
external factors. Or The tendency to
underestimate the influence of EXTERNAL
factors and overestimate the INTERNAL factors
when making judgements about the behaviour
 ATTRIBUTION

What is Self-serving Bias?

The tendency to attribute their

own success to INTERNAL
FACTORS and put the blame for
failures on EXTERNAL FACTORS.
 FACTORS AFFECTING ATTRIBUTION

Fritz Heider and H.H. Kelley’are the

contributors of Attribution Theory.
This theory refer to decide whether a behaviour is
internally caused or externally caused. The following
three factors could be considered:
• Consistency : Similar behaviour pattern in
similar jobs/situations, we attribute to
Internal reasons.
 FACTORS AFFECTING ATTRIBUTION

• Distinctiveness : Similar behaviour in different

situation/job, we attribute to Internal
reasons.
• Consensus : Do others behave similarly in this

situation? If “Yes” it is External.

 Example of ATTRIBUTION

• Divya has done poorly in a test in her

third semester MBA course and has
expressed concern to her professor. Her
professor, in trying to understand the
possible reasons for her behaviour
(doing poorly in the test) tries to
determine its degree of distinctiveness,
consistency, and consensus.
 Example of ATTRIBUTION

• If Divya tends to do poorly in tests in other

courses (low distinctiveness), has performed
poorly on earlier tests in her management
class (high consistency), and if no other
students in her class did poorly in the test
(low consensus), the professor tends to make
an internal attribution regarding Divya’s
behaviour.
 Example of ATTRIBUTION

• On the other hand, if Divya does well in tests

in other courses (high distinctiveness), has
performed well in earlier tests in this
professor’s course (low consistency) and if
other students in the course have also done
poorly in this test (high consensus), the
professor might make an external attribution
about her behaviour.
 THE PERCEPTUAL PROCESS

EXTERNAL STIMULI OBSERVATION

(Sight, Hearing, Smell,
Touch, Taste)

PERCEPTUAL SELECTION
Int. Factors, Ext. Factors
PERCEPTUAL ORGANISATION
Perceptual Grouping
(Similarity, Proximity Closure,
Figure-Ground)

INTERPRETATION

Perceptual Errors Attributions RESPONSE

Stereotyping Internal vs
Covert Overt
Halo Effect External
Attitudes Behaviour
Projection Causes Motivations
Expectancy for Success/ Feelings
Effect Failure
 Impression Management

• An attempt by an individual to
manipulate or control the
impression that others form
about them
 Impression Management

Impression Tactics:
• Behavioural Matching
• Self Promotion
• Conforming to Norms
• Flattering others
• Being consistent
 Specific Applications in Organisations

Interviews
• Interviewers make perceptual judgments
Interviewers generally draw early
impressions about candidates - Primacy
Effect
• Interviewers tend to make comparisons -
Contrast Effect
 Specific Applications in Organisations

Performance Expectations
 Self-fulfilling prophecy – high
expectations lead to high
performance and vice versa
 Specific Applications in Organisations

Performance Expectations

 Positive Self-fulfilling Prophecy

can be used as a valuable strategy
to maximise employee
performance and help them to
realise their potential
 Specific Applications in Organisations

Performance Evaluation
• Recency Effect: In performance appraisal most
recent information gains significance over earlier
information
• Performance appraisal takes into account objective
criteria but there is also a subjective element in
assessing individuals.
Employee Effort
Assessment of an individual’s effort is a subjective
judgment.
 Specific Applications in Organisations

Perceptual Biases can cause problems in terms

of:

• Cause discrimination
• Wrong selection/placement
• Career limitations
• Improper utilisation of employees
• Employee potential remaining untapped
 Specific Applications in Organisations

Perceptual Biases can cause problems in terms

of:

• Cause discrimination
• Wrong selection/placement
• Career limitations
• Improper utilisation of employees
• Employee potential remaining untapped
 EXERCISE for Stereotype

Below is a list of characteristics that are often

used to indicate gender differences. If you
believe that a characteristic is more like a
typical male, mark an M in the space
provided. Mark an F if you believe a
characteristic is more like a typical female.
Mark an N if you believe there is no
difference:
Contdd..
 EXERCISE

1. Aggressive ---------------
2. Dominant ---------------
3. Excitable in a major crisis------------
4. Home oriented……………………
5. High mechanical aptitude--------------
6. Feelings easily hurt-----------------
7. Never cries----------------------
8. Strong need for security---------------
 EXERCISE

9. Indifferent to others’ approval------------

10.Like maths and science---------------
11.Emotional---------------------
12.Has difficulty making decisions---------
 SCORING FOR STEREOTYPES

FOR Qs: 1,2,5,7,9,10 give

yourself 1 point for each M
rating, 0 for F or N.

For Qs: 3,4,6,8,11,12 give

yourself 1 point for each F
rating, 0 for M or N.
 Interpretation FOR STEREOTYPES

Maximum points :12

A high score indicates a strong
belief in traditional gender
roles and a tendency to
stereotype sex roles.