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Organizational Organizational Behavior, 9/EBehavior, 9/E

Schermerhorn, Hunt, and Schermerhorn, Hunt, and OsbornOsborn

Prepared by

Michael K. McCuddy

Valparaiso University

John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Organizational Behavior: Chapter 5 2

Chapter 5 Study Questions

What is the perception process?What are common perceptual

distortions?How can perceptions be managed?What is attribution theory?


Study Question 1: What is the perception process?

Perception.

– The process by which people select, organize,

interpret, retrieve, and respond to information.

– People process information inputs into

responses involving feeling and action.

– The quality or accuracy of a person’s

perceptions has a major impact on responses.



Information attention and selection.– Selective screening.

• Lets in only a tiny portion all the information that is available.

– Two types of selective screening.• Controlled processing.

• Screening without perceiver’s conscious awareness.


Study Question 1: What is the perception process?Organization of information.

– Schemas.• Cognitive frameworks that represent organized

knowledge about a given concept or stimulus developed through experience.

– Types of schemas:• Self schemas.• Person schemas.• Script schemas.• Person-in-situation schemas.



Information interpretation.

– Uncovering the reasons behind the ways

stimuli are grouped.

– People may interpret the same information

differently or make different attributions about

information.



Information retrieval.

– Attention and selection, organization, and

interpretation are part of memory.

– Information stored in memory must be

retrieved in order to be used.


Study Question 2: What are commonperceptual distortions?



Stereotypes or prototypes.

– Combines information based on the category

or class to which a person, situation, or object

belongs.

– Individual differences are obscured.

– Strong impact at the organization stage.



Halo effects.

– Occur when one attribute of a person or

situation is used to develop an overall

impression of the individual or situation.

– Likely to occur in the organization stage.

– Important in the performance appraisal

process.



Selective perception.

– The tendency to single out those aspects of a situation, person, or object that are consistent with one’s needs, values, or attitudes.

– Strongest impact is at the attention stage.

– Perception checking with other persons can help counter the adverse impact of selective perception.



Projection.

– The assignment of one’s personal attributes to

other individuals.

– Especially likely to occur in interpretation

stage.

– Projection can be controlled through a high

degree of self-awareness and empathy.



Contrast effects.

– Occur when an individual is compared to other

people on the same characteristics on which

the others rank higher or lower.

– People must be aware of the impact of contrast

effects in many work settings



Self-fulfilling prophecy.– The tendency to create or find in another

situation or individual that which one expected to find.

– Also called the “Pygmalion effect.”– Can have either positive or negative outcomes.– Managers should adopt positive and optimistic

approaches to people at work.


Study Question 3: How can perceptions be managed?

Impression management.– A person’s systematic attempt to behave in

ways that create and maintain desired impressions in others’ eyes.

– Successful managers:• Use impression management to enhance their own

images.• Are sensitive to other people’s use of impression

management.


Study Question 3: How can perceptions be managed?

Distortion management.

– Managers should:

• Balance automatic and controlled information

processing at the attention and selection stage.

• Broaden their schemas at the organizing stage.

• Be attuned to attributions at the interpretation

stage.


Study Question 4:What is attribution theory?

Attribution theory aids in perceptual interpretation by focusing on how people attempt to:– Understand the causes of a certain event.– Assess responsibility for the outcomes of the

event.– Evaluate the personal qualities of the people

involved in the event.



Factors influencing internal and external attributions.– Distinctiveness — consistency of a person’s

behavior across situations.– Consensus — likelihood of others responding

in a similar way.– Consistency — whether an individual

responds the same way across time.



Fundamental attribution error.

– Applies to the evaluation of someone’s else

behavior.

– Attributing success to the influence of

situational factors.

– Attributing failure to the influence of personal

factors.



Self-serving bias.

– Applies to the evaluation of our own behavior.

– Attributing success to the influence of

personal factors.

– Attributing failure to the influence of

situational factors.


Study Question 4:What is attribution theory? Techniques for effectively managing perceptions

and attributions.– Be self-aware.

– Seek a wide range of differing information.

– Try to see a situation as others would.

– Be aware of different kinds of schemas.

– Be aware of perceptual distortions.

– Be aware of self and impression management.

– Be aware of attribution theory implications.


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