PERCEPTUAL ASPECTS OF

BEHAVIOR
CHAPTER 3

@ZURAIDAH MOHAMED ISA/UiTM KEDAH/2008

PERCEPTION
The process of creating an internal
representation of the external world by
selecting, receiving, organizing and
interpreting the info from it

What Is Perception, and Why Is

It Important?
Perception

A process by which
individuals organize and
interpret their sensory
impressions in order to
give meaning to their
environment.

People
Peoples behavior is
based on their
perception of what
reality is, not on
reality itself.
The world as it is
perceived is the world
that is behaviorally
important.

Factors That
Influence Perception

E X H I B I T 51

TARGET CHARACTERISTICS
Target is the person, object, place or thing
where the perception is made on.
The characteristics are:
Motion action, movement, signal.
Intensity forceful of feeling or things.
Novelty new, unusual.
Sound melody, things that can be heard.
Size how small or big of something.
Background conditions that existed before
or something seen or heard
behind of other thing.

(contd)
Example:
A red flash on nurse station console receives
attention because:
It is bright (intensity)
It is flashing (motion)
it is a rare event (novelty)

PERCEIVER
CHARACTERISTICS
It is the person who is making the perception on the
target.
The characteristics are:
Attitudes Ali likes small class so that he can ask
questions, but Ahmad prefer anonymity of a large
class.
Motives unsatisfied needs encourage a person to
fulfill it.
Interest engineer looks things from technical pt of
view compared to doctors.
Past experience things or events related to oneself.
Expectations expect to see what we want to see.

ORGANIZING PERCEPTUAL DATA

Figure and Ground refers to the tendency to
be able to distinguish a central object from its
surroundings
Set is the tendency to respond to a situation in
term of prior information acquired rather than
what actually exists
Gestalt is the tendency to avoid the discomfort
of unorganized information by assigning to it
overall meaning
Attribution is the tendency to try to understand
behavior of a person or events by interpreting
them as caused by certain environmental factors

OPTICAL ILLUSION

OPTICAL ILLUSION

OPTICAL ILLUSION

OPTICAL ILLUSION

OPTICAL ILLUSIONS

OPTICAL ILLUSION

PERCEPTUAL DISTORTION

Stereotypes
Halo effects
Selective perception
Projection
Expectancy

Frequently Used Shortcuts in

Judging Others
Selective Perception
People selectively interpret what they see on the
basis of their interests, background, experience,
and attitudes.

PERCEPTUAL DISTORTIONS
1. Selective Perception
People selectively interpret what they see on
basis of their interest, background, experience
& attitudes.
E.g. some employees may be reprimanded
(object/disapprove) by their boss for doing
something that done by another employee and
goes unnoticed.
This happen because people take in bits &
pieces, & that bits & pieces are selectively
chosen according to peoples interest,
background, experiences & attitudes.

PERCEPTUAL DISTORTIONS
Selective Perception
People selectively interpret what they see on
basis of their interest, background, experience
& attitudes.
E.g. some employees may be reprimanded
(object/disapprove) by their boss for doing
something that done by another employee and
goes unnoticed.
This happen because people take in bits &
pieces, & that bits & pieces are selectively
chosen according to peoples interest,
background, experiences & attitudes.

Frequently Used Shortcuts in Judging

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

Contrast Effects
Evaluation of a persons characteristics that
are affected by comparisons with other
people recently encountered who rank higher
or lower on the same characteristics.

PERCEPTUAL DISTORTIONS
2. Halo Effect
Ones general impression of a person usually
based on ones prominent (something that easily
be seen) characteristics, biases ones perception
pf other characteristics of that person.
E.g. if we meet a client who speaks in a friendly
manner, we tend to infer a host of other
favorable qualities about that client.
It is most likely occur when concrete info abt a
target is missing or we have insufficient info abt
the target. Thus, perceiver tend to use his/her
general impression of the target to fill in the
missing info.

PERCEPTUAL DISTORTIONS
2. Halo Effect
Ones general impression of a person usually
based on ones prominent (something that easily
be seen) characteristics, biases ones perception
pf other characteristics of that person.
E.g. if we meet a client who speaks in a friendly
manner, we tend to infer a host of other
favorable qualities about that client.
It is most likely occur when concrete info abt a
target is missing or we have insufficient info abt
the target. Thus, perceiver tend to use his/her
general impression of the target to fill in the
missing info.

Frequently Used Shortcuts in Judging

Others
Projection

Stereotyping

Attributing ones own

characteristics to other
people.

Judging someone on the

basis of ones perception of
the group to which that
person belongs.

PERCEPTUAL DISTORTIONS
3. Projection Bias
It is when one tend to believe that other people
hold the same beliefs & attitudes that one
does.
E.g. if we want a challenging task &
responsibility, we might think other people
want or feel the same.
Projection bias is usually a defense
mechanism to protect our self-esteem. E.g. if
we break a rule, projection bias could justify
our claim that everyone breaks it too.

PERCEPTUAL DISTORTIONS
4. Stereotyping
A process of assigning traits to people based
on their membership to a social category.
In other words, stereotype defines people by
the demographic & organizational groups to
which people belong to.
Stereotypes are easy to confirm because they
include abstract personality traits that is
supported by ambiguous behaviors.
But, it does not accurately describe every
person in the social categories & stereotyped
perceiver often ignore or misinterpret info that
is inconsistent with the stereotype.

PERCEPTUAL DISTORTIONS
4. Stereotyping
A process of assigning traits to people based
on their membership to a social category.
In other words, stereotype defines people by
the demographic & organizational groups to
which people belong to.
Stereotypes are easy to confirm because they
include abstract personality traits that is
supported by ambiguous behaviors.
But, it does not accurately describe every
person in the social categories & stereotyped
perceiver often ignore or misinterpret info that
is inconsistent with the stereotype.

PERCEPTUAL DISTORTIONS
3. Projection Bias
It is when one tend to believe that other people
hold the same beliefs & attitudes that one
does.
E.g. if we want a challenging task &
responsibility, we might think other people
want or feel the same.
Projection bias is usually a defense
mechanism to protect our self-esteem. E.g. if
we break a rule, projection bias could justify
our claim that everyone breaks it too.
MGT 321 ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR

MANAGING THE PERCEPTION

PROCESS
Have a high level of self-awareness
Seek information from various sources to confirm or
disconfirm personal impressions of a decision situation
Be empathetic that is, able to see a situation as it is
perceived by other people
Influence the perceptions of other people when they are
drawing incorrect or incomplete impressions of events in
the work setting
Avoid common perceptual distortions that bias our views
of people and situations
Avoid inappropriate attributions

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