Chapter 6 Flashcards
What is perception?
A process by which people organized and interprets their sensory impressions to give meaning to their environment.
Why is perception importance in the study of organizational behavior?
People based their behavior on their perception of what reality is, not reality itself.
What is attribution theory?
An attempt to explain the ways we judge people differently, depending on the meaning we attribute to a behavior. Such as determining whether an individuals behavior is internally or externally caused .
What are internally caused behaviors?
Those an observer believes to be under the personal behavioral control of another person.
(Late because staying up too late with friends)
What are externally caused behaviors?
What the situation forced the person to do.
(Late because of a storm)
What are the 3 factors that determine if a behavior is internally or externally caused?
- Distinctiveness: Does this behavior occur in other situations?
- Consensus: Did other people have the same problem?
- Consistency: Does this happen often?
What is self-serving bias?
The tendency for individuals to attribute their own success to internal factors + put the blame for failures on external factors.
What is 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.
What is selective perception?
The tendency to choose to interpret what one sees based on ones interest, background, experience, and attributes.
What is the halo effect?
The tendency to draw a positive general impression about a person based on a single characteristic.
What is the horns effect?
The tendency to draw a negative general impression about a person based on a single characteristic.
What is contrast effect?
Evaluation of a person’s characteristics thath is affected by comparisons with other people recently encountered who rank higher or lower on the same characteristics.
What is stereotyping?
Judging someone based on one’s perception of the group to which that person belongs.
Why is sterotyping a problem?
They are widespread generalizations that does not apply to everyone.
What is the self-fulfilling prophecy?
A situation where a person inaccurately perceives a second person and the resulting expectations cause the second person to behave in ways consistent with the original perception.
Why are subjective evaluations often problematic?
Selective perception, contrast effects, halo effects, etc.
What are decisions?
Choices made from two or more alternatives
What is a problem?
A discrepancy between the current states of affairs and some desired state
What occurs as a reaction to a problem?
Decision-making
What does rational mean?
Characterized by making consistent, value – maximizing choices within specified constraints
What is a rational decision-making model?
A decision – making model that describes how people should behave to maximize some outcome
What are the steps in a rational decision-making model?
- Define the problem.
- Identify the decision criteria.
- Allocate weight to the criteria.
- Develop the alternatives.
- Evaluate the alternatives.
- Select the best alternative.
What does it mean to satisfice?
To accept an available option as satisfactory
What are most decisions made by?
Judgment
What is bounded rationality?
A process of making decisions by constructing simplified models that extract the essential features from problems without capturing their complexity
Why do we often not follow the rational decision-making model?
Our limited processing capabilities makes it impossible to simulate all the information needed to optimize, even if the information is obtainable.
Some problems are too complicated to fit the rational decision-making model, so there is not an optional solution .
Why do people satisfice?
If there is not an optimal choice, then people will choose the satisfactory and sufficient option
Why do humans operate within the confines of bounded rationality?
The human mind cannot formulate and solve complex problems without full rationality
When we take out the complexity of rational decision-making, what are we left with?
Simplified models that extract the essential features from problems.
(this allows us to act rationally within the limits of the simple model)
What is the least rational way of making decisions?
Using intuitive decision-making
What is intuitive decision-making?
An unconscious process created out of distilled experience
What type of person is likely to overestimate their performance and ability?
People whose intellectual and interpersonal abilities are weakest
What is anchoring bias?
A tendency to fixate on initial information, from which one then fails to adjust adequately for subsequent information
Where are anchors widely used?
In professions in which persuasion skills are important.
(advertising, management, politics, real estate, law, etc.)
Anytime in negotiation takes place, what else takes place?
Anchoring
What happens when an employer asks about your former salary?
The answer you give will typically anchor the employers offer
What happens when you change the anchor from $55,000 to $55,650?
The employer goes from thinking a salary between $50,000-$60,000 is acceptable to thinking that a salary between $55,000- $60,000 is acceptable.
What is confirmation bias?
The tenancy to seek out information that reaffirms past choices and to discount information that contradicts past judgments
What is availability bias?
The tenancy for people to base their judgments on information that is readily available to them
What is escalation of commitment?
An increased commitment to a previous decision despite negative information
When is escalation of commitment most likely to occur?
When people view themselves as responsible for the outcome
What is randomness error?
The tendency of people to believe that they can predict the outcome of random events
Why is randomness error not great?
It can make people decide stuff based off of superstitions or luck
What is risk aversion?
The tendency to prefer a short gain of a moderate amount over a riskier outcome, even if the riskier outcome might have a higher expected outcome
What makes someone more or less risk averse?
The way something is said.
(If they say something more positively, they are more likely to accept than less positively stated)
What type of situation makes risk preferences stronger
Stressful situations
(people who are stressed, are more likely to engage in risk seeking behavior to avoid negative outcomes. Then engage in risk averse behavior when seeking positive outcomes.
What is hindsight bias?
The tendency to believe falsely, as Aaron outcome of an event is actually known, that one would have accurately predicted the outcome
Generally, our men or women better decision-makers?
Men and women are about equal decision-makers generally
When under stress, do men or women make a better decisions?
Women
What happens when a man or a woman are trying to make a decision under stress?
Men typically become more egocentric and make more risky decisions.
Women typically become more empathetic and other decision-making improves .
Do men or women spend more time analyzing the past, present, and future?
(Ruminating)
Women
What is the likely consequence when women over analyze problems before deciding, then rehashing the decision once it is made?
The likely outcome is, the problem is going to be become harder to solve, they will experience increased regret, overpass decisions, and they will experience higher likelihood of depression
Which gender is almost twice as likely to develop depression than the other?
Women
When are the decision-making differences more or less similar to one another? (Genders)
They are less similar in young adult years, but more similar after the age of 65.
(Both genders ruminate the least after the age of 65)
Why is culture a factor in decision-making?
Depending on the culture, you will make decisions differently
What is utilitarianism?
An ethical perspective in which decisions are made to provide the greatest good for all
What are whistleblowers?
People who report unethical practices by their employer to outsiders
What is deonance?
A perspective in which ethical decisions are made because you “ought to” in order to be consistent with moral norms, principles, standards, rules, or laws.
What is behavioral ethics?
Analyzing how people behave when confronted with ethical dilemmas
Why is lying deadly to businesses?
It makes it impossible to make the right decision because you’re going off of somebody else’s word
What is creativity?
The ability to produce novel and useful ideas
What are the four steps of creative behavior?
- Problem formulation.
- Information gathering.
- Idea generation.
- Idea evaluation.
What is problem formulation?
The stage of creative behavior that involves identifying a problem or opportunity requiring a solution that is yet unknown
What is information gathering?
The stage of creative behavior when possible solutions to a problem incubate in an individuals mind
What is idea generation?
The process of creative behavior that involves developing possible solutions to a problem from relevant information and knowledge
What is idea evaluation?
The process of creative behavior involving the evaluation of potential solutions through problems to identify the best one
What kind of people are more creative?
Smart individuals
What traits are common and creative people?
Openness to experience, proactive personality, self-confidence, risk-taking, tolerance for ambiguity, and perseverance
What is the single most importance indicator of creative potential and the foundation for all creative work?
Expertise
What environmental factors affect whether creative potential translates into creative behavior?
Motivation correlates moderately with creative outcomes
What is intristic motivation?
The desire to work on something because it’s interesting, exciting, satisfying, and challenging
What’s encourages creativity?
Freedom from excessive rules
Team creativity translates to innovation only when…?
The climate actively supports innovation
