chapter 6 - perception and individual decision making Flashcards
perception and why is it important to ob? (on exam)
is a process by which we organize and interpret sensory impressions to give meaning to our environment. What we perceive can be substantially different from objective reality.”
Why is perception important in the study of organizational behavior (OB)?
People’s behavior and decisions are based on their perception of what reality is, not on reality itself
factors that influence perception (on exam)
factors in the situation:
time
work setting
social setting
factors in the perceiver:
attitudes
motives
interests
experience
expectations
factors in the target:
novelty
motion
sounds
size background
proximity
similarity
attribution theory (on exam)
tries to explain the ways we judge people differently depending on the meaning we attribute to their behavior such as determining whether an individual’s behavior is internally or externally caused.
whether attribution is internally or externally caused depends on
distinctiveness
consensus
consistency
internally caused behaviors
are those an observer believes to be under the personal behavioral control of another individual (e.g., coming to work late because the coworker is lazy).
externally caused behaviors
is what we imagine the situation forced the individual to do (e.g., coming to work late because of bad traffic)
another kind of external attribution: where our relationship with the other person is the reason for the behavior.
ex: you may think a customer stopped doing business with your company because they are
(1) disloyal to the company (e.g., internal),
(2) cutting expenditures due to hard financial times (e.g., external), or
(3) not getting along with the new employee assigned to their account”
distinctiveness - interpretation of observation
refers to whether an individual displays different behavior in different situations. Is the employee who arrives late today also one who regularly “blows off” other kinds of commitments? If not, we are likely to give it an external attribution. If yes, we will probably judge the behavior to be internal
consensus - interpretation of observation
If everyone who faces a similar situation responds in the same way, we can say the behavior shows consensus.
consistency - interpretation of observation
Finally, an observer looks for consistency in a person’s actions. Does the person respond the same way over time
fundamental attribution error (organization decision making) (on exam)
might explain why we might perceive the wealthy as intelligent, savvy, or innately effective without considering the external factors that precluded their success (e.g., being born into a wealthy family)
self-serving bias (organization decision making) (on exam)
people tend to attribute ambiguous information as relatively flattering, accept positive feedback, and reject negative feedback
selective perception
We often choose (sometimes unconsciously) the information we take in from the environment based on our background, motivations, and characteristics
halo vs. horn effect
halo: When we draw a positive impression about an individual based on a single characteristic, such as intelligence, sociability, or appearance
horn: when we draw a negative impression from a single characteristic
contrast effect
Evaluation of a person’s characteristics that is affected by comparisons with other people recently encountered who rank higher or lower on the same characteristics
ex: the boss begins scheduling meetings, and you hear through the grapevine that Regan is going up first—Regan is the star performer in the office and will be a hard act to follow.
heuristics
We deal with our complex world’s unmanageable number of stimuli by using stereotypes or shortcuts called heuristics to make decisions quickly
self-fulfilling prophecy and pygmalion effect (not confirmation bias)
People attempt to validate their perceptions of reality even when these perceptions are faulty. how an individual’s behavior is determined by others’ expectations.
if a manager wants the team to do big things they are more likely to
six-step rational decision-making model
- Define the problem
- Identify the decision criteria
- Allocate weights to the criteria
- Develop the alternatives
- Evaluate the alternatives
- Select the best alternative
problems with the model: you need to gather a great deal of information about all the options, compute applicable weights, and then calculate values across a huge number of criteria.
bounded rationality
We take a simplified approach, perceiving and interpreting the essential features of problems without capturing their complexity. We then behave rationally within these boundaries
Bounded rationality can be of concern in ethical decision making. Not only are we prone to make systematic and predictable errors in ethical decisions,
intuitive decision making
Perhaps the least rational way of making decisions is intuitive decision making, an unconscious process created from distilled experience.
occurs outside conscious thought; relies on holistic associations, or links between disparate pieces of information; is fast; and is affectively charged, meaning it engages the emotions. While intuition is not rational, it is not inherently bad or necessarily wrong, nor does it always contradict rational analysis
how to reduce biases and errors in decision making
Focus on Goals. Without goals, you cannot be rational, you do not know what information you need, you do not know which information is relevant and which is irrelevant
Look for Information That Disconfirms Your Beliefs. When we overtly consider various ways we could be wrong, we challenge our tendencies to think we are smarter than we actually are.
Do Not Try to Create Meaning out of Random Events.
Increase Your Options.
overconfidence bias (organization decision making) (on exam)
We tend to be too confident about our abilities and the abilities of others, but we are usually not aware of this overconfidence bias. This overconfidence can emerge in organizations, especially during informal interviews
anchoring bias (organization decision making) (on exam)
is a tendency to fixate on initial information and fail to adequately adjust to subsequent information.Similar to the halo and horns effects discussed earlier, the mind appears to disproportionately emphasize the first information it receives
confirmation bias (organization decision making) (on exam)
represents a case of selective perception: We seek out (and accept) information that reaffirms our past choices and current views, and we discount (or are skeptical of) information that challenges them
availability bias (organization decision making) (on exam)
is our tendency to base judgments on readily available information. Events that evoke emotions are particularly vivid, and those that are more recent tend to be more available in our memory, leading us to overestimate the chances of unlikely events
escalation of commitment
also referred to as the sunk cost effect, refers to our staying with a decision even if there is clear evidence that it is wrong.
randomness error (organization decision making) (on exam)
People default toward believing that they have some control over the world. Our tendency to believe we can predict the outcome of random events is the randomness error
risk aversion
This tendency to prefer a sure thing over a risky outcome is risk aversion
hindsight bias (organization decision making) (on exam)
is the tendency to believe falsely, after the outcome is known, that we would have accurately predicted it. When we have feedback on the outcome, we seem good at concluding it was obvious
outcome bias (organization decision making) (on exam)
s the tendency to judge the quality of a decision based on the desirability or believability of its outcome. If we have information about the quality of an outcome, we may jump to the conclusion that the decision was strong
how to limit the extent to which biases affect our decision making
Employees and managers would do well to take a step back and
(1) reflect and reframe problems in different ways;
(2) undergo training on structured decision-making approaches to rely less on fast, emotional heuristics; and
(3) alter the way in which decisions are made to reduce bias, such as through setting explicit standards for decisions
three personality traits are related to taking on specific decision-making strategies
intuition - can lead them to make a riskier decision or even to be harsher when condemning unethical behavior.
high self esteem - use the self-serving biases to preserve their esteem. They may be more prone to blame others for their failures while taking credit for successes
narcissists - naturally tend to be prone to overconfidence or overclaiming and to self-serving biases
big five model and how they are related to taking on specific decision-making strategies
high openness - less prone to selective perception or confirmation bias
extroversion - riskier behavior in ceos
conscientiousness - affect escalation of commitment
achievement - escalate commitment and hindsight bias
dutiful - inclined to do best for org and less likely to escalate their commitment
utilitarinism
which proposes making decisions solely based on their outcomes, ideally to provide the greatest good for all.
Decision makers, particularly in for-profit organizations, feel comfortable with utilitarianism. The “best interests” of the organization and its stockholders can justify a lot of questionable actions, such as large layoffs.
creative behavior in four steps
- Problem formulation. Any act of creativity begins with a problem that the behavior is designed to solve. Thus, problem formulation is the stage of creative behavior in which we identify a problem or opportunity that requires a solution that is yet unknown.
- Information gathering. Given a problem, the solution is rarely clear at the outset. We need time to learn more and process what we have learned. Thus, information gathering is the stage of creative behavior when knowledge is sought and possible solutions to a problem incubate. Information gathering leads us to identifying innovation opportunities
- Idea generation. Idea generation is the process in which we develop possible solutions to a problem from relevant information and knowledge. Curiosity has been found to be a driver of idea generation: When you are curious about something, you are more likely to link earlier ideas or earlier solutions to help solve the current problem.188 Idea generation has implications for group dynamics.
- Idea evaluation. Finally, it is time to choose from the ideas we have generated. Thus, idea evaluation is the process of creative behavior in which we evaluate potential solutions to identify the best one. Sometimes the method of choosing can be innovative.
(on exam) perception and decision making
Individuals make decisions, or choices from among two or more alternatives.Ideally, decision making would be objective rather than subjective, but the ways individuals make decisions are largely influenced by their perceptions.
