Perception and Attitude Flashcards
Define perception
The process of interpreting the message of our sense to provide order and meaning to the environment (we don’t see what’s actually there, we see meanings and messages)
What is perception affected by?
Subjective perspective, mood, experience, bias, and stereotypes; people see things differently and we can get stuck on a single perspective
Explain how people have different experiences and perspectives that colour their perception
Only one person can see an event from their own perspective, so there will always be differences in perceptions (eg. people’s experience with dogs will color how they react to an unfamiliar dog on the sidewalk)
Explain how perspectives can transfer to leadership
Everyone has their own special “pet” employees/projects, and those employees get promoted and those projects get pushed forward even if they might not be the best fit
What is the importance of perception for OB?
Perception happens outside of awareness. It feels accurate and we tend to trust our interpretations (overconfidence - we trust our own decisions too much instead of seeking other outside opinions from others)
What aspects of work are affected by perceptions?
Hiring decision, attributions, judgements about performance, conflicts and cooperation, power and status, group membership, workplace/network politics, etc.
What are the three factors that influences perception?
- The perceiver
- The target
- The situation
Describe the perceiver
- Perceivers bring their own character, life experiences, past experiences, and can create expectations that can be projected upon a product or situation
- Their needs/desires/goals can prevent them from seeing what’s really there
- Their emotions can skew their perception
Describe the target
- Humans have a need to resolve ambiguity/inconsistency, so we make up information, fill in the gaps, so that we can settle on a judgement that is more stable
- We filter out a lot of complex information from other people (because we get so much information streaming into our brains at the same time), and some important information may be “thrown away”
- Accuracy is decreased and potential for misperception is increased
Describe the situation
- Our perception happens in some context. That context can affect how we see; the context adds information about the target
- The situation adds information to the target; helps us to tell whether a person’s behaviour is based on their personality or the context
Describe the power of context
When we look from an outsider’s perspective, the context can become clearer. It’s easy to stay biased when we rely on one perspective; when you look at the big picture, you can see how both perspectives are right and wrong. You can find a better solution that fits both parties
Is it easier to wise about your own problems or someone else’s? Why?
It’s hard to be wise about your own problems because you’re stuck in your point of view; it’s easier to be wise about other people’s problems
What is priming?
The asker prepares you to see what they want you to see first (you can still see both perspectives, but it affects which you would see first)
What can “prime” us?
Anything can be priming us outside of our awareness; upbringing, religion, friends, etc.
Define social identity theory
We form perceptions of ourselves based on characteristics and members in social categories
What two categories is our sense of self composed of?
- Personal identity (unique characteristics)
2. Social identity (categories we belong to)
How does social identity theory affect hiring?
We are more favourable to and more likely to hire from similar groups, i.e. people “like me,” because we feel that we can trust them
Explain how we look at our own categories differently than those outside our own social categories
We look upon our own categories more favourably than others because we identify with our own; we don’t usually want to see our own faults
What are the four basic biases in perception?
- Primacy and recency effects
- Reliance on central traits
- Implicit personality theories
- Stereotyping
Define primacy effect
The reliance on early cues or first impressions
Describe the result of primacy effect
It often the strongest and longest lasting impact. Because people like to maintain consistency with first impressions, it is hard to fix a bad first impression
Define recency effect
The tendency for a perceiver to rely on recent cues or last impressions
Define central traits
Personal characteristics of particular interest to the perceiver (i.e. when we believe that certain traits are more important than other traits)
Give an example of how central traits can affect our perception
People are more likely to hire attractive people because their perception is that attractive people are more confident, more likely to be a better leader, more likely to be successful, etc.
Define implicit personality theories
Personal theories that people have about which personality characteristics go together
Give an example of an implicit personality theory
You expect hardworking people to also be honest
How can implicit personality theories provide a basis for misunderstanding?
If they are inaccurate, you can make assumptions about people that you don’t know very well based on what you do know. Those assumptions could be very wrong
Define stereotypes
The tendency to generalize about people in a social category and ignore variations among them
Give some examples of categories on which people might base a stereotype
Race, age, gender, ethnic background, social class, occupation, etc.
Does stereotyping always work? Is it always wrong?
No; sometimes this works and people do conform to their social categories, but people are complex and belong to a lot of different categories that can mix and match
Why do stereotypes persist?
- Sterotypes help us process information about people and situations quickly and efficiently
- Inaccurate stereotypes are often reinforced by selective perception (we filter out information that disconfirms the stereotype and seek out information that confirms it)
Define attribution
The process by which we assign causes or motives to explain people’s behaviour (it’s about understanding WHY)
What are the two types of attribution factors?
- Dispositional (internal)
2. Situational (external)
Describe the dispositional factor of attribution
If someone makes a mistake on a project or an interview, you blame them. It’s their fault, they screwed up, etc.
Describe the situational factor of attribution
If someone makes a mistake on a project or an interview, you blame the environment. They didn’t have enough time, the expectations were too high, they weren’t given enough resources, etc.
What are the three main attribution cues (to determine if someone’s actions are a result of their personality or their situation)?
- Consensus
- Consistency
- Distinctiveness
What question do you ask to determine consensus?
Do most people engage in the behaviour, or is it unique to this person?
What question do you ask to determine consistency?
Does the person engage in the behaviour regularly and consistently?
What question do you ask to determine distinctiveness?
Does the person engage in the behaviour in many situations, or is it distinctive to one situation?
What are three biases that can occur in attribution?
- Fundamental attribution error
- Actor-observer effect
- Self-serving bias
Describe the fundamental attribution error
When you favour dispositional explanations (saying it’s always their fault)
Describe the actor-observer effect
Assigning dispositional attributions for others’ mistakes but situational attributions for out own
Describe the self-serving bias
Using explanations to make ourselves feel better
