Distortion in perception in organisational behaviour

Organisational Behaviour

1. P e r c e p t i o n Distortion

2. Mea n i n g P e r ceptual distortions are incorrect understanding or abnormal interpretation of a perceptual experience. A perceptual distortion occurs when a persons responses to stimuli varies from how it is commonly perceived. Perceptual distortion can relate to either sensory or psychological disorders, medication or drugs, or physical damage to the brain or sensory organ.

3. Distortions in Perception Distortions in perception may occur because of the following factors:   Factors in perceiver - personality, mental set, attribution, first impression , halo effect, stereotyping Factors in person perceived- status, visibility of traits etc. Situational factors

4. Common shortcuts in judging others Selective perception People selectively interpret what they see on the basis of their interests, background, experience and attitudes.

5. P e r cep tu a l D i s t or t i o n T ype s Personality Mental Set Attribution HALO Effect Stereotype First Impression

6. Personality Personality of the perceiver greatly influence the perception of other persons. Personality influence perception because of 2 reason First, the perceiver tries to project his personality attributes in others, known as projection. Second, the perceiver tries to fit his attitude, beliefs, expectation to reality known as process of self-fulfilling.

7. Me n t a l Se t Mental set is the tendency on has to react in a certain way to a given situation. In organization setting, people have tendency to perceive about others on the basis of this mental set which cause misperception. For ex. Suppose you are a contestant in a track meet and are positioning yourself in your starting blocks as you hear the preparatory command, get ready, get set when you hear the command, Go you take off at once since you are already set and ready to this command.

8. Attribution Attribution is the process by which we make sense of our environment through our perception of our causality. Why is that person so successful? Why did that project fail? If we understand the causes of success, failure and conflicts , we may be able to adjust our behavior and other factors accordingly.

9. Attribution Theory Attribution theory - explains how individuals pinpoint the causes of their own behavior or that of others Information cues for attribution information gathering consensus distinctiveness consistency

10. C o n t . . Attribution is simply the process of attaching or attributing causes or reason to the actions and events we see. Causality is usually described in terms of internal causality and external causality. For ex. We may explain a particular individuals success or promotion with reference to his/her superior skills and knowledge (internal causality) or with reference to luck, 'friends in high places’ and coincidence (external causality).

11. HA L O Ef f ec t The term halo effect was used by the psychologist Edward Thorndike in 1920. A HALO Effect is a judgment based on a single striking characteristics such as an aspects of dress, speech, posture, or nationality. HALO Effect can be negative as well as positive. For ex. It is a natural human response on a meeting a stranger, to make judgment about the kind of person they are and whether we will like them or not.

12. Halo effect Tendency to draw a general impression about an individual on the basis of a single characteristic. Halo effect is just like 1st impression is Last impression Like people having good quality and dislike those who have bad qualities. People may be judged by their work not by their dress People may be judged by their result not by their attendance

13. The halo error in perception is very similar to stereo typing. Where as in stereo typing the person is perceived according to a single category, under the halo effect the person is perceived on the basis of one trait. Example of halo effect is the extremely attractive women secretary who is perceived by her male boss as being an intelligent, good performer, when, in fact, she is a poor typist. Under halo effect, a person is perceived on the basis of a single trait. It generally occurs during performance appraisal where the supervisor rates an employee on the basis of only one trait e.g. intelligence, punctuality, cooperativeness appearance etc.

14. Stereotyping Judging someone on the basis of one’s perception of The group to which that person belongs.

15. Stereotyping Stereotyping occurs when the perceiver judges or perceives a person on the basis of characteristics of the group to which he belongs. The person is not perceived as an individual with specific set of his characteristics but on the basis of his group characteristics. For ex. There are some stereotyping at the international level like; Japanese are industrious, Italian are quick tempered , American are materialistic and ambitious.

16. F i r s t I m p r e ss i o n It is very common that people evaluate others on the basis of first impression. The evaluation based on first impression may be correct if it is based on adequate and significant evidence. However, since first impression evaluation is not based on adequate information, it may not be true reflection of peoples being perceived. This can be corrected by more frequent interaction, though erasing of first impression evaluation is not that easy.

17. Contrast effect E v a l uati o n o f a pers o n ’ s characteristic that is affected by comparisons with other people recently encountered who rank higher or lower on the same characteristic.

18. Specific Applications in Organizations Employment Interview Performance Expectations Performance Evaluation Employee Effort

19. Managerial Implications of P erc e p t i on    Interpersonal Working Relationships Selection of Employees Performance Appraisal

20. Developing Perceptual Skills       Perceiving oneself correctly Enhancing Self concept Having positive attitudes Being Empathic Communicating More openly Avoiding Common Perceptual Distortions