Perception

in organizational behaviour

1. Perception Concept Perception play very important role in determination of individual behaviour. It is simply the process or way to understand about any object or event. It differs with individuals. How people ‘see’ things , is perception. Perception depends expectation , needs and background as well. Unit - 3

2. More clearly , we can say that perception is a process (cognitive process); it is the base of every individual’s behaviour ; it differs from person to person and it does not based on reality. It plays on crucial part in organizational life.

3. Perceptual Process(Model) Perception can be understand as process. It has input processes and output. According to perceptual output , the people show their behaviour. It can be learned by the by the following process.

4. Environmental S timuli Seeing Hearing Smelling Tasting Feeling Selection Organization Interpretation

5. Environmental Stimuli Perceptual process starts from environmental stimuli (input) ; environmental stimuli is concern with five sense of organs i.e. skin , eye ,ear , nose and tongue. And they come to us in the form of feeling , seeing , hearing , smelling and tasting.

6. Selection At this stage , an individual gives selective attention to the information receive from the environment. Many internal and external factor such as light , movement , size , loud , noise , learning , etc affects perceptual selectivity. This stage is also known as filtering information.

7. Organization In this stage the individual process and classifies the available information in a logical manner. This stage is also known as ‘we group ’ selected information Interpretation :- Finally , the individual assigns the meaning to the stimuli to make sense of them. It is highly judgemental. In real life it may be influenced by many factor. They are known as perceptual errors.

8. Factors affecting Perception Perception Factors in the perceiver Attitude Motives Interest Experience Expectation 3. Factors in the situation Time Work setting Social setting 2. Factors in the target Novelty Size Background Motion Sound

9. 1. Factors in the perceiver People are unique in nature and differ with each other in terms of perceptual activity. Several characteristics of perceiver such as Motives , Interest , attitude , experience , emotion and expectation can affect perception.

10. Attitudes -It is the sum total belief & way of looking at things. It has 3 components : cognitive , feeling and behavior b . Motives -It refers to internal state that is goal directed. Motives and needs highly influence emotion.

11. c. Interest -Mental focus that causes us to give more attention to certain aspects in environment neglecting others. People give more attention to things that interest them. d . Past Experience -Influences the way people perceive the world. It shapes our attention, behavior, interest and belief system.

12. e. Expectations It is the estimation of the perceiver. For example if regularly a particular subject teacher gets changed and each teacher is very strict then students expect a new teacher related to that particular subject will also be strict. f. Emotion It is the strong feeling towards someone or something. The emotion of the perceiver at particular time affects his perception at that time. For e.g. if a person is angry then minor things may irritate him or her

13. 2 . Factors in the target Target can also affect or influence our perception. They are outside the people but within the things that an individual is trying to perceive. They are the factors which are within the things to be perceived such as ; physical appearance , Novelty , Size , Background , Motion , Sound etc.

14. a .Physical Appearance Physically attractive people are readily perceived and also positive feelings and responses are received . Physically unattractive are usually negatively responded. b. size Bigger targets are more noticeable than smaller ones .for eg : a tall building over a shorter one .

15. c. Motion Objects in motion are readily perceived. For example a jumping cat over a sleeping one . d. Sound Louder sounds are more easily perceived than low pitch sound . that is why loud and noisy people are easily noticed in a group.

16. e. Novelty New , unique and distinct characteristics are easily perceived as they attract our attention easily . that is why fashion designers try to bring novelty in their designs.

17. 3. Factors in the situation Beyond above two categories of factors situational factors also influence perception of a person. They are outside the person and environment or situational in nature. It means , the same object may be perceived in one situation but not in another situation. Such as , time , work setting and social setting.

18. Time Time also affects the way we perceive the things. For e.g. the way we perceive the phone call in day time and at mid-night. b. Work Setting Co-operative , hospitable and friendly and team spirit having group of management are positive .

19. c. Social Setting Each society has its own norms, values , ethics and culture. Anything that deviates from social norms can be easily noticed. for eg : in rural areas ,wearing of pants are easily noticed.

20. Specific Application of Perception in Organization Perception is highly used in an organization. When manager and subordinate talk they are evaluating each other. In many cases the judgements have important values in the organization. Some of the important applications of perception in organization are:-

21. Application of perception in ‘employment interview’ Employment interview is the process that determines who is hired and who is rejected. Basically the interviewers develops the perpetual judgements(positive or negative) based on interviewees personality , knowledge , and behaviour. It is said that the first impression is last impression.

22. Application of perception in ‘performance expectations’ Manager’s perception is affected or influenced by the his performance expectations from employee . For example , if a manager expects big things from his subordinate but the subordinate are not likely to do so. In this situation the manager tend to make negative perception towards the subordinates and vice versa.

23. Application of perception in ‘ethnic profiling’ It is a form of stereotyping( generalizing or grouping ) in this , the individuals are singled out typically on the basis of race or ethnicity. Examples are :- Indian are –Quick tempered , American are- Ambitious. Chinese are – mysterious Japanese are – industrious, Muslim ethnic groups are negatively seen by American after September 11 th attack.

24. Application of perception in ‘employee effort’ The level of employee effort determines success of an organization. The employee who contribute high level of effort perceived as positively.