3 - Perception and Emotions

MARS model

elaborates individual behaviour, to understand the factors that influence behaviour and performance in the workplace. this is comprised of motivation, ability, role perception, and situational factors. if any of these weaken, performance decreases.

motivation

internal forces that affect voluntary choice of behaviours, influenced by incentives, satisfaction, etc.

ability

natural aptitude and learned capabilities needed for a task. relates to technical skills, emotional capabilities, etc.

role perceptions

how clearly we understand our roles and what is expected of us, like job descriptions and communications

situational factors

environmental conditions that may constrain behaviours, like time constraints and resources available

organizational citizenship behaviour

discretionary behaviour not part of an employee’s job reqs but is effective to the function of the organization

counterproductive work behaviours

behaviours that have potential to harm the organization

turnover

the rate which employees leave a workforce and are replaced; which can be very expensive

presenteeism

workers are on the job, but due to illness, they are not fully functioning

self-concept

set of beliefs and attitudes that individuals have about themselves. this provides insights for our workplace behaviour if we understand ourselves

what is self-concept determined by?

self-perception, social comparison, and social identity

what is our self-perception comprised of?

complexity, consistency, and clarity

complexity

the number of ‘roles’ or ‘selves’ we have that consider the separation of those selves, with low being overlapping between identities and high being more separate identities

internal consistency

how compatible an individual’s traits, values, and abilities relates to one’s identity; with high having their roles that conflict with certain characteristics for other selves, and low having their roles require similar attributes

clarity

degree to which you have a clear and defined self-concept, that we are able to identify ourselves consistently to others

personal identity

based on unique personal characteristics

social identity

based on perception of belonging to various categories

the social self

self concepts are formed based on our personal identity and social identity. however, due to our fundamental need to belong, it tends to lean on social identities, as we feel best when we can share this with others.

perception

the process which individuals interpret things in their environment, which is our personal way of looking at the world. this is a cognitive process where we assign meaning to sensory info

what does perception involve?

our sensory experience of the world, the recognition of environmental stimuli, and our response to these stimuli

intentional blindness

we don’t see things not because they are hidden, but because we are not paying attention to it

what are key features of intentional blindness

selective attention, unexpected events, and task load

selective attention

humans have a limited capacity for attention, so we can only focus on a few stimuli at a time

unexpected events

if unperceived objects are unexpected, it is likely to be overlooked

task load

the more mentally demanding the task you are focused on, the more likely you will undergo inattentional blindness

how can we avoid inattentional blindness?

focus on the task and avoid distractions, and also pay attention to others to what others might not notice

factors that influence perception

the situation, the perceiver, and their target

why does perception matter?

our perceptions shape our responses to the world. if people behave based on this, organizational researchers can predict people’s behaviour and how it may change under certain circumstances

perceptual errors

this is a demanding cognitive process, so we develop shortcuts to make this process better. although it may be valid, they can also distort the perception process

attribution theory

determining whether an individual’s behaviour is interally (dispostion) or externally (situational) caused; so why we judge people in a certain way

how can we determine if behaviour is internal or external?

if it is distinct behaviour, if the behaviour would be aligned with how others would be in the same situation, and if the person responds the same way over time

fundamental attribution error

we underestimate external factors and overestimate internal factors (e.g, slow drivers are idiots and fast drivers are maniacs)

self-serving bias

when we are successful we focus on internal factors, and when we fail, we blame external factors. this protects our self-esteem and helps us cope with negative events, reducing stress. however, this does not actually address issues.

selective perception

the perceiver singles out info that supports a belief and filters contrary info. we may reach unwarranted conclusions, limiting our ability to understand different perspectives

the hostile media effect

individuals perceive news coverage as biased against their own viewpoint, even if neutral.

halo effect

drawing a general impression about someone based on one characteristic, with horn effect being the negative characteristic

Words forming impression on personality

words can shape our perception of people; certain words are more seminal, while others are more peripheral

contrast effect

an unconscious bias that can impede fair and effective recruitment and evaluation processes

recency/primary effect

people remember usually early and late information only

similar to me effect

overlooking negative info for someone similar to you

stereotyping

when individuals assign attributes based on people’s membership in a social category

affect

personality traits of a person’s stable tedency to experience positive and negative moods (long term)

emotions

intense feelings directed at someone or something (short term)

moods

feelings less than emotions that lack contextual stimulus (medium term)

what distinguishes emotions and mood?

specificity, intensity, and duration

emotional labour

the process of managing expressions to fulfill emotional requirements of jobs. theres effort and work to express appropriate emotions

emotional dissonance

creates conflict between required and true emotions

employee-focused emotional labour

employee process or experience of managing emotions and expressions to meet work demands, measured as emotional dissonance

emotional regulation

the degree individuals regulate their emotional expression through a facial mask

emotional intelligence

set of abilities to perceive and express emotion, being able to assimilate and regulate emotion in oneself and others

emotional intelligence key dimensions

perceiving and understanding emotions in self and others, and regulating emotions

MSCEIT

ability-based test to measure the four branches of emotional intelligence

emotional perception and understanding

ability to perceive and understand the meaning of your own emotions, as well as others — relates to empathy and social awareness

what are the branches in identifying emotions

perceiving emotions through faces, using emotions to facilitate thought, understanding emotions change, and managing emotions

surface acting

pretending to show required emotion

deep acting

changing true emotions to match required emotion

what are flaws with emotional intelligence?

there is unclear conceptualization, theres issues with measurement, and there are overstated findings