OB -chapter 3 perception

perceptual defence

The tendency to block out or distort information that is threatening or uncomfortable.

ex. worker refuses to believe negative feedback because it challenges their self-image.

Social idendity theory

theory that states people form perceptions of themselves based on their personal characteristics and their memberships in social categories (e.g., gender, occupation, nationality).

ex. Michelle sees herself as a “student,” “Canadian,” and “pianist,” which helps her understand who she is and how she fits into different social groups

Bruner’s model of the perceptual process and an example.

• Perception is selective:
  People focus on some cues and ignore others, giving more importance to certain information.

• Perceptual constancy:
  We tend to see a target the same way over time and in different situations.

• Perceptual consistency:
  We pick, ignore, or twist cues to create a consistent and unified image of the target.

Primacy Effect

tendency for a perceiver to rely on early cues or first impressions

ex. new employee impresses their boss on the first day, leading to a lasting positive impression

Recency Effect

tendency for a perceiver to rely on recent cues or last impressions.

ex. salesperson lands a big client today, which overshadows their poor performance earlier in the year

Central Traits

Personal characteristics of a target person that are of particular interest to a perceiver

ex. engineer values intelligence and forms her impression of a new coworker based mainly on their Stanford degree.

Implicit Personality Theories

Personal beliefs or assumptions about which personality traits go together.

ex. Assuming that a strict boss is also uncaring, even though they might be very supportive

Physical Appearance Bias

tendency to judge people based on how conventionally attractive they are

ex. Attractive candidates are more likely to get hired or promoted, regardless of qualifications

Projection

tendency for perceivers to attribute their own thoughts and feelings to others

ex. dishonest employee believes everyone else at work also steals from the company.

Stereotyping

tendency to generalize about people in a certain social category and ignore variations among them

Attribution

process by which causes or motives are assigned to explain people’s behaviour.

ex. Assuming a coworker missed a deadline because they are lazy or because they had a family emergency.

Common biases:

• Fundamental attribution error: Overestimating personality causes, underestimating situational ones.

• Actor-observer effect: Actors and observers explain behavior differently (actors blame situation, observers blame person).

• Self-serving bias: Taking credit for success, blaming others/situation for failur

Dispositional Attributions

Explanations for behaviour based on an actor’s personality or intellect

ex. If an employee regularly volunteers to help coworkers and takes on extra tasks without being asked, we might assume they are genuinely helpful and team-oriented (dispositional)

Situational Attributions

Explanations for behaviour based on an actor’s external situation or environment

ex. Assuming a server was rude because they were overwhelmed with too many tables, not because they’re naturally unfriendly.

Consistency Cues

Attribution cues that reflect how consistently a person engages in a behaviour over time

Consensus Cues

Attribution cues that reflect how a person’s behaviour compares with that of others

ex. If only one employee is late while everyone else is on time, we might see that person as careless

Distinctiveness cues

Attribution cues that reflect the extent to which a person engages in the behaviour in different situations.

ex. If a worker performs well in every job they’ve had, we may think they’re genuinely talented.

Fundamental Attribution Error

tendency to overemphasize dispositional (personality-based) explanations for others’ behaviour and underemphasize situational factors

ex. manager sees an employee missing deadlines and assumes they are lazy or disorganized, ignoring the fact that the employee was assigned too much work or received unclear instructions.

Actor–Observer Effect

tendency for actors to attribute their own behaviour to situational factors, while observers attribute the same behaviour to dispositional factors.
ex. You arrive late to a meeting and think, “There was traffic and construction.”
Your manager thinks, “She’s always late—she must be disorganized.”

Self-Serving Bias

tendency to take credit for successes by making dispositional attributions and to blame failures on situational factors

ex. A student gets an A on a test and says, “I’m smart and studied hard.”
When they fail the next test, they say, “The test was unfair and the teacher didn’t explain anything.

Diversity Climate

degree to which an organization advocates fair HR policies, promotes equal employment opportunities and inclusion, and socially integrates underrepresented employees

Organizational Climate

shared perceptions among employees about an organization’s policies, practices, procedures, and the expected, supported, and rewarded behaviours

ex. If employees across departments agree that teamwork is always encouraged and rewarded, the organizational climate is perceived as collaborative

Safety Climate

The shared perceptions of safety-related practices, events, and procedures, including the expected and supported safety behaviours

ex. In a construction company where managers consistently enforce safety protocols and reward safe practices, the safety climate would be considered strong and positive.

perceived Organizational Support (POS)

Employees’ general belief that their organization values their contribution and cares about their well-being

ex. employee feels confident that the company will provide help during stressful times or when they need resources to do their job well.

Organizational Support Theory (OST)

theory stating that employees who strongly perceive organizational support feel obligated to care about the organization's welfare and help it achieve its goals

ex. Employees with high POS feel a strong sense of belonging and work harder to contribute to their company's success.

Norm of Reciprocity

A felt obligation to help the organization achieve its goals in return for the support and resources employees receive from the organization

ex. After receiving flexible work hours to care for family, an employee goes above and beyond on a work project.

Perceived Supervisor Support (PSS)

Employees’ general belief that their supervisor values their contribution and cares about their well-being

ex. When a manager notices an employee struggling and offers extra guidance, the employee perceives strong supervisor support.

Signalling Theory

applicants interpret their recruitment and selection experiences as signals about unknown job and organization characteristics.
ex. A friendly recruiter signals a positive work environment

Contrast Effects

Interviewers’ perceptions of a current applicant are influenced by previously interviewed candidates, exaggerating differences between them.
ex. After interviewing two excellent candidates, an average candidate is rated lower than usual.

Leniency

rater error where the evaluator perceives and rates employees’ performance as better than it actually is

ex. A manager who gives most employees high ratings, regardless of true performance.

Harshness

rater error where the evaluator perceives and rates employees’ performance as worse than it actually is

ex. professor known for giving low grades to nearly all students.

Central Tendency

rater error where most employees are rated as average, avoiding the use of high or low ratings

ex. A teacher who assigns mostly ‘C’ grades to students, avoiding ‘A’ or ‘F’.

Halo Effect

When the rating of one trait influences ratings of other unrelated traits, either positively or negatively

ex. An employee who is punctual is also rated as highly productive, even if productivity is average.

Similar-to-Me

A rater gives more favorable evaluations to employees who share similar backgrounds or attitudes.
ex. : A manager with an MBA rating other MBA graduates higher regardless of their actual performance.

Behaviourally Anchored Rating Scale (BARS)

A rating scale with specific examples of good, average, and poor performance to guide raters.
ex. A customer service rating scale describing specific behaviors for excellent, average, and poor service

Frame-of-Reference (FOR) Training

A training method that improves rating accuracy by giving raters a shared standard and clear examples of performance levels to use when evaluating individuals

ex. Managers attend a workshop where they review examples of good, average, and poor performance and practice rating employees using these standards to ensure consistency.

Conformation bias

tendency to search for, interpret, and remember information in a way that confirms one’s preexisting beliefs or opinions, while giving less attention to information that contradicts them

ex. if you believe that a certain brand of phone is the best, you might only notice positive reviews about that brand and ignore or dismiss negative reviews.

Performance Appraisal

• Objective Measures:
  Based on facts—like sales numbers or attendance.

• Subjective Measures:
  Based on opinions—like how well someone works with others.

• Ratings depend on two things:

  • Accuracy: Does the rating truly reflect performance?

  • Motivation: Is the rater motivated to be honest and fair?

Errors in subjective rating

Leniency

harshness

central tendency

halo effect

similar to me effect

reduce error in subjective rating

BARS

frame of reference training

360 degree feedback

relevance of diversity

• Changing demographics: Diverse populations reshape workplaces and markets.

• Globalization: Brings diverse cultures and perspectives together.

• Mergers & acquisitions: Combine different organizational cultures and people.

• Legislation: Enforces diversity, equity, and inclusion policies.

level diversity

surface: diff in overt demographic charactersitcs

deep: diff in psychological chara

Why diversity matters

• Leads to better problem-solving, creativity, and innovation.

• Helps attract talent (recruiting) and improves marketing.

• Increases competitiveness in global markets.

We use three cues to decide if behavior is due to disposition (person) or situation

1. Consistency: Does the person act this way regularly?

2. Consensus: Do others act this way too, or is it unique?

3. Distinctiveness: Does the person act this way only in certain situations?