Behavior and Distortions

Cognitive Dissonance

  • cognitive dissonance: the psychological discomfort a person experiences between his or her cognitive attitude and incompatible behavior
  • how people deal with the discomfort depends on:
    • importance = can you deal with the ambiguity?
    • control = how much control do you have over the situation?
    • rewards = what rewards are at stake with the dissonance?

Perceptions and Individual Behavior

  • perception: process of interpreting and understanding one’s environment

  

  1. selective attention

      1. “Did I notice something?”

  1. interpretation and evaluation

      1. “What was it I noticed and what does it mean?”

  1. storing in memory

      1. “Remember it as an event, concept, person, or all 3?”

  1. retrieving from memory to make judgements and decisions

      1. “What do I recall about that?”

  • perceptual errors can happen at any step in the process

Distortions in Perception: Stereotyping

  • stereotyping: tendency to attribute to an individual the characteristics one believes are typical of the group to which that individual belongs
  • sex-role stereotypes: belief that certain jobs are best performed by persons of a specific gender
  • age stereotypes: inaccurately believing that older workers are less motivated, resistant to change, less trusting, and less healthy
  • race stereotypes: a simplified or false idea about someone based on their racial background or ethnicity

Distortions in Perception: Implicit Bias

  • implicit bias: attitudes or beliefs that affect our understanding, actions, and decision in an unconscious manner
    • 85% of Americans consider themselves ti be unbiased, but researchers conclude most hold some degree of implicit bias
  • how to take steps forward?
    • requiring intergroup contact, positive feedback, clear norms of behavior

Distortions in Perception: Halo Effect

  • halo effect: forming an impression of an individual based on a single trait
    • ex: “Attractive people are smarter and nicer.”

Distortions in Perception: The Recency Effect

  • the recency effect: tendency to remember recent information better than earlier information
    • ex: employee has recently made a mistake, and it ends up being the only topic of a performance review

Distortions in Perception: Causal Attributions

  • causal attributions: inferring causes for observed behavior
  • fundamental attribution bias: people attribute another person’s behavior to his or her personal characteristics rather than to situational factors
  • self-serving bias: people tend to take more personal responsibility for success than for failure