Decision Making – Perception & Individual Differences

Perceptual Process

• Perception: noticing & making sense of environmental information
• Sequential stages: Attention → Organization → Interpretation → Retrieval → Judgment → Feedback

Influences on Perception

• Perceiver: individual differences, past experience
• Stimulus: intensity, contrast, high frequency, novelty, size, motion
• Situation: primacy, recency, pre-existing schemas

Individual Differences

• Vary across people; shape perception & decision making
• Core categories: Ability, Personality, Attitudes, Values, Learning Style

Ability

• Cognitive Ability
• Physical Ability
• Psychomotor Ability

Personality

• Big Five: Extraversion (+), Conscientiousness (++), Agreeableness (−), Emotional Stability (+), Openness (+)
• Locus of Control: internal vs. external
• Authoritarianism: preference for hierarchy & obedience
• Self-Monitoring: adapts self-presentation to fit situation (high)
• Approval Motivation: seeks social desirability
• Achievement Motivation: strives for excellence & competition

Attitudes

• Formula: {\text{Cognition} + \text{Affect} + \text{Behavior} = \text{Attitude}}
• Change possible at individual & organizational levels (culture)
• Key workplace attitudes:
  • Cognitive dissonance: mismatch of attitude & behavior
  • Satisfaction
  • Organizational Commitment: Normative (ought), Affective (want), Continuance (need)
• Outcomes influenced: counterproductive behavior, violence, withdrawal, organizational citizenship

Values

• Stable beliefs about importance; guide behavior
• Instrumental (means): competence, independence, obedience
• Terminal (ends): happiness, freedom, self-respect, wisdom
• Affect interpersonal conflict, decision making, ethics/CSR

Learning Style

• Linked to personality & aptitude
• Modes: Visual, Auditory, Read/Write, Kinesthetic (VARK)
• Implications for communication & motivation