PERCEPTIO

N
Dr Puja Sareen

Organisational Behaviour

Organisational Behaviour

Organisational Behaviour

Organisational Behaviour

Organisational Behaviour

Organisational Behaviour

Organisational Behaviour

Organisational Behaviour

Organisational Behaviour

Organisational Behaviour

WHAT IS PERCEPTION ?
Perception is the process by which people
organise, interpret and experience ideas
and use stimulus materials in the
environment so that they satisfy their
needs.
-Joseph Reitz

Perception refers to factors that shape and

produce what we actually experience. It is
described as a persons views of reality.
Organisational Behaviour

SENSATION VS. PERCEPTION

Sensation refers to sensing our

environment through touch, taste, sight,
sound, and smell (the 5 senses). This
information is sent to our brain and that's
when perception comes into play.
Perception is the way we interpret these
sensations and therefore make sense of
everything around us.

Organisational Behaviour

SIGNIFICANCE OF PERCEPTION
People

working in an organization
differ in their reactions due to
differences in perception they have
about things.

It

is because of perception that same

job may appear a good job to one and
staggy job to another.

Organisational Behaviour

THE PERCEPTION PROCESS

Perceptual
Inputs or Stimuli
Objects Events
People

Characteristics of
the Situation
Timing Physical
setting
Organisational
setting

Perceptual Mechanisms
Selection <->Interpretation
Organisation

Perceptual
Outputs
Attitudes
Opinions
Feelings
Beliefs

Characteristics of the Perceiver

Needs and Motives SelfConcept Past experiences
Current Psychological state and
beliefs Expectations Cultural
upbringing

Organisational Behaviour

Behaviour

ELEMENTS OF PERCEPTION
PROCESS
Inputs

: Perceived inputs are objects,

events, people etc.

Mechanisms

: The perceived inputs are

processed through the sub-processes of
selection, organisation and interpretation.

Outputs

: These outputs may be feelings,

actions attitudes etc.

Behaviour : The perceivers behaviour, in

turn, generates responses from the
perceived and these responses give rise to a
new set of inputs.
Organisational Behaviour

PERCEPTUAL MECHANISM
When a person receives information, he
tries to process it through the subprocesses of
.

Perceptual Selectivity

Perceptual Organisation

Perceptual Interpretation

Organisational Behaviour

PERCEPTUAL SELECTIVITY

It refers to the tendency to select certain

objects from the environment which are
relevant and appropriate for an individual
or those which are consistent with ones
existing beliefs, values and needs.

Organisational Behaviour

FACTORS AFFECTING
PERCEPTUAL SELECTIVITY
Internal
a.
b.
c.

Factors :

Needs and desires

Personality
Experience : successful experiences lead
to accuracy in perception of a person
whereas failure erodes self-confidence.

d.

Learning : creates expectancy in people.

People tend to perceive what they want to
perceive.

Organisational Behaviour

 External

Factors :

a.

Size : The bigger the size of the stimulus, the

higher is the probability that is perceived.

b.

Intensity : It attracts to increase the selective

perception.

c.

Frequency : The stimulus which is repeated

attracts greater attention as compared to
stimulus that is not repeated.

d.

Status : High status people can exert greater

influence on the perception of employees than
the low status people.
Organisational Behaviour

e.

Contrast : An object which contrasts

with the surrounding environment is more
likely to be noticed than the object which
blends in the environment.

f.

Movement : A moving object receives

more attention than an object which is
standing still.

g.

Novelty and Familiarity : The new

objects in the familiar settings in new
settings will draw the attention of the
perceiver.

Organisational Behaviour

PERCEPTUAL
ORGANISATION
The perceptual inputs (incoming stimuli)
i.e.
Objects , events , people
etc.
organised into meaningful pictures to the
perceiver . Organising the information
that is incoming into a meaningful whole
is called organisation.

Organisational Behaviour

FIGURE AND GROUND

The principle states that the perceived
object or person or event stands out
distinct from its background and occupies
the cognitive space of the individual.

Organisational Behaviour

PERCEPTUAL GROUPING
Grouping is the tendency to club individual
stimuli into meaningful patterns. If we
perceive objects with similar characteristics,
we tend to group them together and this
organising mechanism helps us to deal with
information efficiently rather than getting
bogged down with so many details.
Grouping is possible depending on :

Similarity

Proximity

Closure

Continuity
Organisational Behaviour

SIMILARITY
Other things being equal, similar things
tend to be perceived as belonging
together .

Organisational Behaviour

PROXIMITY

Other things being equal, things near each

other tend to be perceived belonging
together.

Organisational Behaviour

CLOSURE

The principle of closure relates to the

tendencies of the people to perceive objects
as a whole, even when some parts of the
object is missing. The persons perceptual
process will close the gap that are unfilled
from sensory inputs.

Organisational Behaviour

CONTINUITY

Stimuli that form a complete or

symmetrical figure or good form, tend to be
grouped together.

Organisational Behaviour

PERCEPTUAL
INTERPRETATION
Interpretation is an integral part of
perception
process.
After
the
information has been received and
organised, the perceiver would assign
or
interpret
meaning
to
the
information.
In the process of interpretation, people
tend to become judgmental. They may
distort what they see and even ignore
things that they feel are unpleasant.

Organisational Behaviour

CHARACTERISTICS OF
PERCEIVER

Needs and Motive :

Self Concept :

Past Experience :

Unsatisfied needs or
motives stimulate individuals and may exert a
strong influence on their perception. People
perceive those items which suit their wishful
thinking .
Self concept indicates how we
perceive ourselves. This influences how we
perceive others and the situation we are in. The
more we understand ourselves, the more we are
able to perceive others accurately.
Our perception are often
guided by our past experiences. A persons past
experience mould the way he perceives the current
situation.
Organisational Behaviour

Current Psychological State :The psychological

and emotional states of an individual are likely to
influence how things are perceived.

Beliefs

Expectations : Expectations are related with the

:A
persons
beliefs
influence
his
perception to a great extent. A fact is conceived
not on what it is but what a person believes it to
be.
state of anticipation of particular behavior from a
person.

Cultural Upbringing : A persons ethics, values

and beliefs play an important role in his
perception about others. It is difficult to perceive
the personality of a person raised in another
culture because our judgement is based upon our
own values.

Organisational Behaviour

CHARACTERISTICS OF THE
PERCEIVED.
The perceptual process is influenced by

characteristics of the perceived person,

object, or event, such as:
. Contrast.
. Intensity.
. Figure-ground separation.
. Size.
. Motion.
. Repetition or novelty.

Organizational Behavior: Chapter

5

31

CHARACTERISTICS OF THE
SITUATION.
The perceptual process is influenced by

the settings:
. Physical context.
. Social context.
. Organizational context.

Organizational Behavior: Chapter

5

32

WHAT ARE COMMON

PERCEPTUAL DISTORTIONS?
Common perceptual distortions

include:

Stereotypes or prototypes.
Halo effects.
Selective perception.
Projection.
Contrast effects.
Self-fulfilling prophecy.

WHAT ARE COMMON

PERCEPTUAL DISTORTIONS?
Stereotypes or prototypes.
Combines information based on the

category or class to which a person,

situation, or object belongs.
Strong impact at the organization stage.
Individual differences are hidden.

WHAT ARE COMMON

PERCEPTUAL DISTORTIONS?
Halo effects.
Occur when one attribute of a person or
situation is used to develop an overall
impression of the individual or situation.
Likely to occur in the organization stage.

.
Important in the performance appraisal

process.

WHAT ARE COMMON

PERCEPTUAL DISTORTIONS?
Selective perception.
The tendency to single out those aspects
of a situation, person, or object that are
consistent with ones needs, values, or
attitudes.
Strongest impact is at the attention stage.
Perception checking with other persons

can help counter the adverse impact of

selective perception.

WHAT ARE COMMON

PERCEPTUAL DISTORTIONS?
Projection.
The assignment of ones personal
attributes to other individuals.
specially likely to occur in interpretation

stage.
Projection can be controlled through a

high degree of self-awareness .

WHAT ARE COMMON

PERCEPTUAL DISTORTIONS?
Contrast effects.
Occur when an individual is compared to

other people on the same characteristics

on which the others rank higher or lower.

WHAT ARE COMMON

PERCEPTUAL DISTORTIONS?
Self-fulfilling prophecy.
The expectations affect the way we
interact with others such that we get what
we wish for.
Also called the Pygmalion effect.
Can have either positive or negative

outcomes.
Managers should adopt positive and

optimistic approaches to people at work.

WHAT ARE COMMON

PERCEPTUAL DISTORTIONS?
Impression

People form impression of others on the first

sight, before knowing their personality traits

and start making assessments.
Inference

There is tendency on the part of some people

to judge others on limited information.

IMPROVING PERCEPTION
Perceive
oneself
accuratel
y
Communic
ate openly

Have
positive
attitude

Improve
selfconcept

Be
empatheti
c

WHAT IS ATTRIBUTION THEORY?

Attribution theory aids in perceptual interpretation

by focusing on how people attempt to:

Understand the causes of a certain event.
Assess responsibility for the outcomes of
the event.
Evaluate the personal qualities of the
people involved in the event.
Accg to the theory, we observe behaviour

and then attribute causes to it. Then we

explain why people behave so.

WHAT IS ATTRIBUTION
THEORY?
Internal versus external attributions of

causes of behavior.
Internal causes are under the individuals

control.
External causes are within the persons

environment.

WHAT IS ATTRIBUTION THEORY?

CONSENSUS
(high or low)

OBSERVATIO
N OF
BEHAVIOUR

CONSISTENC
Y
(high or low)
DISTINCTIVE
NESS(high or
low)
ATTRIBUTION PROCESS

ATTRIBUTION
Of CAUSES
(internal/ext
ernal)

WHAT IS ATTRIBUTION
THEORY?
Factors influencing internal and external

attributions.
Distinctiveness extent to which same person

behaves in same way in other situation. If Xs

performance is low regardless of the machine he
is working on- attribution is of internal factors.
Consensus extent to which same person
behaves in same way. All in a similar situation
behave in a same way. If Xs performance is poor
but others are doing well- internal factors.
Consistency extent to which same person
behaves in same way at different times. If Xs
performance is poor only in an isolated incidentexternal factors.

WHAT IS ATTRIBUTION
THEORY?
Fundamental attribution error.
Applies to the evaluation of someones
else behavior.
Attributing success to the influence of
situational factors.
Attributing failure to the influence of
personal factors.

WHAT IS ATTRIBUTION
THEORY?
Self-serving bias.
Applies to the evaluation of our own

behavior.
Attributing success to the influence of

personal (internal) factors.

Attributing failure to the influence of

situational (external) factors.

WHAT IS ATTRIBUTION
THEORY?
Attributions across cultures.
The fundamental attribution error and

self-serving bias operate differently in

different cultures.

THANK YOU