4. chapter 4 perception, attribution, and the management of diversity copyright © 1999 addison...

Copyright © 1999 Addison Wesley Longman

2 CHAPTER 4 Perception, Attribution, and the Management of Diversity

Perception

Perception: The process by which individuals select, organize, and interpret the input from their senses. Schemas, motivational state, and mood all play a part in perception.



Perceiver: The person trying to interpret some observation that he or she has just made.

Target: Whatever the perceiver is trying to make sense of.

Situation: The context in which the perception takes place.



FIGURE 4.1 Components of Perception: Perceiver, Target, and Situation



FIGURE 4.2 Characteristics of the Perceiver That Affect Perception



Schemas

• Schemas: Abstract knowledge structures that are stored in memory and make possible the organization and interpretation of information about targets of perception.



Motivational State and Mood

• Motivational State: The needs, values, and desires of a perceiver at the time of perception.

• Mood: How a perceiver feels at the time of perception.



Characteristics of the Target and the Situation

TARGET:

• Ambiguity• Social Status• Use of Impression

Management

SITUATION:

• Additional Information

• Salience



Impression Management Tactics

• Behavioral Matching

• Self-Promotion

• Conforming to situational norms

• Appreciating or flattering others

• Being consistent



Behavioral MatchingThe target of perception matches his or her

behavior to that of the perceiver.

For example, a subordinate tries to imitate her boss’s behavior by being modest and soft-spoken because her boss is modest and soft-spoken.



Self-Promotion

The target tries to present herself or himself in as positive a light as possible.

For example, a worker reminds his boss about his past accomplishments and associates with coworkers who are evaluated highly.



Conforming to Situational Norms

The target follows agreed-upon rules for behavior in the organization.

For example, a worker stays late every night even if she has completed all of her assignments because staying late is one of the norms of her organization.



Appreciating or Flattering Others

The target compliments the perceiver. This tactic works best when flattery is not extreme and when it involves a dimension important to the perceiver.

For example, a coworker compliments a manager on his excellent handling of a troublesome employee.



Being Consistent

The target’s beliefs and behaviors are consistent. There is agreement between the target’s verbal and nonverbal behaviors.

For example, a subordinate delivering a message to his boss looks the boss straight in the eye and has a sincere expression on his face.



Salience

The extent to which a target of perception stands out in a group of people or things. Causes might be:

• Being Novel

• Being Figural

• Being Inconsistent with Expectations



Advice to Managers

• Be careful not to jump to conclusions about coworkers, superiors, and subordinates simply because they appear to fit one of your preexisting schemas. Wait to form your opinions until you have gathered enough information to make a fair judgment.



Advice to Managers

• Make sure your perceptions of workers are based on their skills, capabilities, accomplishments, on-the-job behaviors, and levels of job performance.



Advice to Managers

• Do not allow your perceptions to be influenced by characteristics of a target (such as race, age, and gender) that are unrelated to job behaviors and performance.

• Try to treat organizational members who stand out from others the same as you treat those who do not stand out.



Perception Biases and Problems

• Primacy Effects

• Contrast Effects

• Halo Effect

• Similar-to-me Effects

• Harshness, Leniency, and Average Tendency Biases

• Knowledge-of-Predictor Bias



Primacy Effects

The initial pieces of information that a perceiver has about a target have an inordinately large effect on the perceiver’s perception and evaluation of the target.

For example, interviewers decide in the first few minutes whether or not a job candidate is a good prospect.



Contrast Effects

The perceiver’s perceptions of others distort the perceiver’s perception of a target.

For example, a manager’s perception of an average subordinate is likely to be lower if that subordinate is in a group with very high performers rather than in a group with very low performers.



Halo Effect

The perceiver’s general impression of a target distorts his or her perception of the target on specific dimensions.

For example, a subordinate who has made a good overall impression on a supervisor is rated as performing high-quality work and always meeting deadlines even when work is flawed.



Similar-to-Me Effects

People perceive others who are similar to themselves more positively than they perceive those who are dissimilar.

For example, supervisors rate subordinates who are similar to them more positively than they deserve.



Harshness, Leniency, and Average Tendency Biases

Some perceivers tend to be overly harsh in their perceptions, some overly lenient. Others view most targets as being about average.

For example, some supervisors give nearly everyone a poor rating, some give nearly everyone a good rating, and others give mostly average ratings.



Knowledge-of-Predictor Bias

Knowing how a target stands on a predictor of performance influences perceptions of the target.

For example, a professor perceives a student more positively than she deserves because the professor knows the student had a high score on the SAT.



Advice to Managers

• Be careful not to let your first impressions have too strong an effect on your perceptions of others. Avoid categorizing workers -- that is, fitting them to a schema -- until you have sufficient information to form an accurate perception.



Advice to Managers

• When evaluating or interviewing a series of individuals, do not let your evaluations of preceding individuals influence your ratings of those that follow.



Advice to Managers

• Be careful not to be lenient in your perceptions of people who are similar to you and overly harsh to those who are dissimilar to you.



Advice to Managers

• If you tend to rate most of your subordinates very negatively, very positively, or just about average, stop and think whether each individual truly deserves the rating he or she received.



Advice to Managers

• Share organizational members’ standing on predictors of performance only with people who need this information for decision making. Be careful not to let this information bias your own perceptions.



Definition

Attribution Theory: A group of theories that describe how people explain the causes of behavior.



Attributions

Internal Attribution assigns the cause of behavior to some characteristic of the person.

For example, ability, personality or motivation.

External Attribution assigns the cause of behavior to factors external to the person.

For example, task difficulty or luck.



FIGURE 4.3 Types of Attributions



Attributional Biases

• Fundamental attribution error - the tendency to overattribute behavior to internal rather than external causes.

• Actor-observer effect - the tendency to attribute the behavior of others to internal causes and to attribute one’s own behavior to external causes.



Attributional Bias

• Self-serving attribution - the tendency to take credit for successes and avoid blame for failures.



Advice to Managers

• Make sure your attributions for other people’s behavior are as accurate as possible.



Advice to Managers

• Consider external factors that may be responsible for other people’s behavior, such as inadequate resources or supplies, an exceptionally difficult task, or chance occurrences.



Advice to Managers

• Consider internal factors that may be responsible for your own behavior, such as your personality, your strengths and weaknesses, and your level of motivation.

• Be aware of the tendency in yourself and in others to take credit for successes and avoid blame for errors.



Effectively Managing a Diverse Workforce

• Securing Top-Management Commitment to Diversity

• Diversity Training

• Education

4. chapter 4 perception, attribution, and the management of diversity copyright © 1999 addison...

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