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Social Perception Social Perception and Attributionsand Attributions

Chapter Seven

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Learning Objectives

LO.1 Describe perception in terms of the information-processing model.

LO.2 Summarize the key managerial implications of social perception.

LO.3 Discuss the process of stereotype formation.

LO.4 Summarize the managerial challenges and recommendations of sex role, age, racial,

ethnic, and disability stereotypes.

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Learning Objectives (cont.)

LO.5 Describe and contrast the Pygmalion effect, the Galatea effect, and the Golem effect.

LO.6 Discuss how the model of the self-fulfilling prophecy is expected to work.

LO.7 Explain, according to Kelley’s model, how external and internal causal attributions are formulated.

LO.8 Contrast the fundamental attribution bias and the self-serving bias.

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An Information Processing Model of Perception

Perception cognitive process that

enables us to interpret and understand our surroundings

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Perception: An Information-Processing Model

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Stage 1: Selective Attention/Comprehension

Attention Process of becoming consciously aware of

something or someone

People pay attention to salient stimuli

Salient something that stands out from context

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Question?

Beverly has $11,000 for investment. She speaks with various friends and neighbors to find out what stocks they have invested in. Beverly can be described as being on which stage of the social information processing model?

A.Selective attention; comprehension

B.Encoding

C.Simplification

D.Storage and Retention

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Stage 2: Encoding and Simplification

Schema Represents a person’s mental picture or

summary of a particular event or type of stimulus

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Restaurant Schema

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Stage 3: Storage and Retention

Event memory information about both specific and general

events

Semantic memory general knowledge about the world, mental

dictionary of concepts

Person memory information about a single individual or groups

of people

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Stage 4: Retrieval and Response

Decisions are based on: The process of drawing on, interpreting, and

integrating categorical information stored in long-term memory

Retrieving a summary judgment that was already made

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Managerial Implications: Hiring

Interviewers make hiring decisions based on their impression of how an applicant fits the perceived requirements of a job and on the basis of implicit cognition

Implicit cognition represents any thoughts or beliefs that are

automatically activated from memory without our conscious awareness.

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Managerial Implications: Performance Appraisal

Important for managers to accurately identify the behavioral characteristics and results indicative of good performance

Characteristics serve as the benchmarks for evaluating employee performance

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Managerial Implications: Leadership

Good leaders exhibit the following behaviors: Assigning specific tasks to group members Telling others they had done well Setting specific goals for the group

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Question?

Which of these is (are) managerial implication(s) of

perception?

A.Interviewers with racist and sexist schemata can undermine the accuracy and legality of hiring decisions.

B.Faulty schemata about what constitutes good versus poor performance can lead to inaccurate performance appraisal, which can erode work motivation, commitment, and loyalty.

C.Research demonstrates that employees' evaluations of leader effectiveness are influenced strongly by their schemata of good and poor leaders.

D.All of these.

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Stereotypes: Perceptionsabout Groups of People

Stereotype An individual’s set of beliefs about the

characteristics or attributes of a group

Not always negative

May or may not be accurate

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Stereotypes: Perceptionsabout Groups of People

It is important to remember that stereotypes are a fundamental component of the perception process and we use them to help process the large amount of information that bombards us daily.

It is not immoral or bad to possess stereotypes

Inappropriate use of stereotypes can lead to poor decisions

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Stereotyping Process

1. Categorize people into groups according to various criteria

2. Infer that all people within a category possess the same traits

3. Form expectations of others and interpret their behavior according to our stereotypes

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Stereotyping Process

4. Stereotypes are maintained by:– Overestimating the frequency of stereotypic

behavior exhibited by others– Incorrectly explaining expected and

unexpected behaviors– Differentiating minority individuals from oneself

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Commonly Found Perceptual Errors

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Sex-Role Stereotypes

Sex-role stereotype the belief that differing traits and abilities make

men and women particularly well suited to different roles

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Sex-Role Stereotypes

1. People often prefer male bosses

2. Women have a hard time being perceived as an effective leader

3. Women of color are more negatively affected by sex-role stereotypes than white women or men in general

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Age Stereotypes

Age stereotypes reinforce age discrimination because of their negative orientation.

Long-standing age stereotypes depict older workers as less satisfied, not as involved with their work, less motivated, not as committed

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Age Stereotypes

Research shows that as age increases so does employees’ job satisfaction, job involvement, internal work motivation, and organizational commitment.

Moreover, older workers are not more accident prone.

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Racial and Ethnic Stereotypes

Micro aggressions represent “biased thoughts, attitudes, and

feelings” that exist at an unconscious level

Stereotype threat refers to the ‘predicament’ in which members of a social group ‘must deal with the possibility of being judged or treated stereotypically, or of doing something that would confirm the stereotype.’”

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Managerial Challenges and Recommendations

An organization first needs to inform its workforce about the problem of stereotyping through employee education and training

Managers need to identify valid individual differences that differentiate between successful and unsuccessful performers.

Remove promotional barriers for men and women, people of color, and persons with disabilities

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Self-Fulfilling Prophecy:The Pygmalion Effect

Self-fulfilling prophecy someone’s high expectations for another

person result in high performance for that person

Also known as Pygmalion effect

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A Model of the Self-Fulfilling Prophecy

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Self-Fulfilling Prophecy

Galatea effect occurs when an individual’s high self-

expectations for him- or herself lead to high performance

Golem effect a loss in performance resulting from low leader

expectations

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Putting the Self-FulfillingProphecy to Work

1. Recognize that everyone has the potential to increase his or her performance.

2. Set high performance goals.

3. Positively reinforce employees for a job well done.

4. Provide frequent feedback that conveys a belief in employees’ ability to complete their tasks.

5. Give employees the opportunity to experience increasingly challenging tasks and projects.

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Putting the Self-FulfillingProphecy to Work

6. Communicate by using facial expressions, voice intonations, body language, and encouraging comments that reflect high expectations.

7. Provide employees with the input, information, and resources they need to achieve their goals.

8. Introduce new employees as if they have outstanding potential.

9. Encourage employees to stay focused on the present moment and not to worry about negative past events.

10.Help employees master key skills and tasks.

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Causal Attributions

Causal Attributions suspected or inferred

causes of behavior

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Performance Charts

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Kelley’s Model of Attribution

Behavior can be attributed either to:

Internal factors within a person (such as

ability) or to:

External behavior within the environment

(such as a difficult task)

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Kelley’s Model of Attribution

Consensus involves a comparison of an individual’s behavior

with that of his peers.

Distinctiveness involves comparing a person’s behavior on one task

with the behavior from other tasks.

Consistency determined by judging if the individual’s

performance on a given task is consistent over time.

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Question?

Francesca has had stable performance and high quality from one task to another. This refers to:A.Low consensus.

B.High distinctiveness.

C.High consensus

D.Low distinctiveness.

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Attributional Tendencies

Fundamental attribution bias Reflects one’s tendency to attribute another

person’s behavior to his or her personal characteristics, as opposed to situational factors.

Self-serving bias Represents one’s tendency to take more

personal responsibility for success than for failure.

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Managerial Implications

One study revealed that managers gave employees more immediate, frequent, and negative feedback when they attributed their performance to low effort.

A second study indicated that managers tended to transfer employees whose poor performance was attributed to a lack of ability.

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Managerial Implications

Men and women have different attributions regarding the causes of being promoted

Managers tend to disproportionately attribute behavior to internal causes that can result in inaccurate evaluations of performance, leading to reduced employee motivation

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Video Case: Andre Thornton

What attributes or experiences help Andre Thornton in being successful at GPI?

In what ways can Thornton serve as an example for all minority individuals?

Does GPI’s size help or hinder them in serving the needs of their clients?

Can you draw correlations between sports and business? What are they?