Perception

and Individual Decision Making

Chapter FIVE

What Is Perception, and Why Is It Important?

•People’s behavior is based on their perception of what reality is, not on reality itself.

•The world as it is perceived is the world that is behaviorally important.

Perception

A process by which individuals organize and interpret their sensory impressions in order to give meaning to their environment.

Factors ThatInfluence

Perception

E X H I B I T 5–1

Person Perception: Making Judgments About Others

Distinctiveness: shows different behaviors in different situations.

Consensus: response is the same as others to same situation.

Consistency: responds in the same way over time.

Attribution Theory

When individuals observe behavior, they attempt to determine whether it is internally or externally caused.

Attribution TheoryE X H I B I T 5–2

Errors and Biases in Attributions

Fundamental Attribution Error

The tendency to underestimate the influence of external factors and overestimate the influence of internal factors when making judgments about the behavior of others.

In general, we tend to blame the person first, not the situation.

Errors and Biases in Attributions (cont’d)

Self-Serving Bias

The tendency for individuals to attribute their own successes to internal factors while putting the blame for failures on external factors.

Thought: When student gets an “A” on an exam, they often say they studied hard. But when they don’t do well, how does the self serving bias come into play?

Hint: Whose fault is it usually when an exam is “tough”?

Frequently Used Shortcuts in Judging Others

Selective Perception

People selectively interpret what they see on the basis of their interests, background, experience, and attitudes.

Frequently Used Shortcuts in Judging Others

Halo Effect

Drawing a general impression about an individual on the basis of a single characteristic

Contrast Effects

Evaluation of a person’s characteristics that are affected by comparisons with other people recently encountered who rank higher or lower on the same characteristics

Frequently Used Shortcuts in Judging Others

Projection

Attributing one’s own characteristics to other people.

Stereotyping

Judging someone on the basis of one’s perception of the group to which that person belongs.

Specific Applications in Organizations

Employment Interview– Perceptual biases of raters affect the accuracy of

interviewers’ judgments of applicants. Performance Expectations

– Self-fulfilling prophecy (Pygmalion effect): The lower or higher performance of employees reflects preconceived leader expectations about employee capabilities.

Ethnic Profiling– A form of stereotyping in which a group of individuals

is singled out—typically on the basis of race or ethnicity—for intensive inquiry, scrutinizing, or investigation.

Specific Applications in Organizations (cont’d)

Performance Evaluations– Appraisals are often the subjective (judgmental)

perceptions of appraisers of another employee’s job performance.

The Link Between Perceptions and Individual Decision Making

Perception of the decision

maker

Outcomes

ProblemA perceived discrepancy between the current state of affairs and a desired state.

DecisionsChoices made from among alternatives developed from data perceived as relevant.

Assumptions of the Rational Decision-Making Model

Model Assumptions

• Problem clarity

• Known options

• Clear preferences

• Constant preferences

• No time or cost constraints

• Maximum payoff

Rational Decision-Making Model

Describes how individuals should behave in order to maximize some outcome.

Steps in the Rational Decision-Making Model

1. Define the problem.

2. Identify the decision criteria.

3. Allocate weights to the criteria.

4. Develop the alternatives.

5. Evaluate the alternatives.

6. Select the best alternative.

E X H I B I T 5–3

The Three Components of Creativity

Creativity

The ability to produce novel and useful ideas.

Three-Component Model of Creativity

Proposition that individual creativity requires expertise, creative-thinking skills, and intrinsic task motivation.

E X H I B I T 5–4Source: T.M. Amabile, “Motivating Creativity in Organizations,” California Management Review, Fall 1997, p. 43.

How Are Decisions Actually Made in Organizations?

Bounded Rationality

Individuals make decisions by constructing simplified models that extract the essential features from problems without capturing all their complexity.

How Are Decisions Actually Made in Organizations? (cont’d)

How/Why problems are Identified– Visibility over importance of problem

• Attention-catching, high profile problems• Desire to “solve problems”

– Self-interest (if problem concerns decision maker) Alternative Development

– Satisficing: seeking the first alternative that solves problem.

– Engaging in incremental rather than unique problem solving through successive limited comparison of alternatives to the current alternative in effect.

Common Biases and Errors

Overconfidence Bias– Believing too much in our own ability to make good

decisions.

Anchoring Bias– Using early, first received information as the basis for

making subsequent judgments.

Confirmation Bias– Using only the facts that support our decision.

Common Biases and Errors

Availability Bias– Using information that is most readily at hand.

• Recent • Vivid

Representative Bias– “Mixing apples with oranges”– Assessing the likelihood of an occurrence by trying to match

it with a preexisting category using only the facts that support our decision.

Winner’s Curse– Highest bidder pays too much– Likelihood of “winner’s curse” increases with the number of

people in auction.

Common Biases and Errors

Escalation of Commitment– In spite of new negative information, commitment

actually increases!

Randomness Error– Creating meaning out of random events

Hindsight Bias– Looking back, once the outcome has occurred, and

believing that you accurately predicted the outcome of an event

Intuition

Intuitive Decision Making– An unconscious process created out of distilled

experience. Conditions Favoring Intuitive Decision Making

– A high level of uncertainty exists– There is little precedent to draw on– Variables are less scientifically predictable– “Facts” are limited– Facts don’t clearly point the way– Analytical data are of little use– Several reasonable alternative solutions exist– Time is limited and pressing for the right decision

Individual Differences in Decision Making

Source: A.J. Rowe and J.D. Boulgarides, Managerial Decision Making, (Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1992), p. 29.

Personality Aspects of conscientiousness and escalation of

commitment. Self Esteem High self serving bias Gender

Women tend to analyze decisions more than men.

Organizational Constraints on Decision Makers

Performance Evaluation– Evaluation criteria influence the choice of actions.

Reward Systems– Decision makers make action choices that are favored

by the organization. Formal Regulations

– Organizational rules and policies limit the alternative choices of decision makers.

System-imposed Time Constraints– Organizations require decisions by specific deadlines.

Historical Precedents– Past decisions influence current decisions.

Cultural Differences in Decision Making

Problems selected Time orientation Importance of logic and rationality Belief in the ability of people to solve problems Preference for collective decision making

Ethics in Decision Making

Ethical Decision Criteria– Utilitarianism

• Seeking the greatest good for the greatest number.

– Rights• Respecting and protecting basic rights of individuals

such as whistleblowers.

– Justice• Imposing and enforcing rules fairly and impartially.

Ethics in Decision Making

Ethics and National Culture– There are no global ethical standards.– The ethical principles of global organizations that

reflect and respect local cultural norms are necessary for high standards and consistent practices.

Ways to Improve Decision Making

1. Analyze the situation and adjust your decision making style to fit the situation.

2. Be aware of biases and try to limit their impact.

3. Combine rational analysis with intuition to increase decision-making effectiveness.

4. Don’t assume that your specific decision style is appropriate to every situation.

5. Enhance personal creativity by looking for novel solutions or seeing problems in new ways, and using analogies.

Toward Reducing Bias and Errors

Focus on goals.– Clear goals make decision making easier and help to

eliminate options inconsistent with your interests. Look for information that disconfirms beliefs.

– Overtly considering ways we could be wrong challenges our tendencies to think we’re smarter than we actually are.

Don’t try to create meaning out of random events.– Don’t attempt to create meaning out of coincidence.

Increase your options.– The number and diversity of alternatives generated

increases the chance of finding an outstanding one.

E X H I B I T 5–5