ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOUR

UNIT -3

Prof. Rupali Mane

 Organizational Behaviour
• Definition :
• Organizational behaviour is the study and application
of knowledge about how people act within an
organization. It is a human tool for human benefit. It
applies broadly to the behaviour of people in all types
of organization.”— Newstrom and Davis.

• “Organizational Behavior can be defined as

understanding, prediction and management of
human behavior in organization .”----- Fred Luthans
• O.B. is the study of human behaviour at work in
organizations. Accordingly, the scope of O.B. includes the
study of individuals, groups and organization/structure.
Let us briefly reflect on what aspects each of these three
cover.
• Individuals
• Organizations are the associations of individuals.
Individuals differ in many respects. The study of
individuals, therefore, includes aspects such as
personality, perception, attitudes, values, job
satisfaction, learning and motivation.
• Groups of Individuals
Groups include aspects such as group dynamics,
group conflicts, communication, leadership,
power and politics and the like.
• Study of different organizational structure .
• Design & development of effective organization
.
• Organizational Development.
• Management of Change .
• Understanding of Self & Others:
• Understanding of Self & Others Organizational Behavior is a
useful tool to understand human behavior in all directions in
which human beings interact. Human behavior can be studied at :
Individual Behavior It tries to analyze why & how an individual
behaves which is affected by number of psychological, social &
cultural factors. Inter-Personal Behavior It takes place because of
individual’s natural desire of socialization. An individual can
understand himself & others better which help him to improve
inter-personal relations. Group Behavior An individual behaves
differently as a member of a group. Management can use group
dynamics for better communication, effective leadership, etc.
 Concept of EQ & IQ

• What is IQ?
• IQ stands for Intelligence Quotient and represents an individual's intellectual
abilities as measured through standardized tests. It primarily focuses on logical
reasoning, problem-solving skills, memory capacity, and other cognitive
functions. IQ is often used to assess academic performance and predict success
in professions that require analytical thinking and intellectual aptitude.
• What is EQ ?
• Emotional intelligence (EI), also known as emotional quotient (EQ), is the ability
to perceive, use, understand, manage, and handle emotions. High emotional
intelligence includes emotional recognition of emotions of the self and others,
using emotional information to guide thinking and behavior, discerning between
and labeling of different feelings, and adjusting emotions to adapt to
environments.
• The term first appeared in 1964, gaining popularity in the 1995 bestselling book
Emotional Intelligence by psychologist and science journalist Daniel Goleman.
Some researchers suggest that emotional intelligence can be learned and
strengthened, while others claim that it is innate.
• Difference between EQ & IQ :
• Intelligence Quotient (IQ): IQ refers to an individual's intelligence quotient, which
primarily measures cognitive abilities such as logic, problem-solving, and memory.
It focuses on intellectual capabilities that contribute to academic performance and
professional pursuits.
• Emotional Quotient (EQ): EQ, on the other hand, represents an individual's
emotional quotient. It evaluates emotional intelligence, including self-awareness,
empathy, and the ability to understand and manage emotions in oneself and
others.
• Focus: IQ is centered around cognitive functions, emphasizing analytical thinking
and mental agility. In contrast, EQ places emphasis on understanding and
managing emotions, building healthy relationships, and navigating social dynamics.
• Influencing Factors: IQ is heavily influenced by genetics and is often considered a
stable trait throughout life. In contrast, EQ is significantly shaped by social and
environmental factors, and it can be developed and enhanced through conscious
effort.
 Concept of EQ & IQ
• Domains of Application: IQ is typically assessed in academic and professional settings, where it
predicts success in tasks that require logical reasoning and problem-solving skills. EQ, however, is
more relevant in interpersonal interactions, leadership roles, and areas where emotional
awareness and management are crucial.
• Evaluation Methods: IQ is commonly evaluated through standardized IQ tests, which measure an
individual's performance in areas such as verbal reasoning, numerical aptitude, and spatial
perception. EQ is assessed through emotional intelligence tests that examine one's ability to
identify emotions, manage stress, and exhibit empathy.
• Complementing Each Other: Having a high IQ does not guarantee a high EQ, as individuals may
excel academically while struggling with emotional awareness and interpersonal skills. However, a
high EQ can complement a high IQ by enhancing communication, teamwork, and leadership
abilities.
• Predictive Value: IQ is often correlated with success in academic and professional domains, as it
can indicate intellectual potential and problem-solving capabilities. Conversely, EQ predicts success
in areas where interpersonal relationships, teamwork, and leadership skills are paramount.
• Trainability: IQ is considered to be less responsive to training interventions, as it is primarily
influenced by genetic factors. In contrast, EQ can be cultivated and improved through emotional
intelligence training programs, coaching, and self-reflection exercises.
• Impact on Life: While a high IQ can contribute to academic achievements and career
advancements, emotional intelligence plays a crucial role in overall well-being, mental health, and
the quality of interpersonal relationships.
• Personality :
• The word personality is derived from a Greek word “persona” which
means “to speak through.” Personality is the combination of
characteristics or qualities that forms a person’s unique identity. It
signifies the role which a person plays in public. Every individual has a
unique, personal and major determinant of his behavior that defines
his/her personality .
• Personality means how a person affects others and how he understands
and views himself as well as the pattern of inner and outer measurable
traits and the person-situation interactions (Fred Luthans).
• According to Stephen P. Robbins, personality is the sum total ways in
which an individual reacts and interacts with others. It may be defined as
those inner psychological characteristics that both determine and reflect
how a person responds to his environment.
• Personality can be defined as those inner psychological characteristics
that both determine and reflect how a person responds to the environment.
• Determinants

• 1. Heredity : Human behaviour is partly affected by heredity.

The parent's qualities are passed on to the children through
the molecular structure of genes located in the chromosomes.
In our day to day life, so many times we use the term "Like
father like son" as "Like Mother like daughter".
• 2. Environment : All personality traits are not determined by
heredity. Environment also plays a very important role in the
development of personality of a person. Environment
comprises of culture, family, social and situational factors.
• (a) Culture : Culture is sum total of learned believes, values and customs.
Cultural factors
• determine now a person acts whether independently or dependently. Culture
establishes norms, attitudes and values that are passed along from generation
to generation.
• (b) Family : Families influence the behaviour of a person especially in the
early stages. The nature of such influence will depend upon the following
factors :
• (i) Socio-economic level of the family
• (ii) Family size
• (iii) Birth order
• (iv) Race
• (v) Religion
• (vi) Parent's educational level and Geographic location.
 Myers-Briggs Type Indicator
• The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator
(MBTI) assessment is a psychometric questionnaire designed to measure
psychological preferences in how people perceive the world and make
decisions. A personality test that taps four characteristics and classifies
people into 1 of 16 personality types - The world’s most widely used
personality assessment, with as many as two million assessments
administered annually. Fundamental to the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator
is the theory of psychological type as originally developed by Carl Jung.
• Jung proposed the existence of two dichotomous pairs of cognitive
functions: The "rational" (judging) functions: thinking and feeling The
"irrational" (perceiving) functions: sensing and intuition Jung went on to
suggest that these functions are expressed in either an introverted or
extraverted form. From Jung's original concepts, Briggs and Myers
developed their own theory of psychological type,
• Sensing (S) – Intuition (N)
• This scale involves looking at how people gather information from the world around them. Just like with
extraversion and introversion, all people spend some time sensing and intuiting depending on the situation.
According to the MBTI, people tend to be dominant in one area or the other.
• People who prefer sensing tend to pay a great deal of attention to reality, particularly to what they can learn
from their own senses. They tend to focus on facts and details and enjoy getting hands-on experience. Those
who prefer intuition pay more attention to things like patterns and impressions. They enjoy thinking about
possibilities, imagining the future, and abstract theories.
• Thinking (T) – Feeling (F)
• This scale focuses on how people make decisions based on the information that they gathered from their
sensing or intuition functions. People who prefer thinking place a greater emphasis on facts and objective
data.
• They tend to be consistent, logical, and impersonal when weighing a decision. Those who prefer feeling are
more likely to consider people and emotions when arriving at a conclusion.
• Judging (J) – Perceiving (P)
• The final scale involves how people tend to deal with the outside world. Those who lean toward judging prefer
structure and firm decisions. People who lean toward perceiving are more open, flexible, and adaptable. These
two tendencies interact with the other scales.
• Remember, all people at least spend some time engaged in extraverted activities. The judging-perceiving scale
helps describe whether you behave like an extravert when you are taking in new information (sensing and
intuiting) or when you are making decisions (thinking and feeling).
 OCEAN personality traits
• What are OCEAN personality traits?
• The five OCEAN personality traits make up a model that can be used to better understand an individual's overall personality and
behavior by ranking each trait through a series of interconnected scales. Like with other personality theories, the Big Five OCEAN
personality factors are influenced by both nature and nurture.
• According to the OCEAN personality model, everyone is made up of five basic traits.
•
Openness to experience
• Conscientiousness
• Extroversion
• Agreeableness
• Neuroticism
• These five traits represent broad categories of human behavior that can be used to understand differences in an individual's
personality and decision-making processes. These five factors do not completely explain the complexity of human personality, but
they’re known as the Big Five because they encompass a large percentage of personality-related traits and characteristics.
•
Openness
• Represents how willing a person is to try new things
• Conscientiousness
• Refers to an individual's desire to be careful and diligent
• Extroversion

• Measures how energetic, outgoing and confident a person is

• Agreeableness
• Refers to how an individual interacts with others
• Neuroticism
• Represents how much someone is inclined to experience negative emotions
•
By using a sliding scale or a spectrum, the OCEAN model can determine the degree to which an individual exudes each of these
personality traits. HR professionals often use the OCEAN model to evaluate potential employees. Marketers may also use the OCEAN
model to develop a deeper understanding of who their current or potential customers are.
OCEAN personality traits
Johari Window
 Johari Window
• The Johari Window model is a simple and useful tool for illustrating
and improving self-awareness, and mutual understanding between
individuals within a group.
• The Johari Window model can also be used to assess and improve a
group's relationship with other groups.
• Founders :The Johari Window model was devised by American
psychologists Joseph Luft and Harry Ingham in 1955, while researching
group dynamics at the University of California Los Angeles.
• The model was first published in the Proceedings of the Western
Training Laboratory in Group Development by UCLA Extension Office
in 1955, and was later expanded by Joseph Luft.
• Formation of Name : Luft and Ingham called their Johari Window
model 'Johari' after combining their first names, Joe and Harry
 Johari Window
• Areas of Model : The four Johari Window perspectives are called 'regions'
or 'areas' or 'quadrants'. Each of these regions contains and represents the
information - feelings, motivation, etc – known about the person, in terms
of whether the information is known or unknown by the person, and
whether the information is known or unknown by others in the group.
• Johari window four quadrants : 1. what is known by the person about
him/herself and is also known by others - open area, open self, free area,
free self, or 'the arena‘.
• 2. what is unknown by the person about him/herself but which others
know - blind area, blind self, or 'blindspot‘.
• 3. what the person knows about him/herself that others do not know -
hidden area, hidden self, avoided area, avoided self or 'facade‘.
• 4. what is unknown by the person about him/herself and is also unknown
by others - unknown area or unknown self.
 Johari Window
• 1.Four areas that can help one to know themselves better,
in order to better contribute to the company.
• 2. As a team leader, utilizing this tool will let members of
the group understand their performance and work ethics,
while facilitating an open-minded environment where
criticism is seen in a positive light.
• 3.Johari Window is a technique for improving self-
awareness within an individual. It helps in understanding
your relationship with yourself and others.
• 4. Johari Window model can be a useful tool if you want to
improve your communication skills.
 TRANSACTIONAL ANALYSIS
• TRANSACTIONAL ANALYSIS:
• It was introduced by Eric Berne.
• Transactional analysis is a technique used to help
people better understand their own and other’s
behavior, especially in interpersonal relationships
• It is a good method for understanding interpersonal
behavior.
• It offers a model of personality and the dynamics of
self and its relationship to others that makes possible a
clear and meaningful discussion of behaviour.
 TRANSACTIONAL ANALYSIS
• THE EGO STATES :
• PARENT ADULT CHILD Personality
• • 1. parent ego state: The parent ego state means that the values, attitudes and behaviours of parents
an integral part of the personality of an individual. These people tend to talk to people and treat others
like children.
• The characteristics of a person with parent ego state are:
• • Judgemental
• • Rule maker
• • Moralising
• • Over protective
• • indispensable
• 2. Adult ego state: The adult ego state is authentic, direct, reality based, fact seeking and problem
solving. They assume that human beings as equal, worthy and responsible. The process of adult ego
state formation goes through one’s own experiences and continuously updating attitudes left over
from childhood. People with adult ego state, gather relevant information, carefully analyse it, generate
alternatives and make logical choices.•
• 3.Child ego state: the child ego state is characterized by very immature behaviour. The important
features of child ego state are creativity, anxiety, depression, dependence, fear, joy, emotional
sentimental etc.
 TRANSACTIONAL ANALYSIS
• Stroke is a unit of recognition. A compliment, smile, hug,
words of support and encouragement. Strokes can also be
negative as in criticisms, hits, frown. Strokes ideally need
to be positive and building self-esteem.
• Strokes can be:
• Verbal or non-verbal e.g. Hello (verbal) or a smile or hug
(non- verbal).
• Positive or negative e.g. It’ nice to see you (positive) or go
away (negative).
• Conditional or unconditional. e.g. You did that well
(conditional) or you are wonderful (unconditional).
 TRANSACTIONAL ANALYSIS
• Eric Berne defines a stroke as a fundamental unit of human recognition. A
stroke can take the form of a nod, a smile, a touch, or a spoken word.
Therefore, if a human being does something to recognize fellow human
being then that can be referred to as stroke. Small babies need strokes to
survive. Strokes are very important for human beings and it decides the
type of personality a person will have. Children require positive strokes, but
if because of some reason they do not get positive strokes they would do
everything to get the negative strokes. The reason for this is that negative
strokes are somewhat better than having on stroke at all. This explains why
some individuals are more comfortable with negative strokes. Strokes can
be regarded as a reflection of a person. Stroking patterns which are
developed in an individual likely support the natural, existential life position
of that individual. The strokes reflect on how a person feels about his/her
own self with regards to other people in the closer environment
 TRANSACTIONAL ANALYSIS
• Strokes can be of two types:
• 1. Unconditional Strokes: These strokes come to
us because we exist, i.e., by virtue of existence
some of the strokes can be received. Such strokes
are very well-off; for instance if a small kid
receives a lot of unconditional love from their
closed ones, thrive well. Same is the case with
adults, if they are given a good foundation of
positive stroke which is unconditional then they
too thrive well.
 TRANSACTIONAL ANALYSIS
• Conditional Strokes: These strokes are given to an individual when a
necessary condition is met, or simply put it is a given for accomplishing
something or even in lieu of a particular character or trait possessed by a
person. These strokes are said to be conditional because they depend upon a
condition which needs to be fulfilled. For example, if an employee is praised
by the supervisor on the pretext that her past performance appraisal gave
her an outstanding rating, then this praise is a positive conditional stroke.
Similarly, if a person dances or sings well, or is a good sports person, or
swims really well, and because of these attributes someone else recognises
these and praises the person then this can be regarded as positive
conditional stroke. These strokes give us the necessary momentum to make
us feel very good. Some of our hidden needs like being appreciated are
fulfilled by conditional positive strokes. Taking interest in the strokes helps us
to keep happy. It is then very important to pay closer attention to the type of
conditional strokes which makes a person happy.
 TRANSACTIONAL ANALYSIS
• an individual can also ask for different strokes and this does
not diminish the importance of the stroke! The most
dangerous kind of stroke is the unconditional negative stroke,
which signifies that something is wrong with us, and that
there is no condition to blame for it. This type of stroke can
severely affect the self esteem of the person concerned. When
negative strokes are conditional, they are a bit less harmful
than the unconditional negative ones. At least the person can
believe that there is something good about himself or herself,
since the negative strokes are limited to certain specific
characteristics or behaviours. “I hate when you shout like
that” is more limited in its negative impact than “I hate you!”
 Life Positions

• Life Positions
• Eric Berne highlighted that a person’s life and its results are pre-decided
based on the first 5 years of a person’s life. You may wonder how can a
person base their life story on something that happened way back in
growing-up years?
• Life Positions is thus an interesting theory that brings attention to our
psychological patterns of thinking, feeling, and behaving. Our decisions
are based on the responses we receive from parents or parental figures.
These form convictions about the self and the world. A child tends to
make this decision early on based on messages which may be verbal on
non-verbal that are received during the early years. However, Life
Positions are not permanent and can be altered through counseling or
therapy, helping a person free themselves from self-limiting beliefs to
embrace a new life story for themselves.
 Life Positions

• The Life Convictions formed are as follows:

• I am OK
• I’m not OK
• You’re OK
• You’re not OK
• Berne combined these to form 4 Life Positions as follows:
a) I’m Ok, you’re Ok
• This is often defined as a winning Life Script. Here, a child is comfortable with self and
the world. He/she knows they are lovable and will grow up to trust others, have long-
lasting meaningful relationships. They have a good attitude and give and receive
trust.
• b) I’m not Ok, you’re Ok
• A child here often considers themselves on the losing end. They firmly believe in this
and create life stories that bring more misery. An individual feels the need to please
others while feeling victimized. They often show more support to other people’s
strength instead of their own.
 Life Positions

• c) I’m Ok, you’re not Ok

• An infant grows up thinking he/she is above the others. Such a
child becomes an adult focused on his own ‘wants’ while stepping
over others. This adult may tend to project their problems on
others, and play the blame-game. A person like this always makes
others feel inferior while feeling ‘okay’ about themselves.
• d) I’m not OK, you’re not OK
• When a child decides this Life Position, the child has an internal
struggle with self and the world as well. They end up creating a life
of misery while not believing in self and taking decisions that put
them in the spot of being a victim. A person feels frustrated and
hopeless. Such a person may withdraw or even injure themselves.
 Life Positions

• These positions represent a specific stance

taken by an individual that is all about how
he/she perceives self and others.
• The Philosophy of Transactional Analysis
mentions:
• People are OK.
• Everyone has the capacity to think.
• People decide their own destiny, and these
decisions can be changed.
 Attitudes
• Meaning : Attitudes are evaluative statements indicating
one’s feeling either favourably or unfavourably towards
persons, objects, events or situations Attitude is very
complex cognitive process just like personality of an
individual.
• Attitude is view point, a mind-set or a way of valuing life.
• Evaluative statements of objects, people or events.
• A collection of feelings.
• Multiple experiences which leads to beliefs.
• Beliefs cluster together to form values (that which you
value).
• Values of life shape itself, into a world view called ATTITUDE
 Attitudes
Concept : An attitude is a hypothetical construct that represents an
individual's degree of like or dislike for an item. Attitudes are generally
positive or negative views of a person, place, thing, or event this is often
referred to as the attitude object.
Four Possible Reactions to Attitude Objects:
Positive attitude: The predisposition that results in desirable outcomes for
individuals and organizations.
Positive mental attitude is a psychological term which describes a mental
phenomenon in which the central idea is that one can increase
achievement through optimistic thought processes
Negative attitude: The tendency of a person that result in an undesirable
outcome for individuals and organizations. A negative attitude is
characterized by a great disdain ( disregard) for everything. Someone
who constantly points out the negative in everything.
 Attitudes
• Features of Attitude :
• Attitude can be characterized in Different ways: -
• Changes with time & situation .
• Related to feelings & beliefs of people
• Affects one’s behaviour positively or negatively.
• Affect perception
• Learned through experiences .
• May be unconsciously held
 Attitudes
• Components of Attitude:
• Cognitive component
• Affective component
• Behavioral component

• Cognitive component
• This component includes the beliefs an individual has about a certain
person, object, or situation. The belief that "discrimination is wrong" is a
value statement. Such an opinion is the cognitive component of an attitude.
Learned beliefs, such as "you need to work long hours to get a head in this
job", lead to attitudes that have an impact on behaviour in the work place.
The cognition component of an attitude, reflects a persons perceptions or
beliefs. Cognitive elements are evaluative beliefs and are measured by
attitude scales or by asking about thoughts.
 Attitudes
• Affective Component
• This component refers to the person's feelings that
result from his or her beliefs about a person, object
or situation. A person who believes hard work
earns promotions may feel angery or frustration
when he or she works hard but is not promoted.
The affective component becomes stronger as an
individual has more frequent and direct experience
with a focal object, person or situation. Affect is the
emotional component of an attitude.
 Attitudes
• Behavioral component
• This component refers to the individual's
behaviour that occurs as a result of his or her
feeling about the focal person, object or situation.
An individual may complain, request a transfer, or
be less productive because he or she feels
dissatisfied with work. The behavioural
component of an attitude refers to an intention to
behave in a certain way toward someone or
something.
 Attitudes
• In organizational behaviour there are 3types of attitudes :
• Job Satisfaction,
• Job Involvement and
• Organizational Commitment.
• Job Satisfaction :
• A collection of positive and/or negative feelings that an individual holds
toward his or her job.
• A person will hold a positive attitude if had a high level of satisfaction,
while dissatisfied people will generally display a negative attitude
towards life.

When we talk about attitude, we generally speak about job satisfaction

because they are inter-related in organizational behaviour.
• Job involvement
• Job involvement refers to the degree to which a person
identifies himself (psychologically) with his job, actively
participates and considers his perceived performance level
important to self-worth. (Robbins)
• Higher job satisfaction leads to low absenteeism & employee
turnover and indicates that the individual cares for his job.
• Organizational commitment
• Organizational commitment refers to a degree to which an
employee identifies himself with the organizational goals
and wishes to maintain membership in the organization.
• Importance of attitude in organisational behavior
• Employees with a positive attitude will create a healthy atmosphere in the
organization, develop positive relations with sub-ordinates, their supervisors,
managers and top management. A positive attitude has significant benefits for an
individual in many aspects.
• Following are the aspects related to the importance of attitude

• Career success
• Productivity
• Leadership
• Teamwork
• Decision making
• Motivation
• Interpersonal relations
• Stress management
 Perception
• “ Perception is the process of receiving
information about and making sense of the
world around us. It involves deciding which
information to notice, how to categorize this
information and how to interpret it within the
framework of existing knowledge.
• “ A process by which individuals organize and
interpret their sensory impressions in order to
give meaning to their environment”.
 Perception
• Factors affecting perception:
• Factor that influence perception relate to the perceiver, perceived and situations. All these factors are
two kinds-
• Internal Factors (Endogenous)-
• a. Needs and desire: An individual’s perception about stimuli is influenced by Inter alia, his needs and
desire at that time.
• b. Personality : Closely relate to needs and desire is the personality of the perceiver which affects what
is attended or perceived in the given situation.
• c. Experience : Experience and knowledge serve as basic for perception.
• External factors (Exogenous) :
• Size : The principle of size says that the larger the object, the more is the probability that it is perceived.
Size attract the attention of the individuals.
• Intensity : Intensity is closely related to size. The intensity principle of attention states that the more
intense the stimuli, the more likely it is to be perceived.
• Frequency : The frequency principle states that repeated external stimulus is more attention – getting
than a single one
• d. Contrast : As per contrast principle the external stimuli which stands out against the background will
receive more attention.
• Status : Status held by an individual also influences his or her perception about things or events
 Perception
• Perceptual Process
• The perceptual process allows us to experience the world around us.
• In this overview of perception and the perceptual process, we will learn more about
how we go from detecting stimuli in the environment to actually taking action based on
that information and it can be organized into our existing structures and patterns, and
are then interpreted based on previous experiences.
• Although the perception is a largely cognitive and psychological process, how we
perceive the people and objects around us affects our communication.
• Actually perception process is a sequence of steps that begins with the environment
and leads to our perception of a stimulus and action in response to the stimulus.
• In order to fully understand how the perception process works, we have to follow each
of the following steps.
• 3 stages of perception process are;
• Selection.
• Organization.
• Interpretation.
• Selective Perception
• Selective perception means the situation when people
selectively interpret what they see on the basis of their
interests, background, experience, and attitudes.
• It means any characteristics that make a person,
object, or event stand out will increase the probability
that it will be perceived.
• Because it is impossible for us to assimilate everything
we see, only certain stimuli can be taken in.
• Selection
• The world around us is filled with an infinite
number of stimuli that we might attend, but
our brains do not have the resources to pay
attention to everything.
• Thus, the first step of perception is the
decision of what to attend to.
• Organization
• Once we have chosen to attend to a stimulus in the
environment, the choice sets off a series of reactions in our
brain.
• This neural process starts with the activation of our
sensory receptors (touch, taste, smell, sight, and hearing).
• Organizing is the second part of the perception process, in
which we sort and categorize information that we perceive
based on innate and learned cognitive patterns.
• Three ways we sort things into patterns are by using
proximity, similarity, and difference
• Interpretation
• After we have attended to a stimulus, and our brains have received and
organized the information, we interpret it in a way that makes sense using
our existing information about the world Interpretation simply means that
we take the information that we have sensed and organized and turn it into
something that we can categorize.
• By putting different stimuli into categories, we can better understand and
react to the world around us.
• Perception of others involves sensing, organizing, and interpreting
information about people, and what they say and do. The sensation is a main
characteristic of perception as it relates to outside input. In the perceptual
process, firstly the perceiver should select what will be perceived.
• Then, the organization takes place when listeners identify the type of sound
and compare it to other sounds heard in the past.
• Factors Influencing Perception :
• The definitions of perception clearly stated that perception is influenced by the
factors of perceiver, perceived and the situational factors. These factors are briefly
explained as below:
• a) Characteristics of perceiver: An individual’s past experiences, needs, habits,
personality, values and attitudes influence the perceptual process. For example, if a
manager holds negative beliefs and attitudes towards employee union, he will
dislike and express his resentment for even a routine visit of union official in the
plant.
• b) Characteristics of perceived: Physical attributes, appearance and behaviour of
the target also influence how they are being perceived. Physical attributes such as
age, gender, height and weight affects the way the person is being perceived.
Perceivers tend to notice physical appearance characteristics that contrast with the
norm, that are intense, or that are new or unusual. Physical attractiveness often
catches the attention quickly. Interviewers rate attractive candidates more
favourably and attractive candidates are awarded higher starting salaries.
• c) Characteristics of the situation: The physical, social and organisational settings
of the situation also influence the process of perception.
Attribution theory
 Attribution theory
• Attribution theory was introduced by Fritz Heider in 1958.
• Attribution theory is a psychological theory that attempts to explain
behavior and can be quite useful in the management of
organizations. Attribution theory is important for organizations
because it can help managers understand some of the causes of
employee behavior and can assist employees in understanding their
thinking about their own behaviors. If you can understand why you
behave a certain way, and why others around you do so, then you have
a better understanding of yourself, others, and your organization.
• Attribution theory attempts to explain some of the causes of our
behavior. According to the theory, you want to be able to understand
the reason for the actions you take and understand the reasons behind
the actions other people take. You want to attribute causes to these
behaviors, which should give you some feeling of control over your
own behaviors and related situations.
 Attribution theory
• 3-Stage Process
• Attributing behavior is a 3-stage process:
• You must observe the behavior, whether it is your own behavior or the behavior of someone else.
• You must determine whether the behavior being observed is intentional.
• You attribute the observed behavior.
• When we attribute the behavior, there are three things we need to consider:
• 1. External cause or internal cause?
• Internal cause: Internal causes are those factors that are attributed to the person being observed. Internal
causes are usually controllable. For example, a co-worker just received a promotion. You believe the reason for
her promotion was her hard work, dedication, and skills. You have thus attributed internal causes to her
promotion.
• External cause: External causes are attributed to factors outside of the person being observed. External causes
are often not controllable, such as luck. For example, let's say your co-worker just received a promotion. You
believe she received her promotion because the owner of the company is her father. You have attributed an
external factor as the cause of her promotion.
• 2. Consistent or distinctive behavior?
• When you observe a person behaving the same when he is faced with the same circumstances, the observed
behavior is consistent. Consistency is low if the person behaves differently in similar circumstances, while it is
high if the person acts the same in similar circumstances.
• When you are determining whether a person behaves the same way in different circumstances, you are
determining whether the behavior is distinctive. If a person behaves the same in different circumstances, then
distinctiveness is low, while if the person behaves different in different circumstances, distinctiveness is high.
• 3). Consensus
• Consensus is high if other people act the same way as the person observed in the same circumstances, while
consensus is low if other people act differently than the person observed in the same circumstances.
 Errors in Perception

• Errors in Perception
• Many times the prejudices in the individual, time of perception,
unfavorable background, lack of clarity of stimulus, confusion, conflict
in mind and such other factors are responsible for errors in perception.
• There are some errors in perception;
• Illusion.
• Hallucination.
• Halo Effect.
• Stereotyping.
• Similarity.
• Horn Effect.
• Contrast.
 Errors in Perception
• Illusion
• The illusion is a false perception. Here the
person will mistake a stimulus and perceive it
wrongly.
• For example, in the dark, a rope is mistaken as
a snake or vice versa. The voice of an
unknown person is mistaken as a friend’s
voice. A person standing at a distance who is
not known may be perceived as a known
person.
 Errors in Perception

• Hallucination
• Sometimes we come across instances where
the individual perceives some stimulus, even
when it is not present.
• This phenomenon is known as a hallucination.
The person may see an object, person, etc. or
he may listen to some voice though there are
no objects and sounds in reality.
 Errors in Perception

• Halo Effect
• The individual is evaluated on the basis of perceived
positive quality, feature or trait. When we draw a
general impression about an individual on the basis of a
single characteristic, such as intelligence, sociability, or
appearance, a halo effect is operating.
• In other words, this is the tendency to rate a man
uniformly high or low in other traits if he is
extraordinarily high or low in one particular trait: If a
worker has few absences, his supervisor might give him
a high rating in all other areas of work.
 Errors in Perception

• Stereotyping
• People usually can fall into at least one general category
based on physical or behavioral traits then they will be
evaluated. When we judge someone on the basis of our
perception of the group to which he or she belongs, we
are using the shortcut called stereotyping.
• for example, a boss might assume that a worker from a
Middle East country is lazy and cannot meet
performance objectives, even if the worker tried his
best.
 Errors in Perception

• Horn Effect
• When the individual is completely evaluated
on the basis of a negative quality or feature
perceived. This results in an overall lower
rating than an acceptable rate.
• He is not formally dressed up in the office,
that’s why he may be casual at work too.