ob - social perception

Chapter 7 – Social Perception

BUSA 220

Wallace Winter 2012

Perception

• Environmental

Interpretation

• Social perception:

Observing and

interpreting others to be

able to understand and

respond appropriately.

• 4 Stages of Information

Processing

Information Processing Model

Competing environmental

stimuli

People

Events

Objects

Interpretation and

categorization

Memory

Judgments and

decisions

A

B

C

D

E

F

A

C

F

C

Stage 1

Selective Attention/Comprehension

Stage 2

Encoding and Simplification

Stage 3

Storage and

Retention

Stage 4

Retrieval and Response

Source: Krietner/Kinicki, 2009

What Do You Think?

Implicit Cognition: Automatic thought or belief.

• How are hiring decisions and performance evaluations

affected by one’s perceptual process?

• Based on social perception research, which of the

following would NOT be advised?

a. Use mostly subjective measures of performance.

b. Be aware of actions that could be perceived as unfair.

c. Train interviewers and managers on how best to objectively

evaluate others.

What Do You Think?

• Jamie is a brand-new salesperson who has just

graduated from college. Her first task is to sell

consulting services to a new potential client. Based

on your knowledge or experience of social perception,

which of the following would NOT be advised?

a. Check her cell phone to show that she is busy and

important

b. Convey a positive attitude

c. Dress professionally

Stereotypes

• A Stereotype is an

individual’s set of

beliefs about the

characteristics of a

group of people whether

true or not.

• What examples of

stereotypes have you

experienced?

Stereotypes – Male or Female? Emotional 90%

Affectionate 86%

Talkative 78%

Patient 72%

Creative 65%

Easygoing 38%

Intelligent 36%

Ambitious 33%

Courageous 27%

Aggressive 20%

Emotional 3%

Affectionate 5%

Talkative 10%

Patient 19%

Creative 15%

Easygoing 45%

Intelligent 21%

Ambitious 44%

Courageous 50%

Aggressive 68%

Stereotyping: Mental Shortcuts

1) Begins by categorizing people

2) Infer categorized people possess similar traits

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

4) Stereotypes are maintained by

a) Overestimating the frequency of stereotypic behaviors exhibited by others

b) Incorrectly explaining expected and unexpected behaviors

c) Differentiating minority individuals from oneself

Stereotyping Characteristics • Not always negative

– Women are nurturing

– Asians are smart

• Based on often inaccurate generalizations – Older workers are more accident prone

– Disabled workers cost a lot of money to accommodate

– Women are more emotional

• Can lead to poor decisions and discrimination

What Do You Think?

• Under what conditions would the use of stereotypes

be less likely?

1. (A) You have more knowledge; or

(B) You have less knowledge about the individuals you

work for or with.

2. (A) You encourage similar people to work together; or

(B) You offer opportunities for a diverse set of

individuals to gain important job experience.

Perceptual Errors


What Do You Think?

• Josie is a hard-working administrative assistant. She has a low attention to detail and sometimes handles customer’s calls unprofessionally. However, Josie never misses a day of work and is always on time. As a result, her manager rates her positively on many aspects of her performance. This is an example of which perceptual error?

a. Contrast

b. Recency

c. Halo

d. Leniency

e. Central Tendency

Self-fulfilling Prophecy • Pygmalion Effect

– Someone’s high expectations for another person result in high performance

• Galatea Effect

– An individual’s high self-expectations lead to high performance

• Golem Effect

– Loss in performance due to low leader expectations

Self-fulfilling Prophecy Model

Supervisor

expectancy

6

3 Motivation

4

Performance

5 1

Leadership

Subordinate

self-

expectancy

2


What Do You Think?

• Based on the self-fulfilling prophecy, which of the

following would not be advised?

a. Instill confidence in your staff

b. Identify errors in employee’s performance, no matter

how minor, and discuss them frequently

c. Treat all new employees as if they have outstanding

potential

d. Set high performance goals

Causes of Behavior

• Internal factors – Personal

characteristics that cause

behavior (e.g., ability,

effort)

• External factors –

Environmental

characteristics that cause

behavior (e.g., task

difficulty, good/bad luck)

Attributions

Causal Attributions: Suspected/inferred behavior causes.

• Andreas has a history of turning in his monthly reports

on time and with 100% accuracy. This month

Andreas’ reports were accurate but a week late. Why?

a. Andreas doesn’t know how to do monthly reports.

b. Andreas is lazy.

c. The information he needed was not available to meet the

deadline.

Kelley’s Attribution Model

Source: Integrated SocioPsychology

http://www.integratedsociopsychology.net/covariation_theory.html


Kelley’s Attribution Model Attribution Consensus Consistency Distinctiveness

Situational High High High

Dispositional Low High Low

Each of these (CCD) can be high or low and the particular

combination of these produced by the situations observed

leads to making dispositional or situational attributions.

According to Kelley, it is important to note that consistency

has to be high before any kind of attribution can be made. In

other words we cannot judge behavior that takes place

irregularly or unpredictably.




Kelley’s Attribution Model - Consensus

People

A B C D E

People

A B C D E

Low - Internal High - External

Kelley’s Attribution Model

Tasks A B C D E

Tasks A B C D E

Low - Internal High – External

Distinctiveness is determined by comparing a person’s behavior on

one task with his or her behavior on other tasks.

Kelley’s Attribution Model Consistency is determined by judging if the individual’s performance

on a given task is consistent over time.

Time Time

Low - External High - Internal

Kelley’s Attribution Model External

• High consensus • High distinctiveness • Low consistency

Internal

• Low consensus • Low distinctiveness • High consistency




What Do You Think (revisited)

• Andreas has a history of turning in his monthly reports

on time and with 100% accuracy. This month

Andreas’ reports were accurate but a week late.

• Which of the following dimensions could we use to

make attributions about Andreas?

a. Consistency

b. Distinctiveness

c. Consensus

What Do You Think (revisited)

• Nadia’s performance is declining. Her peers performance

hasn’t changed, it is occurring on several tasks, and has

occurred for the past six months.

1. High (A) or Low (B) for consensus

2. High (A) or Low (B) for distinctiveness

3. High (A) or Low (B) for consistency

4. The attribution her supervisor is likely to make is…

a. Internal

b. External

Attributional Tendencies

• Fundamental

Attribution Bias

- ignoring

environmental

factors that affect

behavior

• Your performance is

caused by you

• Self-Serving Bias - taking

more personal responsibility

for success than failure

• My success is because of my

effort/ability

• My poor performance is

caused by something else

(difficulty; bad luck)

What Can You Do About Your Biases?

Do not overlook the external causes of others’ behaviors

Identify and confront your stereotypes

Evaluate people based on objective factors

Avoid making rash judgments

Impressions - Dressing the Part • Even the most objective interview

process can be influenced by one’s

appearance

• Board of directors have admitted

evaluating CEO candidate’s clothes

when determining who should get

the job

• Female politicians, in particular,

have to be careful because the while

a smart style may not win votes, a

wrong style can lose them. Binkley, C. Wall Street Journal, Summer/Fall 2008

Impressions – Dressing the Part • In what other ways could

personal appearance affect

people in the workplace?

• In what situations do you

consider the perceptions

caused by your clothing and

appearance?

• How might the organizational

culture affect norms of dress

and associated perceptions? Binkley, C. Wall Street Journal, Summer/Fall 2008

Impressions - Dressing the Part Tips • Iron your shirts

• Men should wear no more than

three accessories (i.e., belt, wedding

band, watch)

• Dress for the position you want, not

for the one you currently have

• Match the culture of the industry

• The darker the color of women’s

suits the more likely to be perceived

as intimidating – choose carefully Binkley, C. Wall Street Journal, Summer/Fall 2008

Break the Typecast • Workplace reputations are often

formed superficially.

• Avoid being “boxed” by:

– Paying attention to comments

made about you and asking for

feedback

– Evaluate your image and adjust

your appearance/wardrobe

– Wait before speaking because

words carry weight.

Source: The Jungle, Erin White, Wall Street Journal, Feb. 28, 2006

Tying it Together

• How does this chapter

relate to the previous

chapters about

individuals, values and

attitudes?

• How does it relate to our

discussion of self-

monitoring and self-

growth?

Diversity Values & Attitudes

Individuals Social

Perception

ob - social perception

Education