Unit –II I.T.S –Management & IT Institute Mohan Nagar ... · PerceptionandAttribution:Concept,Nature,Process, Importance.ManagementandBehavioralApplications ofPerception ... Management

Organization BehaviorOrganization Behavior

Unit – II

I.T.S – Management & IT Institute

Mohan Nagar, Ghaziabad

UNIT II (10 Sessions)

� Perception and Attribution: Concept, Nature, Process,

Importance. Management and Behavioral Applications

of Perception

� Attitude: Concept, Process and Importance, Attitude

UnitUnit-- II: II: ContentsContents

Measurement. Attitudes and Workforce Diversity

� Personality: Concept, Nature, Types and Theories of

Personality Shaping, Personality Attitude and Job

Satisfaction.

� Learning: Concept and Theories of Learning.

Prof. S.K. Pandey, I.T.S, Ghaziabad

Perception and AttributionPerception and Attribution

� Perception is the set of processes by which an individual

becomes aware of and interprets information about the

environment.

� People perceives the things in different ways.

� Attribution theory suggests that we observe behavior� Attribution theory suggests that we observe behavior

and then attribute causes to it. That is we attempt to

explain why people behave as they do.

� The process of attribution is based on perceptions of

reality, and these perceptions may vary widely among

individuals.

Contd…Contd…

� To start the process, we observe behavior, either our own or

someone else’s.

� We then evaluate that behavior in terms of its degree of consensus,

consistency, and distinctiveness.

� Consensus is the extent to which other people in the same situation

behave in the same way.

� Consistency is the degree to which the same person behaves in the� Consistency is the degree to which the same person behaves in the

same way at different times.

� Distinctiveness is the extent to which same person behaves in the

same way in different situations.

� We form impression or attributions as to the causes of behavior

based on various combinations of consensu, consistency, and

distinctiveness.

� We may believe the behavior is caused internally (by force within

the person) or externally (by force in the person’s environment)

ConceptConcept� Perception is the cognitive (mental) process of selecting,

organizing and interpreting or attaching meaning to the events

happening in the environment.

� Based on the definition of perception, we may identify its following

characteristics:

– Perception is the intellectual process through which a person

selects data from the environment, organizes it, and obtainsselects data from the environment, organizes it, and obtains

meaning from it. The physical process of obtaining data from

the environment is called Sensation.

– Perception is the basic cognitive or psychological process i.e.

the people’s action, emotions, thoughts or feelings are triggered

by the perception of their surroundings.

– Perception, being a psychological process, becomes subjective

process and different people may perceive the environmental

event differently.

The Attribution Process The Attribution Process

Antecedents--

factors internal

to the perceiver

•Information•Beliefs•Motivation

Attributions made by the perceiver

Consequences for the perceiver

•Perceived external or internal causesof behavior

•Behavior•Feelings•Expectations

NatureNature

The EEnvironment

• organization

• work group

The PPerson

• skills & abilities

• personality

• perception • work group

• job

• personal life

B = f(P,E)B = f(P,E)BBehavior

• perception

• attribution

• attitudes

• values

• ethics

ImportanceImportance

� 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.

� if the manager has good perception in any department of

the organization, the department team will have safe solution

with Risky Ideas.with Risky Ideas.

� to find innovative solutions for the problem.

� to leverage creativity and motivate the higher

plateau of thinking.

� with the help of perception, habits and attitudes

will get changed.

� with the help of perception, we can find solutions the most

difficult problems.

ProcessProcess� Since perception play a role in variety of workplace

behaviors, managers should understand basic perceptual

process.

� Perception actually consists of several distinct processes.

Moreover, in perceiving we receive information in many

guises, from spoken words to visual images of movements

and forms.

� Through perceptual processes, the receiver assimilates the

varied types of incoming information for the purpose of

interpreting it.

� There are two basic perceptual processes that are

particularly relevant to managers – Selective Perception and

Stereotyping.

Basic Elements in the Perceptual Basic Elements in the Perceptual ProcessProcess

Environmental

Stimuli

Observation* Taste * Smell* Hearing * Sight* Touch

Perceptual Selection* External factors

* Internal factors

Interpretation* Perceptual errors

* Attributions

Response* Covert

* Overt

Perceptual

Organization* Perceptual grouping

Selective PerceptionSelective Perception� Selective perception is the process of screening out information that

we are uncomfortable with or that contradicts our beliefs.

� For example, “suppose a manager is exceptionally fond of

particular employee. The manager has a very positive attitude about

the employee and thinks he is a top-performer. One day manager

notices that the employee seems to be goofing off. Selective

perception may cause the manager to quickly forget what heperception may cause the manager to quickly forget what he

observed. Similarly, suppose a manager has formed a very negative

image of a particular employee. He thinks that employee is a poor

performer who never does a good job. When he happens to observe

an example of high performance from the employee, he may quickly

forget it.

� In one sense, selective perception is beneficial because it allows us to disregard

minor bits of information. Of course the benefits occurs only if our basic

perception is accurate. If selection perception causes us to ignore important

information, however, it can become quite detrimental.

StereotypingStereotyping� Stereotyping is categorizing or labeling people on the basis of a

single attribute. Certain forms of stereotyping can be useful and

efficient.

� Suppose, for example, tat a manager believes that communication skills are

important for a particular job and that speech communication majors tend to have

exceptionally good communication skills. As a result whenever, he interviews

candidates for jobs he pays especially close attention to speech communication

majors. To the extent that communication skills truly predict the job performancemajors. To the extent that communication skills truly predict the job performance

and that majoring in speech communication does indeed provide those skills, this

form of stereotyping can be beneficial.

� Common attributes from which people often stereotype are race and sex. Of

course stereotype along with these lines may be harmful , For example a HR

Manager in an organization forms the stereotype that women can perform only

certain tasks and that men are best suited for other tasks. To the extent that this

affects the manager’s hiring practices, he or she is

– Costing the organization valuable talent for both sets of jobs.

– Violating legislative law,

– Behaving unethically

Common Perceptual ErrorsCommon Perceptual Errors

� Perceptual defense: the tendency for people to protectthemselves against ideas, objects, or situations that arethreatening

� Stereotyping: the tendency to assign attributes to someonesolely on the basis of the category of people, of which thatperson is a member

� Halo effect: the process by which the perceiver evaluates� Halo effect: the process by which the perceiver evaluatesanother person solely on the basis of one attribute, eitherfavorable or unfavorable

� Projection: the tendency for people to see their own traits inothers

� Expectancy effects: extent to which expectations bias howevents, objects, and people are actually perceived

– Self-fulfilling prophecy: expecting certain things to happenwill shape the behavior of the perceiver in such a way that theexpected is more likely to happen

Management and Behavioral Management and Behavioral

Applications of PerceptionApplications of Perception

� A manager is primarily concerned with the achievement of

organizational objectives through specified behavior of its

members.

� In understanding behavior, the managers must recognize that facts

people do not perceive as meaningful usually will not influence

their behavior whereas the things they believe to be real, eventheir behavior whereas the things they believe to be real, even

though factually incorrect or non-existent, will influence it.

� Though, in an organizational setting perception is an important

activity, however there are three major areas which require special

attention so far as the perceptual accuracy is concerned.

1. Performance Appraisal

The appraisal of a subordinate’s performance is highly affected by the accuracy

of a manager’s perception

Contd….Contd….

2. Interpersonal Working Relationship

Organizations are intended to bring about integrated behavior. Therefore,

managers in the organization need to know whether or not members share

similar or at least compatible perceptions. If they do not, the problems of the

organizations are greater and will require efforts to make perceptions more

compatible. Misperceptions usually lead to strained relations and may even

result into open conflict among people.

3. Selection of Employees

Organizations typically select new employees through a standard selectionOrganizations typically select new employees through a standard selection

process. In many instances much of the information is vague. And

manager’s are subject to many of the perceptual problems when they make

the selection decisions. The major areas of problems in this case are that:

a. the manager’s emotional state may vary from day to day causing unfair

perceptions of the same applicants.

b. there may be strong tendencies towards logical error and stereotyping

specially during initial interviews.

AttitudeAttitude

ConceptConcept

� Attitudes are complexes of beliefs and feelings

that people have about specific ideas, situations,

or other people.

� Attitudes are formed by a variety of forces,� Attitudes are formed by a variety of forces,

including our personal values, our experience,

and our personalities.

� Attitudes are important because they are the

mechanism through which most people express

their feelings.

� According to Even Allport…..

“Attitude is a mental and neural state of

readiness organized through experience,readiness organized through experience,

exerting a directive or dynamic influence

upon individuals response to all objects and

situations with which it is related”

Contd..Contd..

In Social Psychology attitudes are defined as positive or

negative evaluations of objects of thought. Attitudes

typically have three components.

– The cognitive component is made up of the thoughts and– The cognitive component is made up of the thoughts and

beliefs people hold about the object of the attitude.

– The affective component consists of the emotional feelings

stimulated by the object of the attitude.

– The behavioral component consists of predispositions to act

in certain ways toward an attitude object.

How Attitudes are formed?How Attitudes are formed?

� Unlike personality, attitudes are expected to change as

a function of experience.

� Tesser (1993) has argued that hereditary variables may

affect attitudes - but believes that they may do soaffect attitudes - but believes that they may do so

indirectly.

� For example, consistency theories, which imply that we

must be consistent in our beliefs and values. The most

famous example of such a theory is Dissonance-

reduction theory, associated with Leon Festinger,

although there are others, such as the balance theory.

Attitude ChangeAttitude Change

Attitudes can be changed through persuasion and we should

understand attitude change as a response to communication.

Experimental research into the factors that can affect the

persuasiveness of a message include:

� Target Characteristics: These are characteristics that refer to the

person who receives and processes a message. One such trait is

intelligence - it seems that more intelligent people are less easilyintelligence - it seems that more intelligent people are less easily

persuaded by one-sided messages. Another variable that has been

studied in this category is self-esteem. Although it is sometimes

thought that those higher in self-esteem are less easily persuaded,

there is some evidence that the relationship between self-esteem

and persuasibility is actually curvilinear, with people of moderate

self-esteem being more easily persuaded than both those of high

and low self-esteem levels. The mind frame and mood of the target

also plays a role in this process.

ContdContd….….

� Source Characteristics: The major source characteristics are expertise,

trustworthiness and interpersonal attraction or attractiveness. The

credibility of a perceived message has been found to be a key variable

here; if one reads a report about health and believes it came from a

professional medical journal, one may be more easily persuaded than if

one believes it is from a popular newspaper. Some psychologists have

debated whether this is a long-lasting effect and Hovland and Weiss

(1951) found the effect of telling people that a message came from a(1951) found the effect of telling people that a message came from a

credible source disappeared after several weeks (the so-called "sleeper

effect"). Whether there is a sleeper effect is controversial. Perceived

wisdom is that if people are informed of the source of a message before

hearing it, there is less likelihood of a sleeper effect than if they are told

a message and then told its source.

� Message Characteristics: The nature of the message plays a role in

persuasion. Sometimes presenting both sides of a story is useful to help

change attitudes.

ContdContd……

� Cognitive Routes: A message can appeal to an

individual's cognitive evaluation to help change an

attitude. In the central route to persuasion the

individual is presented with the data and motivated to

evaluate the data and arrive at an attitude changing

conclusion. In the peripheral route to attitude change,conclusion. In the peripheral route to attitude change,

the individual is encouraged to not look at the content

but at the source. This is commonly seen in modern

advertisements that feature celebrities. In some cases,

physician, doctors or experts are used. In other cases

film stars are used for their attractiveness.

ProcessProcess

� Attitudes may be learned from the experiences we have. These include mostly

mundane events such as being praised by our parents for expounding “liberal”

attitudes, but also major life and world events.

� The basic processes through which we learn attitudes remain the same

throughout life, though as we grow older the attitudes we learn may be more

complex, and the ones we already hold may become more resistant to change.

� The processes through which our experiences create attitudes are all related toThe processes through which our experiences create attitudes are all related to

“learning” which is a basic human process.

� As for now just keep in mind that all our attitudes are learned from our

experience of the social context around us.

The influence of the family, schooling, and peer groups waxes and wanes as we

grow into adolescence and adulthood.

� Thus, the primary sources of our attitudes change as we mature. A final source

of attitudes is the culture in which a child grows up. Culturally prevalent

prejudices are generally reflected in prejudiced attitudes.

ImportanceImportance

� Attitudes serve as one way to organize our relationship with our

world. They make our interactions more predictable affording us a

degree of control.

� Attitudes also enable us to reduce the vast amount of information

that we possess into manageable units. All the beliefs we have

about our company could be summarized as “I like my company”,

and thus our attitude represents the combination of many bits ofand thus our attitude represents the combination of many bits of

information for us.

� We can use others attitudes to make judgments about them.

� It has been found consistently that the more similar our attitudes

are to those of others, the more we like them.

� Finally, people’s attitudes can sometimes be useful in predicting

behavior, such as how they will vote in an election or which brand

of car they will buy.

Attitude MeasurementAttitude Measurement

� Attitudes are subjective attributes of people.

� They can be regarded as the constructs in the sense that

they are conceptualization of human qualities that are

formed on the basis of either rational consideration or

statistical evidence.statistical evidence.

� Attitude measurement, developed largely by social

psychologists, is concerned with efforts to tap these

attitudes as they are characteristics of individual. There

are many methods for measuring attitude.

ContdContd….….

� In pulling numerous methods dealing with attitude

measurement, Summers has used the following

organization which, in effect, is classification of

methods of attitude measurement:

– Self Report : usually elicited with questionnaires dealing

with beliefs, feelings and behaviors.

Indirect Tests: such as Projective techniques and disguised– Indirect Tests: such as Projective techniques and disguised

approaches.

– Direct Observation Techniques:

– Psychological Reaction Techniques

However, attitude measurement of employees in organizations is most

commonly carried out by Self-Report. Measurement of attitude based o

questionnaires uses several scaling methods. These are basically of three

types – Thurstone Type of Scale, Likert Scale and Semantic Scale.

Workforce DiversityWorkforce Diversity� Workforce Diversity is the extent of differences and similarities in such

characteristics as age, gender, ethnic groups, physical abilities/ disabilities.

� Workforce diversity has strong implications for management practices.

� Managers have to shift their philosophy from treating everyone alike to

recognizing differences and responding those differences in ways that

ensure employees’ greater productivity while, at the same time not

discriminating.

� This shift may include giving special attention to certain category of� This shift may include giving special attention to certain category of

employees in training and development, career planning, etc.

� It may be noted that while managing workforce diversity effectively may be

a challenge but, if managed properly, it results into increased creativity in

organization because of diversity of ideas due to workforce diversity.

� the term “Workforce Diversity” refers to policies and practices that seek to

include people within a workforce who are considered to be, in some way,

different from those in the prevailing constituency. In this context, here is a

quick overview of seven predominant factors that motivate companies,

large and small, to diversify their workforces:

PersonalityPersonalityPersonalityPersonality

Concept of PersonalityConcept of Personality

� Personality can be defined as a dynamic and organized

set of characteristics possessed by a person that uniquely

influences his or her cognitions, motivations, and

behaviors in various situations.

� The word "personality" originates from the Latin

persona, which means mask. Significantly, in the theatre

of the ancient Latin-speaking world, the mask was not

used as a plot device to disguise the identity of a

character, but rather was a convention employed to

represent or typify that character.

ContdContd….….

� In other words, personality is a set of

characteristics and tendencies that determine

those commonalities and differences in the

behavior (thoughts, feelings, actions) of people

that have continuity in time and that my not be

easily understood as the sole result of the socialeasily understood as the sole result of the social

and biological pressures of the moment.

� Thus we take personality as the traits and

characteristics of an individual because of which

he shows consistent pattern of response to

environmental stimuli.

Nature of PersonalityNature of Personality

� Consistency across situations i.e. stability in person’s

behavior over time and across situations.

� Distinctiveness i.e. the behavioral differences among

people reacting to the same situation

� A personality refers to an individual’s unique� A personality refers to an individual’s unique

constellation of consistent behavioral traits.

� A Personality trait is a durable disposition to behave in

a particular way in variety of situation. Adjectives such

as honest, dependable, moody, impulsive, suspicious,

anxious, excitable, domineering and friendly describes

dispositions that represent personality traits.

BigBig--5 Factor Model of Personality5 Factor Model of Personality

The Big Five factors and their constituent traits can be summarized as follows:

� Openness – (inventive / curious vs. consistent / cautious). Appreciation for

art, emotion, adventure, unusual ideas, curiosity, and variety of experience.

� Conscientiousness – (efficient / organized vs. easy-going / careless). A

tendency to show self-discipline, act dutifully, and aim for achievement;

planned rather than spontaneous behavior.

� Extraversion – (outgoing / energetic vs. shy / reserved). Energy, positive� Extraversion – (outgoing / energetic vs. shy / reserved). Energy, positive

emotions, surgency, and the tendency to seek stimulation in the company of

others.

� Agreeableness – (friendly / compassionate vs. competitive / outspoken). A

tendency to be compassionate and cooperative rather than suspicious and

antagonistic towards others.

� Neuroticism – (sensitive / nervous vs. secure / confident). A tendency to

experience unpleasant emotions easily, such as anger, anxiety, depression, or

vulnerability.

Personality TheoriesPersonality Theories

� Psychoanalytic Theory

It is based on the notion that man is motivated by unseen

forces than he controlled by conscious and rational

thoughts. This framework contains three aspects, though

inter-related but often conflicting. These are Id, The Egointer-related but often conflicting. These are Id, The Ego

and The Super Ego.

� Socio-psychological Theory

This theory is recognizes the interdependence of the individual

and society. The individuals strive to meet the needs of the

society, while society helps the individual to attain his goal.

ContdContd…..…..

� Trait Theory

This theory presents a quantitative approach to the study of

personality. This theory postulates that an individual’s personality

is composed of definite predispositional attributes called traits.

� A Trait may be defined as any distinguishable, relatively enduring

way in which one individual differs from another. This traits canway in which one individual differs from another. This traits can

be considered as individual variables. There are basically three

assumptions of this theory:

– Traits are common to many individuals and vary in absolute amounts

between individuals.

– Traits are relatively stable and exert fairly universal effects on behavior

regardless of the environmental situation.

– Traits can be inferred from the measurement of behavioral indicators.

ContdContd…..…..

� Self Theory

This theory is also called Organismic Theory or Field Theory and

it emphasizes on the totality and interrelatedness of all behaviors.

There are four components in Self Concept:

– Self Image : The self image is the way one sees oneself.

Ideal Self : It denotes the way one would like to be and it differs from self– Ideal Self : It denotes the way one would like to be and it differs from self

image.

– Looking Glass-Self : It is the perception of a person about how others are

perceiving his qualities and characteristics.

– Real Self : The real self is what one really is. The first three aspects of self-

concept are the functions of individual perception and they may be same as

real-self or different from it.

Personality, Attitude and Job Personality, Attitude and Job

SatisfactionSatisfaction

� Job satisfaction has been defined as a pleasurable emotional state

resulting from the appraisal of one’s job; an affective reaction to

one’s job; and an attitude towards one’s job. Weiss (2002) has

argued that job satisfaction is an attitude but points out that

researchers should clearly distinguish the objects of cognitive

evaluation which are affect (emotion), beliefs and behaviors. Thisevaluation which are affect (emotion), beliefs and behaviors. This

definition suggests that we form attitudes towards our jobs by

taking into account our feelings, our beliefs, and our behaviors

� An individual's personality is influenced by factors like heredity,

external environment, and person-situation interaction.

� Some of the personality attributes that have an impact on an

individual's behavior are the locus of control, Machiavellianism,

self-esteem, self-monitoring, propensity to risk-taking.

ContdContd…..…..

� The locus of control refers to the degree to which people believe that

they can determine their own fate. People high on the locus of

control (called internals) tend to move up the career ladder quickly.

� Attitudes are evaluative statements (favorable or unfavorable) about

objects, people or events. Attitudes are acquired from parents,

teachers and members of the peer group, apart from the

predispositions acquired at birth.predispositions acquired at birth.

� The three job-related attitudes are job satisfaction, job involvement,

and organizational commitment. According to Edwin A. Locke, job

satisfaction is the pleasurable or positive emotional state that results

when an individual evaluates his job or job experience.

� Job involvement refers to the degree to which a person

psychologically identifies with his job, actively participates in it,

and considers that his performance in the job contributes to his self-

worth.

ContdContd….….

� Attitudes enable people to adapt to their work

environment.

� They are also used by people to defend their ego,

express their values, and to interpret events. The

cognitive dissonance theory refers to the incompatibility

that an individual may perceive between two or more ofthat an individual may perceive between two or more of

his attitudes, or between his behavior and attitudes.

� The efforts made by an individual to reduce dissonance

depend on the significance of the elements that give rise

to the dissonance, the extent to which they can be

controlled, and the rewards that the individual is likely

to lose by not overcoming the dissonance.

LearningLearningLearningLearning

Concept Concept

� Learning is acquiring new knowledge, behaviors, skills,

values, preferences or understanding, and may involve

synthesizing different types of information.

� The ability to learn is possessed by humans, animals and

some machines. Progress over time tends to follow

learning curves.learning curves.

� Human learning may occur as part of education,

personal development, or training. It may be goal-

oriented and may be aided by motivation. The study of

how learning occurs is part of neuropsychology,

educational psychology, learning theory, and

pedagogy.

Any relatively permanent change in behavior that

occurs as a result of experience

�Learning components:

Involves Change

Is Relatively Permanent

Is Acquired Through Experience

Types of LearningTypes of Learning� Simple non-associative learning

– Habituation

– Sensitization

� Associative learning – Classical conditioning

� Imprinting

� Observational learning

� Play

� Enculturation� Enculturation

� Multimedia learning

� E-learning and augmented learning

� Rote learning

� Informal learning

� Formal learning

� Nonformal learning

� Nonformal learning and combined approaches

� Tangential learning

� Dialogic learning

Theories of LearningTheories of Learning

� Classical Conditioning

– A type of conditioning in which an individual

responds to some stimulus that would not ordinarily

produce such a response.

� Operant Conditioning

– A type of conditioning in which desired voluntary

behavior leads to a reward or prevents a punishment.

� Social-Learning Theory

– People can learn through observation and direct

experience.

Classical ConditioningClassical Conditioning� Pavlov’s Dog Drool

� Key Concepts:

– Unconditioned stimulus

� A naturally occurring phenomenon.

– Unconditioned response

� The naturally occurring response to a natural stimulus.

– Conditioned stimulus

� An artificial stimulus introduced into the situation.

– Conditioned response

� The response to the artificial stimulus.

This is a passive form of learning. It is reflexive and not

voluntary – not the best theory for OB learning.

Operant ConditioningOperant Conditioning

� B. F. Skinner’s concept of Behaviorism: behavior

follows stimuli in a relatively unthinking manner.

� Key Concepts:

– Conditioned behavior: voluntary behavior that is learned, not

reflexive.reflexive.

– Reinforcement: the consequences of behavior which can

increase or decrease the likelihood of behavior repetition.

– Pleasing consequences increase likelihood of repetition.

– Rewards are most effective immediately after performance.

– Unrewarded/punished behavior is unlikely to be repeated.

SocialSocial--Learning TheoryLearning Theory

� Based on the idea that people can also learn indirectly:

by observation, reading, or just hearing about someone

else’s – a model’s – experiences.

� Key Concepts:

� Behavioral modeling

– Observing and modeling behavior of others– Observing and modeling behavior of others

� Learning behavior consequences

– Observing consequences that others experience

� Self-reinforcement

– Reinforcing our own behavior with consequences

within our control

Shaping: A Managerial ToolShaping: A Managerial Tool

Systematically reinforcing each successive step thatmoves an individual closer to the desired response.

�Four Methods of Shaping Behavior:– Positive reinforcement

� Providing a reward for a desired behavior (learning)

– Negative reinforcement– Negative reinforcement� Removing an unpleasant consequence when the desiredbehavior occurs (learning)

– Punishment� Applying an undesirable condition to eliminate an undesirablebehavior (“unlearning”)

– Extinction� Withholding reinforcement of a behavior to cause its cessation(“unlearning”)