Perception, Attribution, and the Management of Diversity

Perception, Attribution, and the Management of Diversity
Understanding and Managing Organizational Behavior Chapter 4 Sixth Edition Jennifer M. George & Gareth R. Jones Copyright © Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall
Learning Objectives Describe how perception is inherently subjective and how characteristics of the perceiver, the target, and the situation can influence perceptions Understand how the use of schemas can both aid and detract from accurate perceptions Be aware of biases that can influence perception without perceivers being aware of their influences Copyright © Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall

Learning Objectives Appreciate why the effective management of diversity is an imperative for all kinds of organizations and the steps that organizations can take to ensure that different kinds of people are treated fairly and that the organization is able to take advantage of all they have to offer Copyright © Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall

Learning Objectives Understand why attributions are so important and how they can sometimes be faulty Describe the two major forms of sexual harassment and the steps organizations can take to combat sexual harassment Copyright © Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall

Effectively Managing Diversity
How can organizations meet the challenge of effectively managing diversity? Is discrimination a thing of the past? Who suffers from discrimination? Many people believe that discrimination is a thing of the past. However, discrimination cases arise each day. Organizations must resolve discrimination suits and improve the organizational process to reduce the opportunity for discrimination to occur. Copyright © Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall

Perception Perception is the process by which individuals select, organize, and interpret the input from their senses to give meaning and order to the world around them People try to make sense of their environment and the objects, events, and other people in it People think that perception is a simple phenomenon. But the perceptual process does not always yield accurate perceptions. Copyright © Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall

Components of Perception
Exhibit 4-1 Target Perceiver The perceiver is the person trying to interpret some observation that he or she has just made or the input from his or her senses. The target of perception is whatever the perceiver is trying to make sense of. The target can be another person, a group of people, an event, a situation, an idea, a noise, or anything else the perceiver focuses on. The situation is the context in which perception takes place—a committee meeting, the hallway, the office coffee maker, and so on. All three components influence what is actually perceived. Situation or context in which perception takes place Copyright © Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall

Components of Perception
Perceiver Situation Target There are there components of perception. Perceiver: person trying to interpret some observation that he or she has just made or the input from his or her senses Target of Perception: whatever the perceiver is trying to make sense of Situation: the context in which perception takes place Copyright © Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall

The Accuracy of Perceptions
Perceptions are critical for managerial functions Motivating subordinates Treating subordinates fairly and equitably Making ethical decisions Accuracy can be improved by understanding What perceptions are How they are formed What influences them Accurate perceptions are important because perceptions affect motivation and performance, fairness and equity, and the ability to make ethical decisions. Copyright © Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall

Characteristics of the Perceiver That Affect Perception
Exhibit 4-2 Insert Exhibit 4.2 here Perceivers do not passively process information. Their experience or knowledge (schemas), their needs and desires (motivational states), and their feelings (moods) filter information into their perceptions of reality. Copyright © Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall 3

Factors That Influence Perception
Exhibit 4-3 Characteristics of the Perceiver Characteristics of the Target Characteristics of the Situation Schemas Ambiguity Additional information Motivational state Social status Salience Mood Use of impression management This table identifies the factors which affect each component of perception. Each factor is described on the following slides. Copyright © Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall

Schemas Schemas are abstract knowledge structures that are stored in memory and allow people to organize and interpret information about a given target of perception Based on past experiences and knowledge Resistant to change People interpret the world around us using limited information. In large part, we rely upon past experience and knowledge we have gathered from a variety of sources to interpret and make sense of any new person or situation we encounter. These past experiences and knowledge are organized into schemas. Once an individual develops a schema for a target of perception, any new target related to the schema activates it and information about the target is processed in a way consistent with information stored in the schema. Schemas also influence the sensory input we pay attention to and the input we ignore. Once a schema is activated, we tend to notice information that is consistent with the schema and ignore or discount information that is inconsistent. Schemas are slow to change and people must encounter a considerable amount of contradictory information before their schemas are altered. Copyright © Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall

The Functionality of Schemas
Help to make sense of sensory input, choose what information to pay attention to and what to ignore, and guide perceptions of ambiguous information Dysfunctional Can result in inaccurate perceptions Schemas do help us learn about and adapt to a complex environment but can also result in inaccurate perceptions. We have to guard against the common tendency to jump to incorrect conclusions based on our past experiences. Copyright © Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall

Stereotypes Set of overly simplified and often inaccurate beliefs about the typical characteristics of a particular group Dysfunctional schemas Based on inaccurate information Assigned based on a single distinguishing characteristic Stereotypes are a type of dysfunctional schema. They are often based on inaccurate information and are assigned to the schema because of a single distinguishing characteristic. The perceiver pays attention to information consistent with the stereotype and ignores inconsistent information. Stereotypes have been responsible for discrimination in society and in the workplace. One way to provide a fun example of stereotypes is to divide the class into groups. Assign each group a type of music (e.g., jazz, classic rock, rap, pop, classical, country) and ask the group to describe people who listen to that type of music. Stereotypes will be easily visible. Copyright © Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall

Motivational State and Mood
Motivational states are the needs, values, and desires of a perceiver at the time of perception Moods are how a perceiver feels at the time of perception The perceiver’s motivational state and mood influence his or her perception of the target. Perceivers see what they want to see, hear what they want to hear, and believe what they want to believe, because of their motivational states and moods. An experiment illustrates the power of motivational state. Participants are shown a series of meaningless abstract pictures and asked what objects and shapes they perceive in them. The images they see depend on their motivational states. Those who are hungry are motivated to see food. When people are in a positive mood, they are more likely to perceive targets in a more positive light. Copyright © Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall

Ambiguity A lack of clearness or definiteness As the ambiguity of a target increases, it becomes increasingly difficult for a perceiver to form an accurate perception When the nature of the target is clear, different perceivers have little difficulty forming similar perceptions of the target that are close to its real nature. But when a target is ambiguous, the perceiver needs to engage in more interpretation to form a perception of the target. The more ambiguous a target is the more potential there is for errors in perception. Copyright © Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall

Social Status Social status is a person’s real or perceived position in society or in an organization Targets with relatively high status are perceived to be smarter, more credible, more knowledgeable, and more responsible for their actions than lower-status targets Organizations often use a high-status member to make an important announcement to other members of the organization or to the public at large because the audience is likely to perceive the announcer as credible. A lower-status member of the organization who is more knowledgeable than anyone else about the issue at hand is likely to lack credibility because of his or her status. To ensure that women and members of minority groups enjoy equal footing with white men and have the social status they deserve in an organization and to conform to legal requirements, many organizations have adopted affirmative action programs. These programs, however, sometimes perpetuate the perception problems and stereotypes they were meant to overcome. Women and minority group members are sometimes perceived as having relatively low status in the organization because they were affirmative action hires—people hired not because of their own merits but because of their gender or minority status. Their affirmative action status causes other members of the organization to perceive and treat them as second-class citizens. Copyright © Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall

Impression Management
Impression management is an attempt to control the perceptions or impressions of others High Low People at all levels of an organization engage in impression management. Targets are especially likely to use impression management tactics when interacting with perceivers who have power over them and on whom they are dependent for evaluations, raises, and promotions. Individuals who are high in self-monitoring are more likely than individuals who are low in self-monitoring to engage in impression management tactics. Copyright © Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall

Impression Management Tactics
Behavioral Matching The target of perception matches his or her behavior to that of the perceiver. A subordinate tries to imitate her boss’s behavior by being modest and soft-spoken because her boss is modest and soft-spoken. Self- Promotion The target tries to present herself or himself in as positive a light as possible. A worker reminds his boss about his past accomplishments and associates with coworkers who are evaluated highly. Conforming to Situational Norms The target follows agreed-upon rules for behavior in the organization. A worker stays late every night even if she has completed all of her assignments because staying late is one of the norms of her Appreciating or Flattering Others The target compliments the perceiver. This tactic works best when flattery is not extreme and when it involves a dimension important to the perceiver. A coworker compliments a manager on his excellent handling of a troublesome employee. Being Consistent The target’s beliefs and behaviors are consistent. There is agreement between the target’s verbal and nonverbal behaviors. A subordinate delivering a message to his boss looks the boss straight in the eye and has a sincere expression on his face. These are common impression management tactics. Copyright © Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall

Salience Salience is the extent to which a target of perception stands out in a group of people or things Being novel A salient individual is very conspicuous and often feels self-conscious and believes that everyone is watching his or her every move. People do pay more attention to the salient person. The causes of salience are being novel, being figural, and being inconsistent. The consequences of salience for perception in organizations are extreme evaluations and stereotyping. Individuals who are salient are often perceived in more extreme terms (positive or negative) than inconspicuous members of a group. They are also seen as being especially influential or responsible for what happens to them and to the groups they belong to. Individuals who are salient are often perceived in terms of whatever is causing their salience. In other words, they are stereotyped. Perceivers consider the thoughts, feelings, and behaviors of salient individuals to be more consistent with their distinguishing feature than would be the case if they were not salient. When people who are salient think about stereotypes that are relevant to task performance, their performance might actually be impaired. Performance impairment occurs because salient, stereotyped individuals become concerned that others will perceive them based on the stereotype, which distracts them and diverts some of their attention away from task performance. This phenomenon is called stereotype threat. Being figural Being inconsistent Copyright © Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall

Causes of Salience Exhibit 4-5 Being novel Anything that makes a target unique in a situation Example: Being the only person of a particular age, sex, or race in a situation figural Standing out from the background Example: Being in a spotlight, sitting at the head of the table, wearing bright clothes Inconsistent Behaving or looking in a way that is out of the ordinary Example: A normally shy person who is the life of the party This table describes the causes of salience and provides examples. Copyright © Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall

Biases in Perception A bias is a systematic tendency to use or interpret information about a target in a way that results in inaccurate perceptions When bias and problems in person perception exist, perceivers form inaccurate perceptions of a target. In turn, when perceptions are inaccurate, decisions are likely to be inappropriate: An incompetent subordinate gets promoted, or a competent job candidate receives a negative rating from an interviewer. Managers, coworkers, and subordinates who are aware of biases and problems in person perception are in a good position to prevent them from affecting their subsequent behavior and decisions. Copyright © Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall

Biases in Perception Exhibit 4-6 Primacy Effects The initial pieces of information that a perceiver has about a target have an inordinately large effect on the perceiver’s perception and evaluation of the target. Interviewers decide in the first few minutes of an interview whether or not a job candidate is a good prospect. Contrast Effect The perceiver’s perceptions of others influence the perceiver’s perception of a target. A manager’s perception of an average subordinate is likely to be lower if that subordinate is in a group with very high performers rather than in a group with very low performers. Halo The perceiver’s general impression of a target influences his or her perception of the target on specific dimensions. A subordinate who has made a good overall impression on a supervisor is rated as performing high-quality work and always meeting deadlines regardless of work that is full of mistakes and late. This table describes the biases common in perception and provides examples of these biases. Primacy effects are common problems in interviews. Research has found that many interviewers decide in the first few minutes of an interview whether a job candidate is a good prospect and then spend the rest of the interview confirming their initial judgment by selectively paying attention to information that is consistent with that judgment and discounting or ignoring inconsistent information. Primacy effects can also be a problem in the perception and evaluation of long-time members of an organization. A contrast effect is the biased perception that results when perceptions of a target person are distorted by the perceiver’s perception of others in the situation. A manager’s perception of a subordinate whose performance is average is likely to be less favorable if that subordinate is in a group of very high performers than it would be if that subordinate were in a group of average or low performers. A halo effect occurs when the perceiver’s general impression of a target distorts his or her perception of the target on specific dimensions. A subordinate who has made a good overall impression on a supervisor, for example, may be rated as performing high-quality work and always meeting deadlines (specific dimensions of performance) even though the person’s work is full of mistakes and is usually late. Copyright © Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall

Biases in Perception Exhibit 4-6 cont Similar-to- me Effect People perceive others who are similar to themselves more positively than they perceive those who are dissimilar. Supervisors rate subordinates who are similar to them more positively than they deserve. Harshness, Leniency, Average Tendency Some perceivers tend to be overly harsh in their perceptions, some overly lenient. Others view most targets as being about average. When rating subordinates’ performances, some give almost everyone a poor rating, some give almost everyone a good rating, and others rate almost everyone as being about average. Knowledge of Predictor Knowing how a target stands on a predictor of performance influences perceptions of the target. A professor perceives a student more positively than she deserves because the professor knows the student had a high score on the SAT. It is a fact of life that people tend to like others who are similar to themselves. In organizations, this “birds of a feather”/“like likes like” tendency can create problems because people tend (often unconsciously) to perceive those who are similar to themselves more positively than they perceive those who are dissimilar. When rating a subordinate’s performance, some supervisors tend to be overly harsh, whereas some are overly lenient. Others tend to rate everyone as being about average. Any of these tendencies is problematic for two reasons. First, the supervisor does not correctly perceive the variations in the performance of his or her subordinates. As a result, high performers do not receive appropriate recognition and rewards for their superior accomplishments, and low performers do not receive the constructive feedback they need to improve performance. The second reason why these biases are problematic is that they make it difficult to evaluate and compare the performance of subordinates who have different supervisors. A subordinate who has received relatively poor ratings from a harsh supervisor may be just as accomplished as a subordinate who has received average or high ratings from a lenient one. Evaluations biased in this manner can result in faulty decision making about pay raises and promotions. If coworkers, managers, or others in the organization know what a person’s standing on a predictor of performance is, the information may bias their perceptions of the person. This problem is known as knowledge-of-predictor bias. Copyright © Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall

Attribution Theory Describes how people explain the causes of behavior Focuses on why people behave the way they do Attributions can be made about the self or another person Biases reduce the accuracy of attributions Attribution theory describes how people explain the causes of their own and other people’s behavior. Attribution theory is interested in why people behave the way they do and what can be done to change their behavior. Copyright © Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall

Types of Attributions Exhibit 4-7 People generally attribute someone’s behavior to internal and external causes. An internal attribution assigns the cause of behavior to some characteristic of the target and assigns credit or blame to the individual actor. External attributions assign the cause of behavior to factors outside the individual. Attributions may be inaccurate because of certain biases. Copyright © Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall 3

Attributional Biases Fundamental attribution error Actor-observer effect Self-serving attribution Despite the fact that external factors do affect behavior, people have a strong tendency to attribute other people’s behavior to internal factors. For instance, if a student is late to class, the instructor will tend to blame the student (internal) rather than traffic problems occurring that day (external). This is an example of the fundamental attribution error. However, people tend to attribute one’s own behavior to external causes. For instance, if a professor is late to class, he or she may blame problems with parking. This is an example of the actor-observer effect. We also tend to blame failures on the external environment and take credit for successes. For instance, if a student gets a great internship, he or she will tend to think that the success is due to his or her work and effort. However, if he or she did not get the internship, he or she will attribute the failure to some other reason such as the number of applicants. This is an example of the self-serving attribution. Copyright © Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall

Managing a Diverse Workforce
Commitment Training Education Effective management of a diverse workforce is necessary for an organization to make fair and ethical decisions, perform at a high level, and gain a competitive advantage. This slide lists the four steps organizations can take to promote accurate perceptions and attributions and effectively manage diverse employees. Mentoring Copyright © Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall

Training Objectives Making explicit and breaking down organizational member’s stereotypes that result in inaccurate perceptions and attributions Making members aware of different kinds of backgrounds, experiences, and values Showing members how to deal effectively with diversity-related conflicts and tensions Generally improving members’ understanding of one another These are examples of objectives that might be set for a company’s diversity training program. Copyright © Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall

Diversity Training Role-playing Self-awareness activities Awareness activities Education Mentoring Formal Informal Diversity training programs can last hours or days and can be run by consultants or existing members of an organization with expertise in diversity. Small organizations are more likely to rely on consultants whereas larger organizations will have diversity managers. Diversity programs may be successful but may not change the ways that people perceive and treat one another. It is most likely to be successful when it is ongoing or repeated, when there are follow-up activities, and when it is supplemented by other diversity-related activities in an organization. Mentoring is a process through which an experienced member of an organization (the mentor) provides advice and guidance to a less experienced member and helps the less experienced person learn the ropes and do the right things to advance in the organization. A recent study of minority executives found that more than 70 percent of the executives had informal mentors and generally believed that the mentors helped them in their careers. Copyright © Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall

Sexual Harassment Quid Pro Quo Hostile Work Environment Research suggests that sexual harassment continues to occur in a wide variety of organizations and has adverse effects on victims’ job satisfaction, stress levels, life satisfaction, and psychological well-being. There are two types of sexual harassment: quid pro quo and hostile work environment. Quid pro quo occurs when the harasser requests or forces an employee to perform sexual favors in order to receive some opportunity Hostile work environment occurs when organizational members are faced with a work environment that is offensive, intimidating, or hostile Organizations have a legal and ethical obligation to eliminate and prevent sexual harassment. Copyright © Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall

Examples of Hostile Work Environment
Pornographic pictures Sexual jokes Lewd comments Sexually oriented comments Displays of sexually oriented objects Copyright © Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall

Steps to Combat Sexual Harassment
Develop a sexual harassment policy Clearly communicate the organization’s sexual harassment policy Investigate charges of sexual harassment Take corrective action Provide sexual harassment training and education The sexual harassment policy should (1) describe and prohibit both quid pro quo and hostile work environment sexual harassment, (2) provide examples of types of behaviors that are prohibited, (3) outline a procedure employees can follow to report sexual harassment, (4) describe the disciplinary actions that will be taken in instances of sexual harassment, and (5) describe the organization’s commitment to educating and training its members about sexual harassment. All members of an organization should be familiar with its sexual harassment policy. A fair complaint procedure 1) is handled by a neutral third party, 2) deals with complaints promptly and thoroughly, 3) protects victims and treats them fairly, and 4) treats alleged harassers fairly. Copyright © Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall

This work is protected by United States copyright laws and is provided solely for the use of instructors in teaching their courses and assessing student learning Dissemination or sale of any part of this work (including on the WorldWideWeb) will destroy the integrity of the work and is not permitted. The work and materials from it should never be made available to students except by instructors using the accompanying text in their classes. All recipients of this work are expected to abide by these restrictions and to honor the intended pedagogical purposes and the needs of other instructors who rely on these materials. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher. Printed in the United States of America. Copyright © Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall

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