2. Understanding Social Perception and Managing Diversity
Chapter Four
Understanding Social Perception and Managing Diversity
McGraw-Hill/Irwin
Organizational Behavior: Key Concepts, Skills & Best Practices, 3/e
Copyright © 2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

3. After reading the material in this chapter, you should be able to:
Describe perception in terms of the social information processing model.
Identify and briefly explain six managerial implications for social perception.
Explain, according to Kelley’s model, how external and internal causal attributions are formulated.

4. After reading the material in this chapter, you should be able to:
Demonstrate your familiarity with the demographic trends that are creating an increasingly diverse workforce.
Identify the barriers and challenges to managing diversity.
Discuss the organizational practices used to manage diversity identified by Ann Morrison

5. Social Perception: A Social Information Processing Model
Figure 4-1

6. A Social Information Processing Model of Perception
Perception is the process of interpreting one’s environment.

7. A Social Information Processing Model of Perception
Social perception involves a four-stage information processing sequence
Selective attention/comprehension
Encoding and simplification
Storage and retention
Retrieval and response

8. Stage 1: Selective Attention/Comprehension
Attention – being consciously aware of something or someone
People pay attention to salient stimuli
Salient – something that stands out from context

9. Stage 2: Encoding and Simplification
Cognitive categories – mental depositories for storing information
Schema – mental picture of an event or object

10. Question? What is a belief about the characteristics of a group?
Consensus
Stereotype
Personality
Trait
The correct answer is “B” – stereotype. See next slide.

11. Stage 2: Encoding and Simplification
Stereotype - belief about the characteristics of a group
Not always negative
May or may not be accurate

12. Stage 2: Encoding and Simplification
Stereotypes
Can lead to poor decisions
Can create barriers for older individuals, people of color, and people with disabilities
Can undermine loyalty and job satisfaction

13. Stereotyping Process
Categorize people into groups according to various criteria
Infer that all people within a category possess the same traits
Form expectations of others and interpret their behavior according to our stereotypes

14. Stereotyping Process Stereotypes are maintained by:
Overestimating the frequency of stereotypic behavior exhibited by others
Incorrectly explaining expected and unexpected behaviors
Differentiating minority individuals from oneself

15. Commonly Found Perceptual Errors

16. Stage 3: Storage and Retention
Event memory – information about both specific and general events
Semantic memory – general knowledge about the world, mental dictionary of concepts
Person memory – information about a single individual or groups of people

17. Stage 4: Retrieval and Response
Decisions are based:
On the process of drawing on, interpreting, and integrating categorical information stored in long-term memory
Retrieving a summary judgment that was already made

18. Managerial Implications: Hiring
Interviewers make hiring decisions based on their impression of how an applicant fits the perceived requirements of a job
Inaccurate impressions in either direction produce poor hiring decisions

19. Managerial Implications: Performance Appraisal
Important for managers to accurately identify the behavioral characteristics and results indicative of good performance
Characteristics serve as the benchmarks for evaluating employee performance

20. Managerial Implications: Leadership
Good leaders exhibit the following behaviors:
Assigning specific tasks to group members
Telling others they had done well
Setting specific goals for the group
Letting other group members make decisions
Trying to get the group to work as a team
Maintaining definite standards of performance

21. Managerial Implications: Leadership
Poor leaders exhibit the following behaviors:
Telling others they had performed poorly
Insisting on having their own way
Doing things without explaining themselves
Expressing worry over the group members suggestions
Frequently changing plans
Letting the details of the task become overwhelming

22. Causal Attributions
Causal Attributions – suspected or inferred causes of behavior

23. Kelley’s Model of Attribution
Internal factors – personal characteristics that cause behavior
External behavior – environmental characteristics that cause behavior

24. Question?
What involves comparing a person’s behavior on one task with the behavior from other tasks?
Consensus
Distinctiveness
Consistency
Personality
The correct answer is “B” – distinctiveness. See next slide.

25. Kelley’s Model of Attribution
Consensus involves a comparison of an individual’s behavior with that of his peers.
Distinctiveness involves comparing a person’s behavior on one task with the behavior from other tasks.
Consistency is determined by judging if the individual’s performance on a given task is consistent over time.

26. Performance Charts
Figure 4-2

27. Kelley’s Model of Attribution
Consensus relates to other people
Distinctiveness relates to other people
Consistency relates to time

28. Attributional Tendencies
Fundamental attribution bias - ignoring environment factors that affect behavior
Self-serving bias- taking more personal responsibility for success than failure

29. Managerial Implications
Managers tend to disproportionately attribute behavior to internal causes
Attributional biases mat lead to inappropriate managerial actions
An employee’s attributions for his own performance have dramatic effects on subsequent motivation, performance, and self-esteem

30. Defining and Managing Diversity
Diversity – the host of individual differences that make people different from and similar to each other

31. Four Layers of Diversity
Figure 4-3

32. Defining and Managing Diversity
Affirmative action – voluntary and involuntary efforts to achieve equality of opportunity for everyone
Managing diversity – creating organizational changes that enable all people to perform up to their maximum potential

33. Increasing Diversity in the Workforce: Demographic Trends
Women and minorities are experiencing a glass ceiling
Racial groups are encountering perceived discrimination
There is a mismatch between workers’ educational attainment and occupational requirements
The workforce is aging

34. Increasing Diversity in the Workforce: Demographic Trends
Glass ceiling – invisible barrier blocking women and minorities from top management positions

35. Glass Ceiling
See an article on “Breaking the Glass Ceiling” by Wirth

36. Increasing Diversity in the Workforce: Demographic Trends
Underemployment – the result of taking a job that requires less education, training, or skills than possessed by a worker

37. Increasing Diversity in the Workforce: Demographic Trends
Two recommendations to help organizations adapt to an aging workforce:
Firms should help employees deal with personal issues associated with eldercare
Employers need to make a concerted effort to keep older workers engaged and committed and their skills current

38. Barriers and Challenges to Managing Diversity
Inaccurate stereotypes and prejudice
Ethnocentrism
Poor career planning
An unsupportive and hostile working environment for diverse employees
Lack of political savvy on the part of diverse employees

39. Barriers and Challenges to Managing Diversity
Difficulty in balancing career and family issues
Fears of reverse discrimination
Diversity is not seen as an organizational priority
The need to revamp the organization’s performance appraisal and reward system
Resistance to change

40. Specific Diversity Initiatives
Accountability practices – focus on treating diverse employees fairly
Development practices – focus on preparing diverse employees for greater responsibility and advancement
Recruitment practices – attempts to attract qualified, diverse employees at all levels

41. Common Diversity Practices

42. Video: 40+ for Hire
See BWTV discuss the trend of companies hiring older workers. (6:15)
See also NBC’s More Companies Offering Benefit of Working From Home (5:02)