Chapter 5
Perception, Attitudes, and Personality

Learning Goals
• Understand human perceptual processes and how people form impressions of others
• Describe types of perceptual error and their effects on information people get from their environment
• Explain attribution processes and their effects on perception and attitudes

Learning Goals (Cont.)
• Discuss the nature of attitudes, how they form and how they change
• Explain the different views of human personality development
• Discuss some dimensions of personality and several personality types
• Recognize the effects of different cultures on perception, attitudes, and personality

Chapter Overview
• Introduction
• Perception
• Attitudes
• Personality
• International Aspects of Perception,
Attitudes, and Personality
• Ethical Issues in Perception, Attitudes, and
Personality

Perception
Perception, Attitudes, and Personality
Attitudes
Chapter 5
Personality

Perception
• A cognitive process: lets a person make sense of stimuli from the environment
• Affects all senses: sight, touch, taste, smell, hearing
• Includes inputs to person and choice of inputs to which the person attends
• Stimulus sources: people, events, physical objects, ideas
• Helps adaptation to a changing environment

Perception (Cont.)
• Perceptual process
– Target: object of the person’s perceptual process
–
Threshold: minimum information from target for the person to notice the target
• Detection threshold: point at which person notices something has changed in her or his environment
• Recognition threshold: point at which person can identify the target or change in the target
See text book Figure 5.1

Perception (Cont.)
• Perceptual process (cont.)
– Target emerges from its surrounding context sometimes slowly, sometimes quickly
– Quickly discriminate a high-contrast target from its background; an ambiguous target takes more time to see
– Contrast can come from the target's size, color, loudness, or smell

Perception (Cont.)
• Perceptual process (cont.)
– People attend more quickly to positively valued stimuli than to negatively valued stimuli
– Example: achievement-oriented employees notice announcements about promotion opportunities faster than an employee with less achievement motivation

Perception (Cont.)
•
Perceptual defense: shield self from negatively valued stimuli
– Example: block out annoying sounds
– Organizational example: block some feedback from a supervisor or coworker when it is negative

Perception (Cont.)
•
Perceptual errors: mistakes in the perceptual process
–
Perceptual set
• Beliefs about a target based on information about the target or previous experiences with it
• Information about the target from any source
• Beliefs act like instructions for processing stimuli from the target

Perception (Cont.)
•
Perceptual errors (cont.)
–
Stereotype: beliefs and perceived attributes about a target based on the target’s group
– Examples
• American university students: energetic and spontaneous
• Russian university students: orderly and obedient

Self-Perception:
A View of Self
•
Self-perception: process by which people develop a view of themselves
• Develops from social interaction within different groups, including groups encountered on the Internet
• Self-perception has three parts: selfconcept, self-esteem, self-presentation

Self-Perception:
A View of Self (Cont.)
•
Self-concept:
– Set of beliefs people have about themselves
– View people hold of their personal qualities and attributes
– Factors affecting a person's self-concept
• Observations of behavior
• Recall of past significant events
• Effect of the surrounding social context

Self-Perception:
A View of Self (Cont.)
• Self-concept (cont.)
– Observations of behavior
• People see their behavior, and their situation, in the same way they see the behavior of other people
• Person believes the behavior occurred voluntarily: concludes the behavior happened because of some personal quality or attribute

Self-Perception:
A View of Self (Cont.)
• Self-concept (cont.)
– Observations of behavior (cont.)
• People learn about themselves by comparing themselves to other people with similar qualities
• Example: you may want to assess your abilities to hold a supervisory position. You compare yourself to people with backgrounds similar to yours who have had recent promotions

Self-Perception:
A View of Self (Cont.)
• Self-concept (cont.)
– Recall of past significant events and effect of the surrounding social context
• Recall events important in their lives; not error free
• Tend to recall events they attribute to themselves and not to a situation or other people
• Often overestimate their role in past events
• Place more weight on the effects of their behavior and less on the surrounding situation or other people

Self-Perception:
A View of Self (Cont.)
•
Self-esteem
– Emotional dimension of self-perception
– Positive and negative judgments people have of themselves
– People with low self-esteem tend to be unsuccessful; do not adapt well to stressful events
– Those with high self-esteem have the opposite experiences

Self-Perception:
A View of Self (Cont.)
•
Self-awareness
– People differ in degree of self-awareness
– Two forms
• Private self-consciousness: behave according to attend to inner feelings and standards
• Public self-consciousness: behave according to social standard correct for the situation

Self-Perception:
A View of Self (Cont.)
•
Self-presentation
– Behavioral strategies people use to affect how others see them
– How they think about themselves
– Goals of self-presentation
• Affect other people's impressions to win their approval
• Increase the person's influence in a situation
• Ensure that others have an accurate impression of the person

Self-Perception:
A View of Self (Cont.)
• Self-presentation (cont.)
– Highly conscious of public image: change behavior from situation to situation. Readily conform to situational norms
– People who want others to perceive them in a particular way behave consistently in different situations. They act in ways they perceive as true to themselves with little regard for the norms of the situation

Social Perception:
A View of Others
•
Social perception: process by which people come to know and understand each other
• Forming impression of a person: perceiver first observes the person, the situation, and the person's behavior

Social Perception:
A View of Others (Cont.)
• Form a quick impression by making a snap judgment about that person, or
• Make attributions and integrate the attributions to form a final impression
• Confirmation biases lead the perceiver to hold tenaciously to it

Social Perception:
A View of Others (Cont.)
• Elements of social perception
– Three sets of clues help form the impression of another person
• Person
• Situation surrounding the person
• Observed behavior of the person

Social Perception:
A View of Others (Cont.)
• Elements of social perception (cont.)
– Developing first impressions
• Use different physical aspects of the person: height, weight, hair color, eyeglasses
• Stereotypes based on physical features
– Thin men: tense, suspicious, stubborn
– Blond women: fun loving
– Neatly dressed people: responsible
• Stereotypes result from attributing qualities to people based on previously formed perceptions

Social Perception:
A View of Others (Cont.)
• Elements of social perception (cont.)
– Preconceptions about the situations in which we see the behavior of other people
– Develop from experience with the same or similar situations
– Situation raises expectations about behavior the situation should cause
– Example: when two people are introduced, we expect both parties to acknowledge the other and probably to shake hands

Social Perception:
A View of Others (Cont.)
•
Attribution processes
– People use attribution processes to explain the causes of behavior they see in others
– Begins with a quick personal attribution followed by adjustment based on the characteristics of the situation

Social Perception:
A View of Others (Cont.)
• Personal attribution
– Characteristics of the person such as beliefs, disposition, or personality, and not the situation, caused the person's behavior
– Example: when you conclude that another student spends many hours completing a project because he likes to work hard or values hard work, you are making a personal attribution

Social Perception:
A View of Others (Cont.)
• Situational attribution
– Aspects of the situation, not qualities of the person, cause the person's behavior
– Example: a student worked hard because of the reward of a good grade

Social Perception:
A View of Others (Cont.)
• Perceiver uses three types of information when forming an attribution
– Consensus information
– Distinctiveness information
– Consistency information

Social Perception:
A View of Others (Cont.)
•
Consensus information
– Observe other people in the same or a similar situation
• If other people show the same behavior as the target person, the situation caused the behavior
• If other people behave differently from the target person, the person caused the behavior

Social Perception:
A View of Others (Cont.)
•
Distinctiveness information
– Observe the target person in a different situation
• If the response is different in the new situation, the situation caused the behavior
• If the response is the same, the person caused the behavior

Social Perception:
A View of Others (Cont.)
•
Consistency information
– Observe the target person in a similar situation, but at a different time
• High consistency: same behavior at both times
• Low consistency: different behavior at both times

Social Perception:
A View of Others (Cont.)
• Combine consensus, distinctiveness, and consistency information to form attribution
– Personal attribution: behavior high in consistency; low in consensus and distinctiveness
– Situational attribution: behavior high in consensus and distinctiveness; low in consistency

Social Perception:
A View of Others (Cont.)
•
Fundamental attribution error
– Observer underestimates situation as cause of behavior; overestimates the as cause
– Explaining their behavior: tend to ascribe causes to the situation, not to personal qualities
– Explaining other’s behavior: tend to ascribe its causes to personal qualities, not the situation

Social Perception:
A View of Others (Cont.)
•
False consensus
– Overestimate the degree to which others agree with the person's view
– Reinforces the view the perceiver has of another person

Social Perception:
A View of Others (Cont.)
• Integration of attributions to form final impression: disposition of perceiver
– Effects of recent experiences: positive or negative event just before meeting someone for the first time can affect the impression of the person
– Mood at time of first meeting:
• Positive impressions in a good mood
• Negative impressions in a bad mood

Attitudes
• An attitude is “a learned predisposition to respond in a consistently favorable or unfavorable manner with respect to a given object”
• Attitude object
: physical objects, issues, ideas, events, people, places

Attitudes (Cont.)
• Parts of an attitude
–
Cognitive: perceptions and beliefs about an attitude object
–
Affective: feelings about an attitude object
– Behavioral intentions: how the person wants to behave and what a person says about an attitude object

Attitudes (Cont.)
• Common work attitudes
– Organizational commitment
– Satisfaction
– Job involvement
• Play a role in employee turnover

Attitudes (Cont.)
• Some connection between attitudes and behavior, although not strong
– People with strong attitudes about an object will likely behave in accord with their attitude
– Strong positive attitudes about Macintosh © computers leads to buying one
– Ardent followers of Jesse Jackson will likely vote for him

Attitudes (Cont.)
•
Attitude formation: affected by the person’s beliefs about an object and the amount and type of information the person has about the object
– Perceives positive attributes: develops positive attitude
– Perceives negative attributes: develops negative attitude

Attitudes (Cont.)
• Attitude formation (cont.)
– Family upbringing
– Peer groups
– Work groups
– General social experiences

Attitudes (Cont.)
•
Attitude change
– Something persuades the person to shift his or her attitudes (persuasive communication)
– Norms of a social group can affect a person’s attitude (social norms)
– Person becomes uncomfortable with some aspects of her or his beliefs (cognitive dissonance)

Attitudes (Cont.)
•
Persuasive communication
– Advertising
– Tries to change cognitive part of attitude
– Assumes affective part will also change
– Attitude change process
• Win target’s attention
• Understand message
• Accept the influence
• Remember the message

Attitudes (Cont.)
•
Social influence on attitudes
– People are embedded in social groups
– Feel pressures to conform to norms
– If person values membership in group, likely will align attitudes with the group norms

Attitudes (Cont.)
•
Cognitive dissonance
– Hold multiple beliefs or cognitions about an attitude object
– Feel tension when discrepancies develop
– Motivated to reduce the tension
– Change one or more cognitions
– Other parts of attitude also change

Personality
• Set of traits, characteristics, and predispositions of a person
• Usually matures and stabilizes by about age
30
• Affects how a person adjusts to different environments

Personality Theories
•
Cognitive theory: people develop their thinking patterns as their life unfolds
•
Learning theories: behavior patterns develop from the social environment
•
Biological theories: personality as genetically inherited

Personality Theories (Cont.)
• Cognitive theory
– Develop thinking patterns as life unfolds
– Affects how the person interprets and internalizes life's events
– Cognitive development stages
• Reflexive behavior of infant
• More complex modes of perception and interpretation of events
– Neither driven by instincts nor unwittingly shaped by environmental influences

Personality Theories (Cont.)
• Learning theories
– Learn behavior from social interaction with other people
– Young child: early family socialization
– Continuously learn from social environment: stable behavior forms the personality
– Uniqueness of each personality follows from variability in social experiences

Personality Theories (Cont.)
• Biological theories
–
Ethological theory
• Develop common characteristics as a result of evolution
• Behavioral characteristics that have helped survival over generations become inborn characteristics

Personality Theories (Cont.)
• Biological theories (cont.)
–
Behavior genetics
• Individual's unique gene structure affects personality development
• Personality develops from interactions between a person's genetic structure and social environment

The
Personality Dimensions
•
Extroversion
– High: talkative, sociable
– Low: reserved, introverted
•
Emotional stability
– High: calm, relaxed
– Low: worried, depressed
•
Agreeableness
– High: cooperative, tolerant
– Low: rude, cold

The
Personality Dimensions (Cont.)
•
Conscientiousness
– High: dependable, thorough
– Low: sloppy, careless
•
Openness to experience
– High: curious, intelligent
– Low: simple, conventional
Assess yourself on each dimension

Personality Types
•
Locus of control: people control the consequences of their actions or are controlled by external factors
– External control: luck, fate, or powerful external forces control one’s destiny
– Internal control: believe they control what happens to them
Assess yourself against each type.

Personality Types (Cont.)
•
Machiavellianism
– Holds cynical views of other people's motives
– Places little value on honesty
– Approaches the world with manipulative intent
– Maintains distance between self and others
– Emotionally detached from other people
– Suspicious interpersonal orientation can contribute to high interpersonal conflict

Personality Types (Cont.)
• Machiavellianism (cont.)
– Focus on personal goals, even if reaching them requires unethical behavior
– Suspicious orientation leads to view of organizational world as a web of political processes

Personality Types (Cont.)
•
Type A personality: a keen sense of time urgency, focuses excessively on achievement, aggressive
Type B personality: strong self-esteem, even tempered, no sense of time urgency
Type A: significant risk factor for coronary heart disease.

Personality Types (Cont.)
•
Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)
– Popular personality assessment device
– Four bi-polar dimensions
• Extroverted (E) - introverted (I)
• Sensing (S) - intuitive (I)
• Thinking (T) - feeling (F)
• Perceiving (P) - judging (J)
– Assigns people to one of sixteen types based on these dimensions

Personality Types (Cont.)
• Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)
(cont.)
– Extroverts look outward; introverts turn inward
– Sensers use data; intuitives use hunches
– Thinkers are objective; feelers are subjective
– Perceivers are flexible; judgers want closure
– ESTJ type: extroverted, sensing, thinking, and judging

International Aspects of
Perception, Attitudes, and Personality
• Culturally based stereotypes
– Swiss: punctual
– Germans: task-oriented
– Americans: energetic
– People who hold these stereotypes experience surprises when they meet people from these countries who do not fit the stereotypes

International Aspects of
Perception, Attitudes, and Personality (Cont.)
• Culturally based stereotypes (cont.)
– Project aspects of own culture onto people and situations in a different culture
– Assumes that the new culture mirrors their own
– Example: Korean manager visiting Sweden assumes all women seated behind desks are secretaries
– Such behavior would be inappropriate and possibly dysfunctional in Sweden where many women hold management positions

International Aspects of
Perception, Attitudes, and Personality (Cont.)
• Attitudes about organizational design, management, and decision making:
– U.S. managers: a hierarchical organizational design helps solve problems and guides the division of labor in the organization
– French and Italian managers: a hierarchical design lets people know authority relationships in the organization

International Aspects of
Perception, Attitudes, and Personality (Cont.)
• Attitudes (cont.)
– Italian managers: bypassing a manager to reach a subordinate employee is insubordination
– Swedish and Austrian organizations: decentralized decision making
– Philippine and Indian organizations: centralized decision making
Conclusion: Organizations that cross national borders and draw managers from many different countries have high conflict potential.

International Aspects of
Perception, Attitudes, and Personality (Cont.)
• Personality characteristics
– People in individualistic cultures (United
States) have a stronger need for autonomy than people in group-oriented cultures (Japan)
– People in cultures that emphasize avoiding uncertainty (Belgium, Peru) have a stronger need for security than people in cultures that are less concerned about avoiding uncertainty
(Singapore, Ireland)

Ethical Issues in
Perception, Attitudes, and Personality
• Stereotypes and workforce diversity
– Can have inaccurate stereotypes about the ethics of people with different social, racial, and ethnic backgrounds
– These stereotypes can affect the opinions people develop about the ethical behavior of such people in the workplace

Ethical Issues in
Perception, Attitudes, and Personality (Cont.)
• Self-presentation
– Deliberately managing self-presentations so decisions and behavior appear ethical
– Limited experimental evidence suggests one can favorably manage other people's impressions of their ethical attitudes

Ethical Issues in
Perception, Attitudes, and Personality (Cont.)
• Attribution and accountability
– Individual responsibility is central to ethical behavior
• Attribution of responsibility to a person: person behaved ethically or unethically
• Attribution of responsibility to the situation: individual not held accountable
• Example: observer believed the person had behaved unethically because of a directive
– Errors in attribution: could conclude that he or she was not responsible for an unethical act

Ethical Issues in
Perception, Attitudes, and Personality (Cont.)
• Ethical attitudes
– Little reliable and valid information about ethical attitudes
– Some evidence points to the absence of a fixed set of ethical attitudes among managers
– Attitudes about ethics in organizations and decision making are situational and varying
– The morality of behavior and decisions is determined by their social context, not by abstract and absolute rules