Perception

• Perception is the process by which individuals

organise and interpret their sensory
impressions in order to give meaning to their
environment.
• Perception may be defined as “a cognitive
process by which people attend to incoming
stimuli, organize and interpret such stimuli
into behaviour.”
Importance of Perception
1) Helps in Understanding Human Behaviour: Every individual
observes the world differently and deals with the problems
differently. An object might not be perceived in the same manner as
it really is. If a person purchases fruits from a particular vendor it is
not because the vendor is selling the best fruits in the whole market
but because the person perceives him to be doing so. It is due to the
perception that a job that one person finds suitable and satisfying
might not appear as good to the other. So, perception plays a
significant role in understanding human behaviour.
• 2) Helps in Forecasting Behaviour: Different
individuals behave differently when facing the
same situation as they view the same situation
differently. A person's behaviour can be
predicted by understanding his current
situation and his current perception of the
environment.
• 3) Facilitates Needs Determination: A person's perception is
influenced by his needs. Hence, by understanding the
perception of a person about a certain situation, his needs can
also be understood. For example, mirrors in an amusement
park show different images of the same object.

• 4) Assists in Handling Subordinates Effectively: If a manager

wants to be effective and intends to avoid mistakes in the work
environment, he needs to understand the perception of his
employees. This would help him in predicting the behaviour of
employees as he would be aware of their viewpoints.
Issues involved in Perception

Selective Perception
People are prone to describe a situation based on their interests,
background, experiences, and attitude. On the road, they will notice those
vehicles more which resemble their own, or in-office why some employees
get an appreciation for doing a certain act which when done by others is
overlooked. This is because people cannot observe every time and
everything happening around them, so they perceive things selectively. For
example, if there is a rumour that due to a reduction in sales, the company
is planning for reduction, and meanwhile a senior executive plans a routine
visit. It would be presumed that he is visiting the premises to eliminate
employees; however, that would be the last thing in his mind.
Halo Effect
At times we judge a person exclusively based on a single trait. This is known
as the halo effect. Under the influence of a halo, a perceiver cannot judge
an individual properly because he does not consider all his traits. For
example, if an employee is always the first one to reach the office and the
last one to leave office, he is considered to be very industrious and creative.
On the other hand, an employee with a casual attitude and relaxed body
language would not be taken seriously and would not be relied upon. These
two judgments taken by a manager are based on the halo effect and might
not be accurate as the manager has taken into account only a single
obvious characteristic of the employees. Such judgments should be
carefully examined as a single trait cannot define the character and
performance of an employee.
Projection
Connecting one's own characteristics to other people. If a person
is respectable and trustworthy, he so takes it for granted that
other people are also honest and trustworthy. People who engage
in projection tend to perceive others according to what they are
like, rather than what the person being observed in reality is like.
When observing other people who actually are like them, these
observers are quite accurate - not because they are conscious but
because they always judge people as being similar to themselves.
So when they do find someone who is like them, they are
naturally correct.
Stereotyping
Stereotyping refers to making a general image
regarding the characteristics (which is usually wrong) of
all members of a group. This hampers a manager's
ability to take correct decisions. For example, Mahesh
is an introvert but an excellent salesman, but his
manager underrates his performance as compared to
the other salespersons because he does not fit with
them. The manager here ignored his performance due
to stereotyping and made an inaccurate judgment.
• At certain levels, stereotyping can help to evaluate the
environment. On the other hand, its negative
consequences can lead to everlasting inaccuracies. It
creates social biasness, erroneous decisions, hampers
innovation, infects utilization of human resources,
futility, and incompetence. For example, in the case of
impaired employees, the employer's stereotype is the
major problem that workers face. Workers are regarded
as lacking job-related skills, having lower performance
levels, and taking more leaves. However, findings state
that these stereotypes are not true.
When highly talented, well-educated people
are considered unqualified due to
stereotyping, then it becomes a problem. For
example, a study based on female and male
executives stated that females with less power
had to face more obstacles and had to do
more assignments for promotion as compared
to men.
• Factors influencing Perception in
Organizational behaviour
• A number of factors operate to shape and
sometimes distort perception. These factors
reside in :
• The perceiver( Internal)
• In the object or target being perceived
(External)
Characteristics of the Perceiver
Several characteristics of the perceiver can affect perception. When
an individual looks at a target and attempts to interpret what he
or she, that interpretation is heavily influenced by personal
characteristics of individual perceiver. The major characteristics of
the perceiver influencing perception are:
Attitudes: The perceiver's attitudes affect perception. For example,
suppose Mr. X is interviewing candidates for a very important
position in his organization –a position that requires negotiating
contracts with suppliers, most of whom are male. Mr. X may feel
that women are not capable of holding their own in tough
negotiations. This attitude will doubtless affect his perceptions of
the female candidates he interviews.
Moods: Moods can have a strong influence on the way we perceive
someone. We think differently when we are happy than we do when
we are depressed. In addition, we remember information that is
consistent with our mood state better than information that is
inconsistent with our mood state. When in a positive mood, we form
more positive impression of others. When in a negative mood, we tend
to evaluate others unfavourably.
Motives: Unsatisfied needs or motives stimulate individuals and may exert
a strong influence on their perceptions. For example, in an
organizational context, a boss who is insecure perceives a subordinate's
efforts to do an outstanding job as a threat to his or her own position.
Personal insecurity can be transferred into the perception that others
are out to "get my job", regardless of the intention of the subordinates.
Self-Concept: Another factor that can affect social perception is the
perceivers' self-concept. An individual with a positive self-concept
tends to notice positive attributes in another person. In contrast, a
negative self-concept can lead a perceiver to pick out negative traits
in another person. Greater understanding of self allows us to have
more accurate perceptions of others.
Interest: The focus of our attention appears to be influenced by our
interests. Because our individual interests differ considerably, what
one person notices in a situation can differ from what others
perceive. For example, the supervisor who has just been reprimanded
by his boss for coming late is more likely to notice his colleagues
coming late tomorrow than he did last week. If you are preoccupied
with a personal problem, you may find it hard to be attentive in class.
• Cognitive Structure: Cognitive structure, an individual's
pattern of thinking, also affects perception. Some people have
a tendency to perceive physical traits, such as height, weight,
and appearance, more readily. Others tend to focus more on
central traits, or personality dispositions. Cognitive complexity
allows a person to perceive multiple characteristics of another
person rather than attending to just a few traits.
• Expectations: Finally, expectations can distort your
perceptions in that you will see what you expect to see. The
research findings of the study conducted by Sheldon S Zalkind
and Timothy W Costello on some specific characteristics of the
perceiver reveal this.
• Characteristics of the Target
• Characteristics in the target that is being observed can affect what is
perceived. Physical appearance plays a big role in our perception of
others. Extremely attractive or unattractive individuals are more likely to
be noticed in a group than ordinary liking individuals. Motion, sound, size
and other attributes of a target shape the way we see it.
• Physical appearance plays a big role in our perception of others. The
perceiver will notice the target's physical features like height, weight,
estimated age, race and gender.
• Perceivers tend to notice physical appearance characteristics that contrast
with the norm, that are intense, or that are new or unusual. Physical
attractiveness often colour our entire impression of another person.
Interviewers rate attractive candidates more favourably and attractive
candidates are awarded higher starting salaries.
• Verbal communication from targets also affects our
perception of them. We listen to the topics they speak
about, their voice tone, and their accent and make
judgements based on this input.
• Non-verbal communication conveys a great deal of
information about the target. The perceiver deciphers
eye contact, facial expressions, body movements, and
posture all in an attempt to form an impression of the
target.
• The perceiver, who observes the target's behaviour,
infers the intentions of the target.
• For example, if our manager comes to our office door way, we think "oh no! he is
going to give me more work to do". Or we may perceive that his intention is to
congratulate us on a recent success. In any case, the perceiver's interpretation of
the target's intentions affects the way the perceiver views the target.
• Targets are not looked at in isolation, the relationship of a target to its
background influences perception because of our tendency to group close things
and similar things together.
• Objects that are close to each other will tend to be perceived together rather
than separately. As a result of physical or time proximity, we often put together
objects or events that are unrelated. For examples, employees in a particular
department are seen as a group. If two employees of a department suddenly
resign, we tend to assume their departures were related when in fact, they might
be totally unrelated.
• People, objects or events that are similar to each other also tend to be grouped
together. The greater the similarity, the greater the probability we will tend to
perceive them as a group.
Colour, Size, Frequency of exposures of the
target also influence Perception.
Advertisement campaigns are therefore built
taking into account these factors to shape the
perception of the target consumer.

-----