This document discusses various aspects of perception and social perception. It begins by defining perception as the process of collecting, organizing and interpreting information from the environment to derive meaning. Sensation involves basic physiological responses to stimuli, while perception involves higher-level cognitive processing of sensory inputs. Perception involves stimulus registration, interpretation based on factors like learning and personality, feedback, behavior, and consequences. Selectivity and various external and internal factors influence perception. The document also discusses perceptual organization, constancy, context, defense and social perception and the factors that influence it like stereotyping and halo effects. It concludes with a discussion of attribution theory and impression management strategies used in organizations.

2. 1) Perception Meaning – A Cognitive
Process
 It is collection, organization, and
interpretation of data from the
environment to obtain a meaning from it
 It differs from person to person and
situation to situation between
organizations, leading to disciplinary or
team culture and cooperation to enhance
performance

3. 2) Sensation vs Perception
 Sensation is the basic behavior of
individuals caused by their physiological
functions
 Perception is the assimilation of raw data
through senses to organize and modify with
cognitive thinking

4. 3) Sub-Process of Perception
 Stimulus- confronted with external stimulus
 Registration-recording the stimulus in mind
 Interpretation- analyze by
learning, motivation, and personality
 Feedback- response received from stimulus
 Behavior
 Consequence- reinforcement/punishment

5. 4) Perceptual Selectivity
 External attention factors-
Intensity, Size, Contrast, Repetition, Motion
, Novelty and familiarity
 Internal Set Factors-
Learning and Perception, Perceptual set in
the workplace, Motivation and
Perception, Personality and Perception

6. 5) Factors influencing
Perception
Characteristics Characteristics Characteristics of
of Perceiver of Target Situation
Attitudes Novelty Time
Motives Motives Climate
Interests Sound Work environment
Experience Size Social environment
Expectations Background
Proximity

7. 6) Perceptual Organization
 Perceptual Organization emphasize the
activities that take place in the perceptual
process subsequent to the stimulus being
received

8.  Figure-Ground : In this form of Perception, perceived
objects are separated from the general background by the
perceivers. They tend to give more emphasis to the object
in the figure than to the other objects in the background
 Perceptual Grouping : Under perceptual grouping
individuals attempt to group various stimuli together into
an identifiable pattern. This type of perceptual
organization may be used on closure,continuity,proximity
or similarity

9. Figure ground image 1

10. Figure ground image 2

11. Figure ground image 3

12. Figure ground image 4

13. Closure : According to this principle, a person may
sometimes perceive a whole where it does not exist and at
times may not be able to perceive a whole although one
exists – Org.Theory
Continuity : Continuity, unlike closure where the individual
fills the missing stimulus, refers to the process wherein the
individual perceives the extension of a missing stimulus.
However this is limited to obvious, continuous lines or
patterns

14. Proximity : According to this principle, people perceive
stimuli that are physically close to each other as belonging
to one group
Similarity : According to this principle, stimuli that are
similar are grouped together by the individual

15. Perceptual Constancy : Is one of the advanced forms of
perceptual organization. Individuals‟ perception of certain
elements in objects like size,shape,color,brightness and
location is constant and does not change from person to
person. For instance, even though the picture of an apple
is printed in black and white, we still perceive the color of
the fruit as red. Perceptual constancy is enhanced by
learning. Learning helps individuals perceive certain
patterns of cues in a similar way and this leads to
perceptual constancy

16.  Perceptual Context : The context of the situation also
plays a major role in shaping the perception of
individuals. Different contexts convey different meanings
to people. For example, if a manager pats his two year old
son, it is considered a sign of love and affection. However,
if he gives an employee a pat on back, it is considered a

17.  Perceptual Defence :The process of defence mechanism
against a threatening in nature stimulus that clashes values or
culture of the individuals is Perceptual Defence.
 People refuse to perceive information which they believe will
disturb their emotions
 People substitute the orginal perception caused by disturbing
stimuli and information with favorable perceptions to cope
with the situation
 Although some information may actually arouse emotions in an
individual, he she may purposely distort and direct the emotion
else where
 It helps in understanding relationship between union and
management, superior and subordinate

18. 7) Social Perception
 It‟s a cognitive process through which other individuals are
perceived by the perceiver
 It involves the study of how and individual gets to know
other individuals
 Its influenced by the characteristics of both the perceiver and
the perceived
 Social perception is influenced by the
 1.Personality of the perceiver
 2. Personal characteristics of the perceiver; Ones own
characterstics affect the characterstics one is likely to
seen in others

19.  Self esteem of the perceiver; People who
accept themselves are more likely to be able to
see favorable aspects of other people
 Fact that an individual perceives others
depending upon many skills and not just one
skill
There are certain factors of the person being
perceived that influence social perception

20.  Status of the person perceived will greatly
influence others perception of the person
 The person being perceived is usually placed
into categories to simplify the viewers
perceptual activities. Two common categories
are status and role
 The visible traits of the person perceived will
greatly influence others, perceptions of the
person

21.  These characteristics of the perceiver and perceived
suggest extreme complexities of social perception
 Thus organizational participants must realize that their
perceptions of another person are greatly influenced
by their own and the other persons characterstics
 For ex- Manager with high and low esteem vs
pleasant and timely sales man and arrogant sales man
 Participants in formal organizations constantly
perceive one another

22.  Managers perceive workers and vice versa, line
personnel perceive staff personal , front line employee
perceive customers and viceversa
 Numerous complex factors enter into such social
perception, but most important are the problems
associated with
 Stereo Typing : Refers to the tendency to perceive
another person as belonging to a single class or
category

23.  In1922 Walter Lippman applied this word to percption
 Since then „stereo typing‟ has become a frequently
used term to describe perceptual errors especially in
analzing prejudices
 It may attribute favorable or un favorable traits to the
person perceived
 Most often the perceived person is put into over all
category of which the person belongs making him/her
stereotype though each person has individual unique
traits

24.  Common stereo typed groups include managers,
supervisors, knowledge workers,union members,young
people,old people,minorities,women, white and blue collar
workers,various functional and staff specialists ex;
Accountants, sales people, computer programmers and
engineers
 There may be general consensus about the traits possessed
by each group but in reality there is often a discrepancy
between agreed upon traits and actual traits of the
category ex not all engineers rational or the same for HR

25.  Organization members making common
Blanket Perceptions in example with GM
blame their problems on the famous sterotyped
„them‟ instead of recognizing the need for
fundamental corporate culture change
 Long exposure to negative stereo types may
result in the members having an inferiority
anxiety or lowered expectations
 Numerous research studies on stereo typing
and its problems that occur in organizational
life

26.  The Halo Effect :
 Similar to Stereo Typing
 In Stereo Typing the person is perceived
according to a single category but under the
Halo Effect the person perceived on the basis
of one trait
 Halo is discussed in performance appraisal
when a rater makes an error in judging a
person‟s total personality or performance on
the basis of a single positive trait such as
intelligence, appearance, dependability or
cooperativeness.

27.  The particular trait may override all other traits
 A persons physical appearance or dress may override
in making a selection or in appraising the person‟s
performance
 The opposite sometimes called “horns effect”
 Here a an individual is down graded because of single
negative characterstics or incident
 A comprehensive review of the performance appraisal
literature founds that Halo effect was dependent
variable in over a third of the studies and was the
major problem affecting appraisal accuracy

28.  Halo Effect :
 Is a common error made in performance appraisals
 Has two components- true and illusory
 Emphasize only a particular trait of an employee and
does not take into account the overall picture
 Has negative consequences which have to be avoided
Conditions under which Halo Effect might occur :
- when the perceiver is not familiar with certain traits or
does not frequently encounter them
- When the traits are ambiguous and cannot be clearly
expressed in behavioral terms
- When the traits have moral implications.

29.  Even after considerable research we still do not know
much about the impact of the Halo Effect and attempts at
solving the problem have not been very successful
 Overcoming perceptual problems such as Stereotyping
and the Halo Effect remains an important challenge for
effective human resource management

30. Attribution: It‟s the way in which people explain the
causes for their own or others behavior.
- With the help of attribution, individuals try to
understand the reasons behind the behavior of one
another and also draw conclusion about the factors
that influenced that behavior
- There are two types of attributions
- Dispositional attribution : In this type of
attribution, People‟s behavior is explained with the
help of internal factors such as their personality
traits, their motivation, ability etc

31.  Situational attribution : People‟s behavior is attributed to
the external factors in the environment. These could be the
social influences they are subject to, equipment being
handled, etc
Impression Management
-Reffered to as self perception
-It is a process by which people try to manage or control the
perceptions formed by others about themselves
-Individuals might adopt various management techniques to
make an impact on others

32.  The Process of Impression Management :
- Earlier researchers attempted to study the relation
ship of impression management with respect to
aggression, attitude changes, attributions, social
facilitation, and so on
- In recent times behavior theorists have identified two
components of impression management
Impression motivation : Impression motivation is
usually applicable in organizations where employees
try to control the perception of managers or superiors
about themselves .

33. Factors that affect Impression Management are
- Relevance that the impression has to the employees in
attaining their goals
- Value of these goals to the employees
- Discrepancy between the desired image and image
which individuals believe others already have about
them
Impression Construction : It refers to the methods and
techniques adopted by the individual in order to create
the desired image in the minds of other individuals.

34. The factors are
- The self-concept, desired and undesired
identified images, role constraints, target‟s
values, and current social image.
- There is still little known of how they select the
way to manage others‟ perception of them for
ex; do they directly tell their boss things such
as “I‟m really competitive and want to get
ahead” or do they make indirect statements
such as “I really like racquet ball ; it is really
competitive”

35.  Managers regulate and control themselves
based on situational and interpersonal cues
 They are more senstive and responsive to
adjusting their self-presentations or
impressions
 These high self monitored managers are more
likely to be promoted, but they are also more
likely to change employers or to make a job
related move to a different state or country

36.  Employee Impression Management Strategies
 Two Basic Strategies
 Demotion – Preventive Strategy; When the
employees are trying to minimize responsibility
for some negative event or to stay out of trouble
 Promotion Enhancing Strategy; When the
employees are seeking to maximize responsibility
for a positive outcome or to look better than they
really are.

37. Demotion Preventive Strategy is characterized by
1. Accounts. These are employees attempts to
excuse or justify their actions- not feeling well-
another high priority assignment.
2.Apologies. When there is no logical way out,
the employee may apologize to the boss for
some negative. Such an apology may not only
gives the impression that the individual is sorry
but also indicates that it will not happen again.

38. 3. Disassociation : When employees are indirectly
associated when something that went wrong For
ex; they are the members of a committee or
work team that made a bad decision, they may
secretly tell their boss that they fought for the
right thing but were over ruled- employees using
this approach try to remove themselves both
from the group and from responsibility for the
problem

39. Promotion Enhancing Strategy involve,
1. Entitlements. Employees feel that they have not
been given credit for a positive outcome – they
make sure that it is known through formal channel
or they may informally note to key people that
they are pleased their suggestions or efforts worked
out well.
2. Enhancements. Here, employees may have
received credit, but they really did more and had a
bigger impact than orginally thought. For example,
their effort or idea not only served a customer well
or met a difficult deadline, but can be used in the

40. 3. Obstacle Disclosures; In this strategy, employees
identify either personal (health or family) or
organization (lack of resources or cooperation)
obstacles they had to overcome to accomplish an
outcome. They are trying to create the perception
that because they obtained the positive out come
despite big obstacles, they really deserve a lot of
credit
4. Associations ; Employees make sure to be seen
with the right people at the right times to get
connected and associated with successful projects

41.  The motivation on the part of employees may
or may not be a deliberate attempt to enhance
themselves in terms of political
power, promotions or money rewards
 A recent analysis indicated that Impression
Management might motivate employee
citizenship behaviors [going beyond normally
required and rewarded behavior]

42.  The motivation in this case may be to look
good (impression management) instead of
doing well for its own sake (citizen ship
behavior)
 The specific impression management strategy
that is used will depend on situation eg:
employment interview, performance appraisal
or training session

43.  Managers should be aware of deliberate
manipulations of perceptions when making
evaluation of their people
 By the same token , such impression
management could be positively used to get
ahead in an organization or keep good relation
with customers

44.  Guide lines to help recognize various impression
management tactics and the motives behind them
1. One should be on the lookout for high
probability impression management strategies.
For ex; recruiters should be careful to separate
pure self promotion and legitimate claims of
competence, and those in positions of power or
status should be aware of subordinates‟ efforts to
ingratiate themselves (“buttering up the boss”
and “apple-polishing”)

45. 2. There should be an attempt to minimize
personal, situational and organizational features
features that foster undesirable impression
management for ex; organizations in which task
performance is ambigious and or resources scarce
tend to generate relatively high levels of
ingratation
3. One should look for the ulterior motives and
avoid being overly influenced by impression
management. For ex; a manager who is able to
distinguish between pure self promotion and true
competence is likely to be biased by an invalid
claim when appraising a staff member‟s
performance

46.  To conclude with William Gardner in his
analysis of Impression Management states
“When selecting an image, never try to do
something you are not. People see through the
facade . In sum make every effort to put your
best foot forward- but never at the cost of your
identity or integrity” put in other words we
project the face we believe is ours , hope is
ours wish was ours – the persona that best suits
our personality, weakness, stage in life and
immediate needs.

47. T.S. Eliot and S.Alfred Prufrock say, “There will
be time /To prepare a face to meet the faces
that you meet”.
THANK YOU !!