This document summarizes key concepts around perception from Chapter 5. It discusses what perception is, perceptual errors like primacy and recency effects, and how expectations can influence performance. Leaders must understand that each person's perception is their reality and can change over time. The chapter also covers attribution theory and biases, as well as impression management and how potential employers perceive candidates.

1. CHAPTER 5:
PERCEPTION

2. AGENDA
• What is perception?
• Perceptual errors
• Expectations
• Impression management
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3. WOULD YOU BE HAPPIER IF YOU
WERE RICHER?
• Focusing illusion -- the tendency to
overestimate the effect of a single
factor on one’s life satisfaction.
• Example: Income
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4. WHAT IS IT?
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5. DID YOU SEE IT?
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6. WHAT IS PERCEPTION?
• A leader must understand that each
person’s perception is their reality and
this is how they will interpret the
leader’s actions and everything else
that happens at the work place.
• Perceptions can change.
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7. UNDERSTANDING WHY PEOPLE
DON’T SEE EYE TO EYE
Perceptual errors:
• Primacy effect
• Recency effect
• Availability bias
• Contrast effects
• Halo error (Horns error)
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8. THE PRIMACY EFFECT
• Belief perseverance
• Once a person has formed an initial
impression, they maintain it even
when presented with concrete
evidence that it is false.
• Example: first Impressions
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9. THE RECENCY EFFECT
• Not only do people remember what
they experience first, they also
remember the most recently
presented items or experiences.
• Example: reading misspelled words
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10. CAN YOU UNDERSTAND THIS? WHY?
i cdnuolt blveiee taht i cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd
waht i was rdanieg. the phaonmneal pweor of the
hmuan mind is amazanig. aoccdrnig to a rscheearch
taem at cmabrigde uinervtisy, it deosnt mttaer in
waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny
iprmoatnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be in
the rghit pclae. the rset can be a taotl mses and you
can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm. amazanig ? and
yuo awlyas thohgut slpeling was ipmorantt.
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11. THE AVAILABILITY BIAS
• When a person’s judgments are based on
what most readily comes into a person’s
mind.
• Example: How many words in the English
language start with the letter R?
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12. CONTRAST EFFECTS
• Comparisons based on what has happened
just before we make a decision or
judgment
• Example: interviewing job applicants
• Contrast effects are among the most
significant decision biases for a leader to
guard against.
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13. CONTRAST EFFECTS:
THE EBBINGHAUS ILLUSION
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14. HALO ERROR
• Halo (or its opposite, horns) error occurs
when a the rater's overall positive (or
negative) impression strongly influences
ratings of specific attributes.
• Example: performance appraisals
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15. ATTRIBUTION THEORY
Attributions -- a person’s attempt to
assign a cause to a behavior or event.
The attributions people make about
events and behavior can be classified as
either internal or external.
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16. ATTRIBUTION
• An internal attribution occurs when
people infer that an event or a
person’s behavior is due to character
traits or abilities.
• If a person makes an external
attribution, they believe that a
person’s behavior is due to situational
factors.
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17. ATTRIBUTION ERRORS
• Attributions can bias how we process
information and make decisions.
• Fundamental attribution error
• Self-serving bias
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18. RELATIONAL
ATTRIBUTION
EXAMPLE
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19. THE ROMANCE OF LEADERSHIP
PERSPECTIVE
• challenges the portrayal of leaders as
heroes and heroines
• emphasizes the follower and the situation
• notes the halo effect for leadership: leaders
tend to get credit for positive and negative
outcomes
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20. THE PYGMALION EFFECT
• Perceptions sometimes result in a self-
fulfilling prophecy in which high
expectations of performance by
leaders actually create conditions in
which followers succeed.
• Pygmalion effect boosts performance
by leaders raising their expectations of
followers.
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21. LEADER-SET HIGH EXPECTATIONS
• Communicate high expectations to
followers in four ways:
• Create a warmer emotional climate
• Teach more and increase challenge
• Invite followers to ask questions
• Provide feedback on performance
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22. INDIVIDUALLY-SET HIGH
EXPECTATIONS
Galatea Effect -- when an individual sets
high expectations for himself and then
performs to these expectations.
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23. EXPECTATIONS AND LOW
PERFORMANCE
• Golem Effect -- Expectations may also
work in the opposite direction, where
lower expectations lead to lower
performance.
• Bosses can “kill” followers’ motivation
by having low expectations.
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24. EMPLOYABILITY: HOW POTENTIAL
EMPLOYERS PERCEIVE YOU
Employability -- the degree to which you
are perceived as employable, which may
determine whether or not you are hired
Employability is the ability to gain and
maintain a job in a formal organization.
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25. DETERMINANTS OF EMPLOYABILITY
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Source: Hogan, R., Chamorro‐Premuzic, T. & Kaiser, R. B. (2013). Employability and career success: Bridging the gap between theory and reality.
Industrial and Organizational Psychology, 6(1), 3–16.

26. IMPRESSION MANAGEMENT
• Behaviors people use to protect
their self-image and/or change the
way they are seen by others
• Affects interviewing, performance
appraisal, and career success
• Body language is an important part
of impression management
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27. EXAMPLES OF IMPRESSION MANAGEMENT
STRATEGIES
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Sources: Adapted from Bolino, M. C., & Turnley, W. H. (1999). Measuring impression management in organizations: A scale development based on the
Jones and Pittman taxonomy. Organizational Research Methods, 2(2), 187–206; Bolino, M. C., Kacmar, K. M, Turnley, W. H., & Gilstrap, J. B. (2008). A
multi-level review of impression management motives and behaviors. Journal of Management, 34(6), 1080–1109.

28. LEADERSHIP IMPLICATIONS:
LEADING FOLLOWERS WITH
DIFFERING PERCEPTIONS
• Social identity
• Implicit leadership
schemas (or models)
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29. OPEN-ACCESS
STUDENT
RESOURCES
• Checklist action plan
• Learning objective summaries
• Mobile-friendly quizzes
• Mobile-friendly eFlashcards
• Video and multimedia resources
• SAGE journal articles
edge.sagepub.com/scandura
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