Describe perception in terms of the information-processing model. Perception is a mental and cognitive process that enables us to interpret and understand our surroundings. Social perception, also known as social cognition and social information processing, is a four-stage process. The four stages are selective attention/comprehension, encoding and simplification, storage and retention, and retrieval and response. During social cognition, salient stimuli are matched with schemata, assigned to cognitive categories, and stored in long-term memory for events, semantic materials, or people.
Identify and briefly explain seven managerial implications of social perception. Social perception affects hiring decisions, performance appraisals, leadership perceptions, communication processes, workplace aggression and antisocial behavior, physical and psychological well-being, and the design of Web pages. Inaccurate schemata or racist and sexist schemata may be used to evaluate job applicants. Similarly, faulty schemata about what constitutes good versus poor performance can lead to inaccurate performance appraisals. Invalid schemata need to be identified and replaced with appropriate schemata through coaching and training. Further, managers are advised to use objective rather than subjective measures of performance. With respect to leadership, a leader will have a difficult time influencing employees when he or she exhibits behaviors contained in employees' schemata of poor leaders. Because people interpret oral and written communications by using schemata developed through past experiences, an individual's ability to influence others is affected by information contained in others' schemata regarding age, gender, ethnicity, appearance, speech, mannerisms, personality, and other personal characteristics. It is very important to treat employees fairly, as perceptions of unfairness are associated with aggressive and antisocial behavior. Try to let negative thoughts roll off yourself like water off a duck to avoid the physical and psychological effects of negative thoughts.
Discuss stereotypes and the process of stereotype formation. Stereotypes represent grossly oversimplified beliefs or expectations about groups of people. Stereotyping is a four-step process that begins by categorizing people into groups according to various criteria. Next, we infer that all people within a particular group possess the same traits or characteristics. Then, we form expectations of others and interpret their behavior according to our stereotypes. Finally, stereotypes are maintained by (a) overestimating the frequency of stereotypic behaviors exhibited by others, (b) incorrectly explaining expected and unexpected behaviors, and (c) differentiating minority individuals from oneself. The use of stereotypes is influenced by the amount and type of information available to an individual and his or her motivation to accurately process information.
Summarize the managerial challenges and recommendations of sex-role, age, racial and ethnic, and disability stereotypes. The key managerial challenge is to reduce the extent to which stereotypes influence decision making and interpersonal processes throughout the organization. Training can be used to educate employees about the problem of stereotyping and to equip managers with the skills needed to handle situations associated with managing employees with disabilities. Because mixed-group contact reduces stereotyping, organizations should create opportunities for diverse employees to meet and work together in cooperative groups of equal status. Hiring decisions should be based on valid individual differences, and managers can be trained to use valid criteria when evaluating employee performance. Minimizing differences in job opportunities and experiences across groups of people can help alleviate promotional barriers. It is critical to obtain top management's commitment and support to eliminate stereotyping and discriminatory decisions.
Describe and contrast the Pygmalion effect, Galatea effect, and the Golem effect. The Pygmalion effect, also known as the self-fulfilling prophecy, describes how someone's high expectations for another person result in high performance for that person. The Galatea effect occurs when an individual's high self-expectations lead to high self-performance. The Golem effect is a loss of performance resulting from low leader expectations.
Discuss how the self-fulfilling prophecy is created and how it can be used to improve individual and group productivity. According to the self-fulfilling prophecy, high managerial expectations foster high employee self-expectations. These expectations in turn lead to greater effort and better performance and yet higher expectations.
Explain, according to Kelley’s model, how external and internal causal attributions are formulated. Attribution theory attempts to describe how people infer causes for observed behavior. According to Kelley's model of causal attribution, external attributions tend to be made when consensus and distinctiveness are high and consistency is low. Internal (personal responsibility) attributions tend to be made when consensus and distinctiveness are low and consistency is high.
Contrast the fundamental attribution bias and the self-serving bias. Fundamental attribution bias involves emphasizing personal factors more than situational factors while formulating causal attributions for the behavior of others. Self-serving bias involves personalizing the causes of one's successes and externalizing the causes of one's failures.
