Assuming you survived chapter two, and the sheer volume of its content, you should have no problem whatsoever with this one. There are essentially only two parts to chapter three. The first deals with self-concept. That is how we see ourselves. This is important because it also affects the way we perceive the world around us, which is what the second part of the chapter is about. It is in the second part of the chapter where you will learn about the many perceptual errors, and the various ways we can avoid making those errors.

The entire concept of perception (self and others) boils down to the way we see ourselves and interpret the world around us. This is an important area of study in OB, because the way we perceive people, events, and things influences the way we behave. Remember those five types of individual behaviours from chapter two? Avoiding perceptual errors helps us make better choices and decisions at work and in our personal lives. Simply put, organizations run more effectively when employees have healthy self-concepts and avoid perceptual errors.

Before the chapter launches into discussions about the common errors, a short section is presented that deals with the perceptual process (that kind of makes sense). It also makes sense to discuss social identity theory since stereotyping (a very common perceptual error) is an extension of this theory. I’ll bet once you’re finished you’ll understand why stereotyping is such a common error. The rest of this part of the chapter lists and defines other perceptual errors (actually seven more not including stereotyping).