Understand the concept and process of
Perception
 Explore how Perception influences
behaviour
 Understand the common Perceptual
errors and how they can be reduced
 Explain the process of Social Attribution
 Explore the errors of attribution

Figure 4.1
Outcomes important to Organisations
at different levels are influenced by
Perception

A lens providing our world view
 A set of basic assumptions about what the world is
really like
 Once created it is so powerful that any concept or
‘fact’ that does not ‘fit in’ is walled off

Socially co-created
 Our reality is co-created by the perceptions, actions
and interpretations of those actions by us and the
people around

Culturally influenced
 Culture predisposes a person to choose those
patterns of interpretation which are
acceptable and considered desirable

Self-Fulfilling
 We sense the expectation of others and
behave accordingly: The “Pygmalion Effect”
Defining
Perception
“Perception is in broad terms [one’s] maintenance of contact
with [one’s] environment [as well as] internal state."
Selection & Filtering, Distortion, Organisation & Interpretation
THE PERCEIVER
(Attitude, Motivation, Experience, Expectation)
The perceptual context or situation
(Occasion, Customs, Timing)
Target : an ‘Object’
- Can be a person, a
thing, an issue, a
situation and so on

Kelly’s Attribution Model
 Consistency
 Distinctiveness
 Consensus

Attribution Theory in Social Perception
 We apply Attribution Theory when we judge why
someone behaves in a particular way

Impression Management
PERCEPTUAL
ERRORS
ATTRIBUTIONAL
ERRORS

Halo Effect

Fundamental
Attribution Error

Stereotyping

Optimistic Bias

Projection

Self Serving Bias