PRINCIPLES OF MANAGEMENT AND ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOUR

(Common to ECE, EIE & IT)

Course Code: 18HS1MG02 Regulation: R18

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 SYLLABUS
UNIT-4: Perception and Personality:
Perception- Definition; Factors influencing; Perceptual Selectivity; Perceptual Organisation and Social
Perception.
Personality- Definition; Determinants; Theories; Traits; Big Five Personality Model.

CONCEPTS / TOPICS

Topic. No. Topic

4.1 Evaluation of Perception Definitions

4.2 Factors influencing Perception

4.3 Perceptual Selectivity

4.4 Perceptual Organisation and Social Perception

4.5 Evaluation of Personality Definitions

4.6 Determinants of Personality

4.7 Theories of Personality

4.8 Personality Traits

4.9 Big Five Personality Model

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4.1 Evaluation of Perception Definitions:
Perception is a process by which we organize and interpret sensory impressions to give
meaning to our environment.

What we perceive can be substantially different from objective reality. As most of us know
’ oss people.

S B ’
based on their perception of what reality is, not on reality itself.

The world as it is perceived is the world what is behaviourally important.

Perception can be defined in various forms, such as:

• Process of receiving information about and making sense of the world around us.
• T L “P ”
• The process by which individuals organize and interpret their sensory impressions in
order to give meaning to their environment.
• The way we try to understand the world around us.

Hence, “T
individual receives information about their environment – seeing, hearing, feeling, tasting and
smelling. The study of theses perceptual processes shows that their functioning is affected by
three classes of variables – the objects or events being perceived the environment in which
perception occurs and individual doing the perceiving.

Therefore, perception is composed of six processes: receiving, selecting, organizing,

interpreting, checking and reacting to stimuli.

4.2 Factors influencing Perception

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Several characteristics of the perceiver can affect perception. The major characteristics of the
perceiver influencing perception are:

Attitudes: The perceiver's attitudes affect perception. For example, suppose Mr. X is
interviewing candidates for a very important position in his organization –a position that
requires negotiating contracts with suppliers, most of whom are male. Mr X may feel that
women are not capable of holding their own in tough negotiations. This attitude will doubtless
affect his perceptions of the female candidates he interviews.

Moods: Moods can have a strong influence on the way we perceive someone. We think
differently when we are happy than we do when we are depressed. In addition, we remember
information that is consistent with our mood state better than information that is inconsistent
with our mood state. When in a positive mood, we form more positive impression of others.
When in a negative mood, we tend to evaluate others unfavourably.

Motives: Unsatisfied needs or motives stimulate individuals and may exert a strong influence
on their perceptions. For example, in an organizational context, a boss who is insecure
perceives a subordinate's efforts to do an outstanding job as a threat to his or her own
position. Personal insecurity can be transferred into the perception that others are out to
"get my job", regardless of the intention of the subordinates.

Self-Concept: Another factor that can affect social perception is the perceivers' self-
concept. An individual with a positive self-concept tends to notice positive attributes in
another person. In contrast, a negative self-concept can lead a perceiver to pick out negative
traits in another person. Greater understanding of self allows us to have more accurate
perceptions of others.

Interest: The focus of our attention appears to be influenced by our interests. Because our
individual interests differ considerably, what one person notices in a situation can differ from
what others perceive. For example, the supervisor who has just been reprimanded by his boss
for coming late is more likely to notice his colleagues coming late tomorrow than he did last
week. If you are preoccupied with a personal problem, you may find it hard to be attentive in
class.

Cognitive Structure: Cognitive structure, an individual's pattern of thinking, also affects

perception. Some people have a tendency to perceive physical traits, such as height, weight,
and appearance, more readily. Others tend to focus more on central traits, or personality
dispositions. Cognitive complexity allows a person to perceive multiple characteristics of
another person rather than attending to just a few traits.

Expectations: Finally, expectations can distort your perceptions in that you will see what
you expect to see. The research findings of the study conducted by Sheldon S Zalkind and
Timothy W Costello on some specific characteristics of the perceiver reveal.

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Characteristics of the Target

Characteristics in the target that is being observed can affect what is perceived. Physical
appearance plays a big role in our perception of others. Extremely attractive or unattractive
individuals are more likely to be noticed in a group than ordinary liking individuals. Motion,
sound, size and other attributes of a target shape the way we see it.

Physical appearance plays a big role in our perception of others. The perceiver will notice the
target's physical features like height, weight, estimated age, race and gender.

Perceivers tend to notice physical appearance characteristics that contrast with the norm,
that are intense, or that are new or unusual. Physical attractiveness often colour our entire
impression of another person. I ’ rate attractive candidates more favourably and
attractive candidates are awarded higher starting salaries.

Verbal communication from targets also affects our perception of them. We listen to the
topics they speak about, their voice tone, and their accent and make judgements based on
this input.

Non-verbal communication conveys a great deal of information about the target. The
perceiver deciphers eye contact, facial expressions, body movements, and posture all inan
attempt to form an impression of the target.

The perceiver, who observes the target's behaviour, infers the intentions of the target.

For example, if our manager comes to our office doorway, we think "oh no! he is going to
give me more work to do". Or we may perceive that his intention is to congratulate us on a
recent success. In any case, the perceiver's interpretation of the target's intentions affects the
way the perceiver views the target.

Targets are not looked at in isolation, the relationship of a target to its background influences
perception because of our tendency to group close things and similar things together.

Objects that are close to each other will tend to be perceived together rather than separately.
As a result of physical or time proximity, we often put together objects orevents that are
unrelated. For examples, employees in a particular department are seen as a group. If two
employees of a department suddenly resign, we tend to assume their departures were related
when in fact, they might be totally unrelated.

People, objects or events that are similar to each other also tend to be grouped together.
The greater the similarity, the greater the probability we will tend to perceive them as a
group.

Characteristics of the Situation

The situation in which the interaction between the perceiver and the target takes place has
an influence on the perceiver's impression of the target. For example, meeting a manager in
his or her office affects your impression in a certain way that may contrast with the impression
you would form had you met the manager in a restaurant.

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The strength of the situational cues also affects social perception. Some situations provide
strong cues as to appropriate behaviour. In these situations, we assume that the individual's
behaviour can be accounted for by the situation, and that it may not reflect the individual's
disposition. This is the discounting principle in social perception. For example, you mayen
counter an automobile sales person who has a warm and personable manner, asks you about
your work and hobbies, and seems genuinely interested in your taste in cars. Can you assume
that this behaviour reflects the sales person's personality? You probably cannot, because of
the influence of the situation. This person is trying to sell you a car, and in this particular
situation he probably treats all customers in this manner.

4.3 Perceptual Selectivity

Though people are exposed to several stimuli, they tend to select only a few at a given point
of time, this is perceptual selectively.
Selectivity in perception which stimuli get selected depends on two major factors:
1. Consumer previous experience as it affects their expectations
2. T ’

A. External Attention Factors:

1. Intensity: According to the intensity principle of attention, the intensity of an external
stimulus determines its probability of being perceived.

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2.Size: A larger object is more likely to be noticed than a smaller object.

3. Contrast: According to this, the stimuli that contradict most with the background or the
expectations of people receive maximum attention.

4. Repetition: The more number of times a stimulus is repeated, the more it is likely to be
noticed.
5. Motion: People gives more attention to moving objects that the stationery objects
6. Novelty and Familiarity: New objects in a familiar situation or familiar objects in a new
’
A. Internal Attention Factors:
1. Learning: Learning by itself a major role in developing the perceptual set.
2. Motivation: The primary motives; hunger and thrust, Secondary motives; need for power
affiliation and achievement.
3. Expectations: People see what they want to see.
4. Personality: Personality of a person influence perception.
Conclusion: Perceptual selection is the process by which people filter out irrelevant or less
significant information, so that they can deal with the most important matters.

4.4 Perceptual Organisation and Social Perception:

A well-known American origin psychologist William James has aptly described those human
beings generally do not see objects or things as they appear but view them as they want to.
The perceptual organisation is a synthetic process where the human mind selects specific
stimuli through its attention and interprets it as per its directive. Similarly, other stimuli in the

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visual or audio field select stimuli and organise into a form that will be perceived in a more
meaningful way than it appears.
Frequently used Shortcuts in judging others:
Perceiving and interpreting what others do is burdensome. As a result, individuals develop
techniques for making the task more manageable. These techniques are not fool proof. Several
factors lead us to form inaccurate impressions of others. These barriers to perception are
Selective Perception: We receive a vast amount of information. Therefore, it is impossible
for us to assimilate everything we see - on eye certain stimuli can be taken. That is why their
boss may reprimand some employees for doing something that when done by another
employee goes unnoticed. Since, we can't observe everything going on about us, we engage
in selective perception.
Stereotype: A stereotype is a generalization about a group of people. When we judge
someone on the basis of our perception of the group to which he or she belongs, we are
using the shortcut called stereo typing. Stereo types reduce information about other people
to a workable level, and they are efficient for compiling and using information.
Attractiveness is a powerful stereo type. We assume that attractive individuals are also warm,
kind, sensitive, poised, sociable, outgoing, independent, and strong. Are attractive people
sociable, outgoing, independent, and strong? Are attractive peoplereally like this? Certainly all
of them are not.
In organizations, we frequently hear comments that represent stereo types based on gender,
age, nationality etc. From a perceptual standpoint, if people expect to see this stereo type,
that is what they will perceive, whether it's accurate or not.
Halo Effect: The halo error in perception is very similar to stereo typing. Whereas in stereo
typing the person is perceived according to a single category, under the halo effect the person
is perceived on the basis of one trait.
When we draw a general impression about an individual based on a single characteristic, such
as intelligence, sociability or appearance, a halo effect is operating. Example of halo effect is
the extremely attractive women secretary who is perceived by her male boss as being an
intelligent, good performer, when, in fact, she is a poor typist.
First-impression error: Individuals place a good deal of importance on first impressions.
First impressions are lasting impressions. We tend to remember what we perceive first about
a person, and sometimes we are quite reluctant to change our initial impressions. Primacy
effects can be particularly dangerous in interviews, given that we form first impressions quickly
and that these impressions may be the basis for long-term employment relationships.
Contrast Effect: Stimuli that contrast with the surrounding environment are more likely to
be selected for attention than the stimuli that blends in. A contrasting effect can be caused by
colour, size or any other factor that is unusual (any factor that distinguishes one stimulus from
others at present). For example, a man walking down the street with a pair of crutches is
more attention getting than a common man.

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Projection: It is easy to judge others if we assume they are similar to us. This tendency to
attribute one's own characteristics to other people is called projection.
Projection can distort perceptions made about others. People who engage in projection tend
to perceive others. According to what they are like rather than according to what the person
being observed is really like. When managers engage in projection, they compromise their
ability to respond to individual differences. They tend to see people as more homogeneous
than they really are.
Implicit Personality Theories: We tend to have our own mini-theories about how people
look and behave. These theories help us organize our perceptions and take shortcuts instead
of integrating new information all the time. Implicit-personality theory is opinions formed
about other people that are based on our own mini theories about how people behave. For
example we believe that girls dressed in fashionable clothes will like modern music and girls
dressed in traditional dress like saree will like Indian classical music. These implicit personality
theories are barriers because they limit out ability to take in new information when it is
available.
Self-Fulfilling Prophecies: Self-fulfilling prophecies are the situation in which our
expectations about people affect our interaction with them in such a way that our
expectations are fulfilled. Self -fulfilling prophecy is also known as the Pygmalion effect, named
after a sculptor in Greek mythology who carved a statue of a girl that came to life when he
prayed for this wish, and it was granted.

4.4 Personality Definition & Determinants:

“W ?”
Finding this is called knowing or understanding personality. The term personality is derived from the
L “P ” T L
the actors used to wear in ancient Rome and Greece. It is the sum total of ways in which an individual
reacts and interacts with others.
T “Those inner psychological characteristics that both determine and reflect how
a person think and act in an environment.
I ’
behaviours and responses to different situations and people. Out personality differentiates us from
other people. An understanding o ’
to act and feel in aa variety of situations. In order to effectively manage organization, an understanding
’

Determinants of Personality: The determinants of personality can be grouped in five

broad categories:
1. Biological Factors
2. Cultural Factors
3. Family Factors
4. Social Factors
5. Situational Factors

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1. Biological Factors
The study of the biological contributions to personality may be studied under three heads:
Heredity: Heredity refers to those factors that were determined at conception. Physical
stature, facial attractiveness, sex, temperament, muscle composition and reflexes, energy
level, and biological rhythms are characteristics that are considered to be inherent fro ’
parents.
Brain: The second biological approach is to concentrate on the role that the brain plays in
personality. The psychologists are unable to prove empirically the contribution of the human
brain in influencing personality
Biofeedback: Until recently, physiologists and psychologists felt that certain biological
functions such as brainwave patterns, gastric and hormonal secretions, and fluctuations in
blood pressure and skin temperature were beyond conscious control.
Physical Features: A vital in ’ x
is biologically determined. The fact that a person is tall or short, fat or skinny, black or white
’ -concept.
2. Cultural Factors
Among the factors that influence personality formation is the culture in which we are raised,
early conditioning, norms prevailing within the family, friends and social groups and other
miscellaneous experiences that impact us.
The culture largely determines attitudes towards independence, aggression, competition,
cooperation and a host of other human responses.
P HM “ x
that are acceptable to the group T ’
range of experiences and situations he is likely to encounter and the values and personality
”
3. Family Factors
Whereas the culture generally prescribes and limits what a person can be taught, it is the
family, and later the social group, which selects, interprets and dispenses the culture. Thus,
the family probably has the most significant impact on early personality development.
According to Mischel, the process can be examined from three different perspectives.
Identification can be viewed as the similarity of behaviour including feelings and attitudes
between child and model.
• I ’ ires to be like the model.

• It can be viewed as the process through which the child actually takes on the attributes
of the model.

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 • From all three perspectives, the identification process is fundamental to the
understanding of personality development.
4. Social Factors
There is increasing recognition given to the role of other relevant persons, groups and
’ T
called the socialization process.
Socialization involves the process by which a person acquires, from the enormously wide
range of behavioural potentialities that are open to him or her, those that are ultimately
synthesized and absorbed.
Socialization process is especially relevant to organisational behaviour because the process is
’ I
evidence is accumulating that socialization may be one of the best explanations for why
’ ions.
5. Situational Factors
Human personality is also influenced by situational factors. The effect of the environment is
quite strong. Knowledge, skill and language are obviously acquired and represent important
modifications of behaviour.
According to Milgram, “S x important press on the individual. It exercises
constraints and may provide a push. In certain circumstances, it is not so much the kind of
”
We should therefore not look at personality patterns in isolation.

4.5 Theories and Traits of Personality:

Managers should learn as much as possible about personality in order to understand their
employees. According to traits theory, the following 7 personality characteristics that
influence individual are:
1. Locus of Control
2. Self-Efficacy
3. Self-Esteem
4. Self-Monitoring
5. Positive/Negative Affect
6. Risk-Taking
7. Type A and Type B Personality
1. Locus of Control: The degree to which individuals perceive control over a situation being
internal or external is called locus of control.

Locus of control refers to the range of beliefs that individuals hold in terms of being controlled
by self (internal locus) or controlled by others or the situation (external locus).

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2. Self-Efficacy: Generalized self- ’
with events and challenges.
High self- ’ j -related abilities to function
effectively on the job. Success in previous situations leads to increased self-efficacy for present
and future challenges.
3. Self-Esteem: ’ -worth is referred to as self-esteem. Individuals with high
self-esteem have positive feelings about themselves.
Low self-esteem individuals are strongly affected by what others think of them and view
themselves negatively.
4. Self-Monitoring: The extent to which people base their behaviour on cues from other
people and situations is self-monitoring.
Individuals high in self-monitoring pay attention to what behaviour is appropriate in certain
situations by watching others and behaving accordingly.
Low self-monitoring individuals prefer that their behaviour reflects their attitudes and are not
as flexible in adapting their behaviour to situational cues.
5. Positive/Negative Affect: Individuals exhibit attitudes about situations in a positive or
negative fashion.
’ to as
positive affect, while those accentuating less optimistic views are referred to as having negative
affect.
Employees with positive affect are absent from work less often. Negative affect individuals
report higher levels of job stress.
6. Risk-Taking: People differ in their willingness to take chances. High-risk-taking managers
made more rapid decisions and used less information in making their choices than low risk-
taking managers.
7. Type A and Type B Personality: Type A personality individual is aggressively involved
in a chronic, struggle to achieve more and more in less and less time, and if required to do
so, against the opposing efforts of other things or other persons.
Type B personalities are rarely harried by the desire to obtain a wildly increasing number of
things or participate in an endless growing series of events in an ever decreasing amount of
time.
Over time, researchers have developed a number of personality theories and no theory is
complete in itself.
The theories of personality can be conveniently grouped under four types:
1. Psychoanalytic Theory: The Psychoanalytic Theory of personality has held the interest
of psychologists and psychiatrists for a long time. Sigmund Freud, its formulator, was quite an
influence. It attends to emphasizes three main issues i.e. the id, the ego and the superego.

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Psychoanalysts say that all human personality is comprised of these closely integrated
functions.
2. Type Theories: The type theories represent an attempt to put some degree of order
into the chaos of personality theory. Two categories of type theories are explained below:
Sheldon’s Physiognomy Theory: William Sheldon has presented a unique body-type
temperamental model that represents a link between certain anatomical features and
psychological traits with distinguishing characteristics of an individual and his behaviour.
Carl Jung’s Extrovert-introvert Theory: The way to type personality is in terms of behaviour
J ’ x x
3. Trait Theories: According to trait theory, combining these traits into a group forms an
’ “
” I
personality from another.
G ’ P T ality traits are real entities, physically
located somewhere in the brain. We each inherit our own unique set of raw material for
given traits, which are then shaped by our experiences.
R ’ P F R ersonality to be a
’
Cattell identified two types: Surface Traits & Source Traits
4. Self-theory: The psychoanalytic, type and trait theories represent the more traditional
approach to explaining the complex human personality.
Carl Rogers is most closely associated with his approach of self-theory. Rogers and his
associates have developed this personality theory that places emphasis on the individual as an
initiating, creating, influential determinant of behaviour within the environmental framework.
According to Rogers basic ingredients of personality:
Self-Actualization: Carl Rogers believed that humans have one basic motive that is the
tendency to self-actualize – i.e. ’ ‘ -
’
Self-concept: Self- “
”

4.7 Big Five Personality Model:

Introduction: T “B F ”
five broad domains that describe personality. These five personality traits are used to understand the
relationship between personality and various behaviors.

These five factors are assumed to represent the basic structure behind all personality traits. These five
factors were defined and described by several different researchers during multiple periods of
research. However, as a result of their broad definitions, the Big Five personality traits are not nearly

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as powerful in predicting and explaining actual behavior as are the more numerous lower-level, specific
traits.

The Five Traits

1) OPENNESS:
Openness is the degree to which a person is curious, original, intellectual, creative, and open
to new ideas. People high in openness seem to thrive in situations that require flexibility and
learning new things. They are highly motivated to learn new skills, and they do well in training
settings. Their open-mindedness leads them to seek a lot of information and feedback about
how they are doing and to build relationships, which leads to quicker adjustment to the new
job.

2) CONSCIENTIOUSNESS:
Conscientiousness refers to the degree to which a person is organized, systematic, punctual,
achievement-oriented, and dependable. Conscientiousness is the one personality trait that
’
and jobs. Highly conscientious people are more likely to start their own business compared
with those who are not conscientious, and their firms have longer survival rates.

3) EXTRAVERSION:
Extraversion is the degree to which a person is outgoing, talkative, sociable, and enjoys
socializing. One of the established findings is that they tend to be effective in jobs involving
sales. Moreover, they tend to be effective as managers and they demonstrate inspirational
leadership behaviors. Extraverts do well in social situations, and, as a result, they tend to be
effective in job interviews. Part of this success comes from preparation, as they are likely to
use their social network to prepare for the interview. Extraverts have an easier time than
introverts do when adjusting to a new job.

4) AGREEABLENESS:

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 Agreeableness is the degree to which a person is affable, tolerant, sensitive, trusting, kind, and
warm. In other words, people who are high in agreeableness are likeable people who get along
with others. Not surprisingly, agreeable people help others at work consistently; this helping
behavior does not depend on their good mood. Agreeable people may be a valuable addition
to their teams and may be effective leaders because they create a fair environment when they
are in leadership positions. At the other end of the spectrum, people low in agreeableness are
less likely to show these positive behaviors.

5) NEUROTICISM:
Neuroticism refers to the degree to which a person is anxious, irritable, temperamental, and
moody. It is perhaps the only Big Five dimension where scoring high is undesirable. Neurotic
people have a tendency to have emotional adjustment problems and habitually experience
stress and depression. People very high in Neuroticism experience a number of problems at
work. For example, they have trouble forming and maintaining relationships and are less likely
to be someone people go to for advice and friendship. it seems that low Neuroticism is a
strong advantage in the workplace.

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