Influence of Perception and Impression Management on Behavior

Perception is influenced by qualities of the thing being perceived and of the individual, as well as
by situational factors.
 The object's characteristics include contrast, intensity, movement, repetition, and novelty.
 Personality traits include attitudes, self-concept, and personality.
 The particulars of a context influence how a person perceives an object; the same person
may experience the same object in quite different ways in different settings.
 The methods by which a circumstance alters a person's perceptions include selection,
organization, attribution, stereotyping, the halo effect, and projection.
 Selective perception and stereotyping are two of the most important to businesses.
Selective Perception:
Selective perception is the process of filtering away information that causes us discomfort or
violates our beliefs. For example, suppose a manager has a very positive attitude about a specific
employee and one day discovers that the employee appears to be goofing off. Selective
perception may cause the boss to dismiss what he observes. Assume another boss has developed
a highly unfavorable attitude toward a specific worker, and when he observes outstanding
performance from the person, he, too, disregards it. In some ways, selective perception is
advantageous since it allows us to ignore tiny details. When managers' selective perception
causes them to dismiss critical information, the consequences can be disastrous.
Stereotyping is the process of categorizing or labeling people based on a particular characteristic.
Perceptions about people's sex based on stereotypes occur in almost all workplaces. These
misconceptions typically lead to the notion that an individual's sex dictates which duties he or
she will be able to undertake. For example, a woman sitting behind a table in the office is
frequently seen as a clerk rather than an executive, but a male is perceived as the reverse.
Stereotyping consists of three steps: recognizing categories of individuals (such as women and
politicians), associating particular qualities with those categories (such as passivity and