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Perception The process of receivinginformation about andmaking sense of theworldaround us.

Selective attention The process of attending to some information received by oursensesand ignoring otherinformation.

Categorical thinking Organizing people and objects into preconceived categories thatare stored in our longterm memory.

Mental models Visual or relational images in our mind that represent the externalworld.

Social Identity and StereotypingIn the previous chapter, you learned that social identity is an important component of apersons self-concept. We define ourselves to a large extent by the groups to which webelong or have an emotional attachment. Along with shaping our self-concept, social

identity theory explains the dynamics of social perception how we perceive others. 14Social perception is influenced by three activities in the process of forming andmaintaining our social identity: categorization, homogenization, and differentiation.

Categorization. Social identity is a comparative process, and the comparison beginsby categorizing people into distinct groups. By viewing someone (including yourself) asa Texan, for example, you remove that persons individuality and, instead, see him orher as a prototypical representative of the group Texans. This categorization thenallows you to distinguish Texans from people who live in, say, California or NewHampshire.

Homogenization. To simplify the comparison process, we tend to think that peoplewithin each group are very similar to each other. For instance, we think Texanscollectively have similar attitudes and characteristics, whereasCalifornians collectively have their own set of characteristics. Of course, every individualis unique, but we tend to lose sight of this fact when thinking about our social identityand how we compare to people in other social groups.

Differentiation. Social identity fulfills our inherent need to have a distinct and positiveself-concept. To achieve this, we do more than categorize people and homogenizethem; we also differentiate groups by assigning more favorable characteristics to peoplein our groups than to people in other groups. This differentiation is often subtle, but itcan escalate into a good-guybad-guy contrast when groups are in conflict with eachother.

stereotypingThe process of assigning traits to people on the basis of their membership in a socialcategory.

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Attribution process The perceptual processof deciding whether anobserved behaviororevent is caused largelyby internal or externalfactors.

Atrribution errors

Fundamental attribution error The tendency to see theperson rather than thesituation as the maincause of that personsbehavior.

Self-serving bias The tendency toattribute our favorableoutcomes to internalfactors and our failuresto external factors.

Self-fulfilling prophecy The perceptual process in which our expectations aboutanother person cause that person to act in a way that is consistent with thoseexpectations

Positive organizational behavior A perspective of organizational behavior that

focuses on building positive qualities and traits within individuals or institutions asopposed to focusingon what is wrong withthem.

Other Perceptual Errors

Halo effect A perceptual error whereby our general impression of a person,usually based on one prominent characteristic, colors our perception of othercharacteristics ofthat person.

Primacy effectA perceptual error inwhich we quickly forman opinion of peopleon the basis of the firstinformation we receiveabout them

Recency effect A perceptual error in which the most recent informationdominatesour perception of others.

False-consensus effectA perceptual error inwhich we overestimatethe extentto whichothers have beliefs andcharacteristics similarto our own.

Johari Window A model of mutual understanding that encourages disclosure andfeedback to increase our own open area and reduce the blind, hidden, and unknownareas.

Contact hypothesisA theory stating thatthe more we interactwith someone, the lessprejudiced or perceptuallybiased we will beagainst that person.

Empathy A persons understanding of and sensitivity to the feelings, thoughts, andsituations of others.

Learning A relatively permanent change in behavior (or behavioral tendency) thatoccurs as a resultof a persons interactionwith the environment.

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Tacit knowledge Knowledge that is embeddedin our actionsand ways of thinkingand

is transmitted onlythrough observationand experience.

Behavior modificationA theory that explainslearning in terms of theantecedents and

consequencesof behavior.

Antecedentsare events preceding the behavior, informing employees that certainbehaviors will have particular consequences.

Contingencies of Reinforcement Behavior modification identifies four types ofconsequences, called the contingencies of reinforcement, that increase, maintain, orreduce the probability that behavior will be repeated.

Posi t ive reinforcementoccurs when the introduction of a consequence increases ormaintains the frequency or future probability of a specific behavior. Receiving a bonus

after successfully completing an important project is considered positive reinforcementbecause it typically increases the probability that you will use that behavior in the future.

Punishment occurs when a consequence decreases the frequency or futureprobability of a behavior. This consequence typically involves introducing somethingthat mployees try to avoid. For instance, most of us would consider being demoted orbeing ostracized by our co-workers as forms of punishment.

Negative reinforcement occurs when the removal or avoidance of a consequenceincreases or maintains the frequency or future probability of a specific behavior.Supervisors apply negative reinforcement when they stop criticizing employees whosesubstandard performance has improved. When the criticism is withheld, employees are

more likely to repeat behaviors that improved their performance. Notice that negativereinforcement is not punishment. Whereas punishment extinguishes behavior byintroducing a negative consequence, negative reinforcement actually reinforcesbehavior by removing the negative consequence.

Extinct ion occurs when the target behavior decreases because no consequencefollows it. In this respect, extinction is a do-nothing strategy. Generally, behavior that isno longer reinforced tends to disappear; it becomes extinct. For instance, researchsuggests that performance tends to decline when managers stop congratulatingmployees for their good work.

Social learning theoryA theory stating thatmuch learning occursby observing othersand then modeling the behaviors that lead to favorable outcomes and avoidingbehaviorsthat lead to punishingconsequences.

Behavior model ing. People learn by observing the behaviors of a role model ona critical task, remembering the important elements of the observed behaviors,and then practicing those behaviors.

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Learning behavior consequences. People learn the consequences of behaviorthrough logic and observation, not just through direct experience.

self-reinforcement Reinforcement that occurs when an employee has controlover a reinforcer but doesnt take it until completing a self-set goal.

Learning orientationAn individual attitudeand organizational culture in which peoplewelcome new learningopportunities, activelyexperiment with newideas and practices,view reasonablemistakes as a naturalpart of the learningprocess, and continuouslyquestion pastpractices.

From Individual to Organizational Learning

Knowledge acquisition. This includes extracting information and ideas from theexternal environment as well as through insight.

Knowledge sharing. This aspect of organizational learning involves distributingknowledge to others across the organization.

Knowledge use. The competitive advantage of knowledge comes from applying it

in ways that add value to the organization and its stakeholders.