Reminder

 Group project: finalized group member list

announced on Feb 16

 Email me your group introduction card by Feb 20

(due before class)
 One PowerPoint slide from EACH team including
 A group picture
 Each member’s name and student ID
 Name of your group
 Who’s the group leader

 Group project topic due by Feb 21 @2pm

 (first come first serve)
Reminder
 Group project topics:
 1. Can trust be built? Can and how can we build trust when
working with people in different cultural contexts?

 2. What are the factors that influence team creativity?

 3. What are the factors that influence adjustment of

expatriates to their work performance and life on
international assignments in a foreign country?

 4. What are the factors that influence team members’

utilization of each other’s expertise (i.e. making best use of
each other’s expertise in a team)?
In-class Experiential Learning Activity
Date: 15 Feb (Wednesday)

Venue: Tin Ka Ping Hall, Lo Ka

Chung University Center
(next to UC Bistro)

Note: Casual wear recommended,

no slippers or high heels.
 Chapter 6

Perceptions and
Learning in
Organizations (Part I)
5
MARS model of individual behavior
Role
Perceptions
Values
Personality Motivation
Individual
Perceptions Behavior
Emotions and Results
Ability
Attitudes
Stress Situational
Factors
Learning Objectives
 What is perception?
 Person Perception
 Social identity theory
 Stereotyping
 Attribution theory
 Self-fulfilling prophecy
Perception
 The process of receiving information about
and making sense of the world around us
 Selecting
 Organizing
 Interpreting
Perceptual process model
Environmental Stimuli

Feeling Hearing Seeing Smelling Tasting

Selective Attention

Organization and
Interpretation

Attitudes and
Behavior
Perception

• People’s behavior is based on their perception of

what reality is, not on reality itself.
• The world as it is perceived is the world that is
behaviorally important.
Perceiving = Seeing?
Perception
 Change blindness: a perceptual
phenomenon that occurs when a change
in a visual stimulus is introduced and the
observer does not notice it.

 Demonstrates the fundamental limitations

of human attention

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6JONMYxaZ_s
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VkrrVozZR2c
Learning Objectives
 What is perception?
 Person Perception
 Social identity theory
 Stereotyping
 Attribution theory
 Self-fulfilling prophecy
Social Identity Theory
 Personal identities
 Characteristics that make a person unique and distinct

 Social identities
 How people define themselves in terms of group
membership
 Emotional attachment
 High-status groups for positive self image
 Where we fit within the social world
Social Identity and Self Perception

HKUST student
Students at other
universities

Graduate of An Individual’s Graduates of

SPCC High School Social Identity other high schools

Members of other
Member of student clubs
Management Student
Association
Social Identity and Social Perception
 Categorization
 Categorizing people into distinct groups

 Homogenization
 Ascribing similar characteristics to people within a group

 Differentiation
 Assigning more favorable characteristics to our
own groups
Learning Objectives
 What is perception?
 Person Perception
 Social identity theory
 Stereotyping
 Attribution theory
 Self-fulfilling prophecy
Stereotyping
 Develop social categories and assign traits to
people based on their group membership

 Where do stereotype come from?

 Cultural upbringing
 Media images
 Personal experience
Stereotyping
 Why do stereotype occur?
 Categorical thinking as a unconscious energy saving
process to simplify sense making
 Strong need to understand and anticipate others’
behavior, stereotypes help fill in the blank

 Problems with stereotype

 May be inaccurate
 May lead to discrimination

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mu85XFjRpjU
Learning Objectives
 What is perception?
 Person Perception
 Social identity theory
 Stereotyping
 Attribution theory
 Self-fulfilling prophecy
Attribution theory
 Attribution process
 Attribute causes of events to people or situation
 Assign credit or blame
 Internal vs. external attribution
 Internal attribution
 Perception that person’s behavior is due to
motivation/ability rather than situation or fate
 E.g., “I didn’t do well in the exam because I didn’t work
hard enough.”
 External attribution
 Perception that behavior is due to situation or fate rather
than the person
 E.g., “I didn’t do well in the exam because the exam is
24
too hard.”
Covariation model of attribution

 The 3 rules / types of information we used

when we evaluate a behavior:
 Distinctiveness:
 Does the behavior vary across different situations?
 Consistency:
 Is the behavior consistent across most people in the
given situation?
 Consensus:
 Do most people engage in this behavior in this situation?

25
1

26
Attribution Errors
Fundamental Attribution Error

The tendency to attribute other’s behavior to

internal factors (the person) rather than external
factors (the situation).
 Why does the Fundamental
Attribution Error Occur?
 Overlook or unaware of situational constraint information

 Underestimate the power of the situation in producing behavior

 Fully taking the situation into account requires cognitive

resources, which may be scarce

 Our first assumption is that behavior reflects dispositions

 We only adjust this assumption to include external, situational

factors if necessary

28
Attribution Errors

Self-Serving Bias
The tendency to attribute our
successes to internal factors
and our failures to external
factors.
Learning Objectives
 What is perception?
 Person Perception
 Social identity theory
 Stereotyping
 Attribution theory
 Self-fulfilling prophecy
Self-Fulfilling Prophecy
 Our expectations about another person influence
our behaviors toward that person, which in turn
cause that person to act in a way that is
consistent with our expectations

 Contingencies: the effect is Stronger...

 At the beginning of a relationship
 When several people have similar expectations about
the person
 When the person has low past achievement
Self-fulfilling Prophecy
Self-Fulfilling Prophecy Example
Supervisor
forms
expectations

Employee’s Expectations
behavior matches affect supervisor’s
expectations behavior

Supervisor’s
behavior affects
employee
Next Class
Date: 15 Feb (Wednesday)

Venue: Tin Ka Ping Hall, Lo Ka

Chung University Center
(next to UC Bistro)

Note: Casual wear recommended,

no slippers or high heels.