Essentials of

Organizational Behavior
12e

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Stephen P. Robbins & Timothy A. Judge

Chapter 6
Perception and Individual
Decision Making
Copyright 2014 Pearson Education, Inc.

After studying this chapter,

you should be able to:
1. Define perception, and explain the factors that
influence it.
2. Identify the shortcuts individuals use in making
judgments about others.
3. Explain the link between perception and decision
making.
4. List and explain the common decision biases or
errors.
5. Contrast the three ethical decision criteria.
6. Define creativity, and discuss the three-component
model of creativity.
Copyright 2014 Pearson Education, Inc.

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Perception
Perception: A process by which
individuals organize and
interpret their sensory
impressions in order to give
meaning to their environment
The world as it is perceived is the
world that is behaviorally
important
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Copyright 2014 Pearson Education, Inc.

Person Perception:
Attribution Theory
Attribution Theory: An attempt to

determine whether an individuals

behavior is internally or externally
caused.
Internal behavior is believed to be under
the personal control of the individual
External the person is forced into the
behavior by outside events/causes
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Copyright 2014 Pearson Education, Inc.

Determinants of Attribution
Distinctiveness whether an individual
displays different behaviors in different
situations (the uniqueness of the act)
Consensus does everyone who faces a
similar situation respond in the same way as
the individual did
Consistency does the person respond the
same way over time
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Copyright 2014 Pearson Education, Inc.

Determination of Attribution

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Copyright 2014 Pearson Education, Inc.

Attribution Errors
Fundamental attribution error:
The tendency to underestimate the influence of external
factors and overestimate the influence of internal factors
when making judgments about the behavior of others.
Self-Serving Bias: The tendency for individuals to
attribute their own successes to internal factors and put
the blame for failures on external factors.

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Copyright 2014 Pearson Education, Inc.

Shortcuts Used
in Judging Others
Selective Perception: The tendency to
selectively interpret what one sees on the basis
of ones interests, background, experience, and
attitudes.
Halo Effect: The tendency to draw a general
impression about an individual on the basis of a single
characteristic.

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Copyright 2014 Pearson Education, Inc.

Shortcuts Used
in Judging Others
Contrast Effects: Evaluation of a persons
characteristics that is affected by comparisons
with other people recently encountered who
rank higher or lower on the same
characteristics.
Stereotyping: Judging someone on the basis
of ones perception of the group to which that
person belongs.
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Copyright 2014 Pearson Education, Inc.

The Link Between Perception

and Decision Making
Decisions: Choices made from among two
or more alternatives.
Problem: A discrepancy between the current
state of affairs and some desired state.

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Copyright 2014 Pearson Education, Inc.

The Link Between Perception

and Decision Making
Decision making occurs as a reaction to a
perceived problem
Perception influences:
Awareness that a problem exists
The interpretation and evaluation of
information
Bias of analysis
and conclusions
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Copyright 2014 Pearson Education, Inc.

Rational Decision-Making
Model
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

Define the problem

Identify the decision criteria
Allocate weights to the criteria
Develop the alternatives
Evaluate the alternatives
Select the best alternative

This model is seldom actually used: its more of a goal

than a practical method
Copyright 2014 Pearson Education, Inc.

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Bounded Rationality
The limited information-processing capability
of human beings makes it impossible to
assimilate and understand all the information
necessary to optimize
People seek solutions that are satisfactory and
sufficient, rather than optimal (they satisfice)

Bounded rationality is constructing simplified

models that extract the essential features from
problems without capturing all their
complexity
Copyright 2014 Pearson Education, Inc.

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Decision Making
in Bounded Rationality
Simpler than rational decision making, decision
making under bounded rationality is composed
of three steps:
1. Limited search for criteria and alternatives
familiar criteria and easily found alternatives
2. Limited review of alternatives focus alternatives,
similar to those already in effect
3. Satisficing selecting the first alternative that is
good enough
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Copyright 2014 Pearson Education, Inc.

Intuitive Decision Making

Intuitive decision making :
An non-conscious process
created out of distilled
experience
Increases with experience
Can be a powerful complement
to rational analysis in decision
making
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Copyright 2014 Pearson Education, Inc.

Common Biases and Errors

Overconfidence Bias: As managers
and employees become more
knowledgeable about an issue, the less
likely they are to display overconfidence
Anchoring Bias: A tendency to fixate
on initial information, from which one
then fails to adequately adjust for
subsequent information.
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Copyright 2014 Pearson Education, Inc.

Common Biases and Errors

Confirmation Bias: The tendency to
seek out information that reaffirms past
choices and to discount information that
contradicts past judgments.
Availability Bias: The tendency for
people to base their judgments on inform

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Copyright 2014 Pearson Education, Inc.

Common Biases and Errors

Randomness Error: The tendency of
individuals to believe that they can predict the
outcome of random events
Escalation of Commitment: An increased
commitment to a previous decision in spite of
negative information.

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Copyright 2014 Pearson Education, Inc.

Common Biases and Errors

Risk Aversion: The tendency to prefer a
sure gain of a moderate amount over a
riskier outcome, even if the riskier outcome
might have a higher expected payoff.
Hindsight Bias: The tendency to believe
falsely, after an outcome of an event is
actually known, that one would have
accurately predicted that outcome.
Copyright 2014 Pearson Education, Inc.

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Organizational Constraints
on Decision Making
Performance evaluations
Reward systems
Formal regulations
Self-imposed time constraints
Historical precedents
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Ethical Frameworks
for Decision Making
Utilitarian

Provide the greatest good for the

greatest number
Rights
Make decisions consistent with
fundamental liberties and
privileges
Justice
Impose and enforce rules fairly
and impartially so that there is
equal distribution of benefits and
costs
Copyright 2014 Pearson Education, Inc.

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