Chapter 15 Summary: Understanding Perception, Personality, and Emotions | Môn Sociology - Trường Đại học Quốc tế, Đại học Quốc gia Thành phố Hồ Chí Minh

lOMoAR cPSD| 58097008 I. Perception
Perception is the process through which people receive and interpret information
from the environment. It is like a filter of information before we respond. And your
perception is influenced by your background, your culture and/ or your personality, hence,
each of you will perceive differently towards the same thing or situation. 1.
Perception and Psychological Contracts
One way that perception influences behavior is through psychological contract,
it is what the individual expects in the employment relationship, or we usually call it Personality – Job fit.
An ideal psychological contract is the one where the exchange of values is
perceived as fair. Individuals who sense they are getting less than they are giving, for
example, might perform lower or withdrawal. 2. Perception and Attribution
Perception also influences individual behavior through attribution, it is the process
of developing explanations for things.
Fundamental attribution error occurs when someone’s performance problems
are blamed on internal failures of the individual rather than external factors of the environment.
Self-serving bias happens when individuals blame personal failures on external
causes while attributing successes to internal causes. Self-serving bias creates a false
sense of confidence leading to overlook opportunities for personal development. 3.
Perception Tendencies and Distortions
Perception also influences individual behavior through distortions. 3.1 Stereotypes
A stereotype occurs when someone is identified with a group, and then attributes
associated with the group are used to describe the individual. 3.2 Halo Effects
A halo effect occurs when one attribute is used to develop an overall impression
of a person or situation. Halo effect can influence performance evaluation. 3.3 Selective Perception
Selective perception is the tendency to single out for attention those aspects of a
situation or person that reinforce one’s existing beliefs or values. What this often means
in organizations is that people from different departments see things from their own points
of view and fail to recognize others’. 3.4 Projection lOMoAR cPSD| 58097008
Projection is assigning personal attributes to other individuals. A projection error
is to assume that other people share our needs, desires, and values. 4.
Perception and Impression Management
Impression management is the systematic attempt to influence how others
perceive us. How we dress, talk, act, convey a desirable image to other persons.
Impression management can help us to advance in jobs and careers, form relationships
with people we admire, and even create path- ways to group memberships. II. Personality
Personality is the profile of characteristics making a person unique from others.
In this section we will discuss some personality models. 1.
Big Five Personality Dimensions 1.
Extraversion—the degree to which someone is outgoing and sociable. An
extravert is comfortable and confident in interpersonal relationships; an introvert is more reserved. 2.
Agreeableness—the degree to which someone is cooperative, and trusting.
An agreeable person gets along well with others; a disagreeable person is a source of conflict for others. 3.
Conscientiousness—the degree to which someone is responsible and
careful. A conscientious person focuses on what can be accomplished and meets
commitments; a person who lacks conscientiousness is careless. 4.
Emotional stability—the degree to which someone is secure, and
unworried. A person who is emotionally stable is calm and confident; a person lacking in
emotional stability is anxious and insecure. 5.
Openness to experience—the degree to which someone is curious and
open to new ideas. An open person is broad-minded and comfortable with change; a
person who lacks openness is narrow- minded and is resistant to change. 2. Myers-Briggs Type Indicator •
Extraverted vs. introverted (E or I)—social interaction: how they relate with
others, whether a person tends toward being outgoing and sociable or shy and quiet. •
Sensing vs. intuitive (S or I)—gathering data: how they gather information,
whether a person tends to focus on details or on the big picture in dealing with problems. •
Thinking vs. feeling (T or F)—decision making: how they evaluate
information, whether a person tends to rely on logic or emotions in dealing with problems. •
Judging vs. perceiving (J or P)—work style: how they relate to the outside
world, whether a person prefers order and control or acts with flexibility and spontaneity
3. Personal Conception and Emotional Adjustment Traits lOMoAR cPSD| 58097008
A personal conception trait is how people by personality tend to relate with the environment
An emotional adjustment trait is how they are inclined toward handling stress and uncomfortable situations. 3.1 Locus of Control
Locus of control is recognizing that some people believe they are in control of
their destinies, while others believe that what happens to them is beyond their control. There are 2 dimensions: -
“Internals” are more self-confident and accept responsibility for their actions. -
“Externals” are more prone to blame others for what happens to them. 3.2 Authoritarianism
Authoritarianism is the degree to which a person defers to authority and accepts
status differences. Someone with an authoritarian personality tends to be control-oriented
when in a leadership position and comply with rules when in a follower position. The
tendency of people with authoritarian personalities to obey can cause problems if they
follow orders to the point of acting unethically or even illegally. 3.3 Machiavellianism
Machiavellianism describes the extent to which someone is emotionally detached
and manipulative in using power. It is a personality trait centered on manipulativeness,
callousness, and indifference to morality. -
A person with a “high- Mach” personality is viewed as unconcerned about
others, often act with the assumption that the end justifies the means. -
A person with a “low- Mach” personality would be deferential in allowing
others to exert power over them. 3.4 Self-Monitoring
Self-monitoring is the degree to which someone is able to adjust and modify
behavior in response to the situation. -
A person high in self-monitoring tends to be a learner, comfortable with
feedback, willing and able to change. -
A person low in self-monitoring is predictable and tends to act consistently regardless of circumstances. 3.5 Type A Personality
A Type A personality is high in achievement orientation, impatience, and
perfectionism. Type A personalities are always moving, walking fast, they act impatient,
they do several things at once. III. Attitudes lOMoAR cPSD| 58097008
Attitudes are predispositions to act in a certain way toward people and things in our environment.
There are three components of Attitude: -
Cognitive component reflects a belief or an opinion. -
An Effective or emotional component reflects a specific feeling. -
Behavioral component reflects an intention to behave in a manner
consistent with the belief and feeling.
Cognitive dissonance describes the discomfort felt when your attitude and behavior are inconsistent. 1. Job Satisfaction
One of the work attitudes is job satisfaction, the degree to which you feel positive
or negative about various aspects of work. There will be some aspects contribute to
whether you like the job or not: -
Work itself—Is the job interesting? -
Quality of supervision—Are help and support available? -
Coworkers—Do respect and friendliness exist? -
Opportunities—Is there space for promotion and growth? -
Pay—Is compensation fair and substantial? -
Work conditions—Are conditions comfortable and safe? -
Security—Is the job and employment secure?
IV. Emotions, Moods, and Stress 1. Emotions
An emotion is a strong feeling directed toward someone or something. For
example, you might feel positive emotions when someone congratulates you on your performance. 2. Moods
Moods are more general feelings or states of mind that may persist for some time.
Mood can be “contagious,” meaning when you are happy, people who interact with you
can be happy as well. It is called mood contagion. 3. Stress
Closely aligned with emotions and moods is stress, a state of tension caused by
extraordinary demands, constraints, or opportunities. lOMoAR cPSD| 58097008
And things that cause stress are called stressors. Stressors can influence
attitudes, emotions and moods, behavior.
Constructive stress is personally energizing and performance-enhancing. Stress
that encourages effort, stimulates creativity while not overwhelming the individual and
causing negative outcomes. It is like a motive for people to achieve higher.
Destructive stress is dysfunctional. It occurs when intense stress overloads and
breaks down a person’s physical and mental health. It can lead to Job burnout physical
and mental exhaustion from work stress or Workplace rage - aggressive behavior toward coworkers or the workplace.