Perception involves the way we view the world around

us. It adds, meaning to information gathered via the

five senses of touch, smell, hearing, vision and taste.
Perception is the primary vehicle through which we come
to understand our surroundings and ourselves.
 Perception

“ Perception is the process of receiving information about and

making sense of the world around us. It involves deciding
which information to notice, how to categorize this information
and how to interpret it within the framework of existing
knowledge.

“ A process by which individuals organize and interpret their

sensory impressions in order to give meaning to their
environment.
Factors that Influence Perception
Attribution And Individual Decision Making

Factorsininthe
Factors the
perceiver
perceiver
Attitudes
Attitudes
Motives
Motives
Interests
Interests
Experience
Experience
Expectation
Expectation

Factors
Factorsininthe
thesituation
situation
Time
Time
Work PERCEPTION
Worksetting
setting
Social
Socialsetting
setting

Factors
Factorsininthe
the
target
target
Novelty(New)
Novelty(New)
Motion
Motion
Sound
Sound
Size
Size
Proximity(closer)
Proximity(closer)
Characteristics
Characteristics of
of the
the Perceiver:
Perceiver:
   Attitudes: The perciver's attitudes affect perception.
For example, Mr. X is interviewing candidates for a
very important position in his organization - a position
that requires negotiating contracts with suppliers,
most of whom are male. Mr. X may feel that women
are not capable of holding their own in tough
negotiations. This attitude with doubtless affect his
perceptions of the female candidates
he interviews.               
 Motives: Unsatisfied needs or motives stimulate
individuals and may exert a strong influence on their
perceptions. For example, in an organizational
context, a boss who is insecure perceives a sub
ordinate's efforts to do an outstanding job as a threat
to his or her own position. Personal insecurity can be
translated into the perception that others are out to
"get my job", regardless of the intention of the
subordinates
 Moods: Moods can have a strong influence on the
way we perceive someone. We think differently when
we are happy than we do when we are depressed. In
addition, we remember information that is consistent
with our mood state better than information that is
inconsistent with our mood state. When in a positive
mood, we form more positive impressions of other.
When in a negative mood, we tend to evaluate others
unfavourably.
 Interest: The focus of our attention appears to be
influenced by our interests. Because our individual
interests differ considerably, what one person notices
in a situation can differ from what other perceive.
For example, the supervisor who has just received
scold been by his boss for coming late is more likely
to notice his colleagues coming late tomorrow than
he did last week. 
 Expectations: Finally, expectations can distort your
perceptions in that you will see what you expect to
see.
Characteristics
Characteristics of
of the
the Target
Target ::
  Characteristics in the target that is being observed
can affect what is perceived. Physical appearance
pals a big role in our perception of others. Extremely
attractive or unattractive individuals are more likely to
be noticed in a group than ordinary looking
individuals. Motions, sound, size and other attributes
of a target shape the way we see it. Verbal
Communication from targets also affects our
perception of them. Nonverbal communication
conveys a great deal of information about the target.
The perceiver deciphers eye contact, facial
expressions, body movements, and posture all in a
attempt to form an impression of the target.
Characteristics
Characteristics of
of the
the Situation: 
Situation: 
 The situation in which the interaction between the
perceiver and the target takes place, has an influence
on the perceiver's impression of the target. The
strength of the situational cues also affects social
perception. Some situations provide strong cues as
to appropriate behaviour. In this situation, we assume
that positive i.e individual's behaviours can be
accounted for by the situation, and that it may not
reflect the individual's disposition.
Perceptual
 Process
Receiving Stimuli Selecting Stimuli

Interpreting Organizing
Attribution ,Stereotyping, Figure Background ,
Halo Effect, Projection Perceptual Grouping
( similarity, proximity,
closure, continuity)

Response
Attitudes ,
Motivation,
Feeling,
Behavior
 Receiving
 Receiving is the first and most important stage in the
process of perception. It is the initial stage in which a
person collects all information and receives the
information through the sense organs.
 Selecting
 Selecting is the second stage in the process. Here a
person doesn’t receive the data randomly but selectively.
A person selects some information out of all in
accordance with his interest or needs. The selection of
data is dominated by various external and internal
factors.
 External factors − The factors that influence the
perception of an individual externally are intensity, size,
contrast, movement, repetition, familiarity, and novelty.
 Internal factors − The factors that influence the
perception of an individual internally are psychological
requirements, learning, background, experience, self-
acceptance, and interest.
 Organizing
 Keeping things in order or say in a synchronized way is
organizing. In order to make sense of the data received,
it is important to organize them.
 We can organize the data by −
 Grouping them on the basis of their similarity, proximity,
closure, continuity.
 Establishing a figure ground is the basic process in
perception. Here by figure we mean what is kept as
main focus and by ground we mean background stimuli,
which are not given attention.
 Perceptual constancy that is the tendency to stabilize
perception so that contextual changes don’t affect them.
 Interpreting
 Finally, we have the process of interpreting which
means forming an idea about a particular object
depending upon the need or interest. Interpretation
means that the information we have sensed and
organized, is finally given a meaning by turning it into
something that can be categorized. It includes
stereotyping, halo effect etc.