Refer to Pages 109–136.

5.1: Explain how perceptions can change.

Refer to Page 110.

Perception is the process through which people organize and interpret their sensory information (what they hear and see, for example) to give meaning to their world. A leader must understand that each person’s perception is their reality, and this is how they will interpret the leader’s actions and everything else that happens at the workplace. Perceptions (unlike personality traits) can change. A leader can persuade followers to see things differently. New information, or a new perspective on an issue/topic, can lead to changed perceptions. Also education and/or training and critical thinking can lead to perception change. Similarly exposure to new ideas or alternate viewpoints can change perceptions as well. Understanding common perceptual biases and how to overcome them can also help change perceptions.

5.2: Illustrate common perceptual biases with examples.

Refer to Page 111.

[Answers will vary with examples] Primacy effect: perseverance of beliefs based on what is observed first. Stereotypes: judging a person based on their membership in a group. Recency effect: when people remember the most recently presented items or experiences. Availability bias: readily available information that comes to a person’s mind affects a decision. Contrast effects things are perceived differently when compared to others. Halo (horns) error: occurs when the rater’s overall positive (negative) impression or evaluation strongly influence ratings of specific attributes.

5.3: Compare the influences of internal and external attributions on judgment.

Refer to Page 117.

Attributions represent a person’s attempt to assign a cause to a behavior or event they observe. In organizational settings, attributions are particularly important when events are important, novel, unexpected, and negative. Internal attribution: people infer that an event or a person’s behavior is due to his or her own character traits or abilities. External attribution: people believe that a person’s behavior is due to situational factors.

5.4: Discuss the “romance of leadership” perspective and why this halo effect is important to consider when leading others.

Refer to Page 120.

Romance of leadership: leaders get power from follower attributions of their influence over events, not from expertise or behaviors. This approach highlights the fact leaders are often the most favored explanation for both positive and negative outcomes in organizations. There is a halo effect for leadership: People value performance results more highly when those results are attributed to leadership. Moreover, if an individual is perceived to be an effective leader, his or her personal shortcomings and even poor organizational performance may be ignored.

5.5: Explain how self-fulfilling prophecies affect job performance.

Refer to Page 121.

Perceptions sometimes result in the self-fulfilling prophecy, or Pygmalion effect, in which the high expectations of performance by leaders actually create conditions in which followers succeed. Research on the Pygmalion effect suggests managers can boost performance by raising their expectations of followers. This occurs through higher goals being set and followers being more engaged and striving to learn more on the job. Leaders in organizations can communicate high expectations to followers in the following four ways: (1) Create a warmer emotional climate. (2) Teach more and increasingly challenging. (3) Invite followers to ask questions of clarification. (4) Provide feedback on performance.

5.6: Compare and contrast the aspects of employability as seen by prospective employers.

Refer to Page 122.

Recent research on employability suggests the degree to which you are perceived as employable may determine whether or not you are hired for a position. Employability is defined as “an attribution employers make about the probability that job candidates will make positive contributions to their organizations.” There are three important aspects to an applicant’s profile that affect employers’ perceptions and subsequent attributions about employability. What matters to employers is proposed to be the candidate’s social or interpersonal compatibility, which leads to the perception that the candidate will have positive interactions with others on a daily basis. Next, abilities, expertise, and know-how lead to the perception that the candidate is able to do the job. Finally, ambition, work ethic, and drive lead to the perception that the candidate is willing to work hard. These factors combine to form the employer’s attribution of employability and therefore relates to whether or not the applicant gets a job offer.

5.7: Provide an example of how perceptions affect leader-member relationships.

Refer to Page 126.

Attribution theory provides a great deal of insight into how to lead followers that have different perceptions of reality. First, attribution theory addresses how followers see who they are. Second, it also addresses how followers see who you are as the leader. Research has shown people have implicit leadership schemas (or models) in their minds about what constitutes an effective leader. These models are traits and characteristics that a person thinks are being linked to a leader. For example, a person might believe all leaders are tall and highly intelligent. Followers find such models of leaders to be an effective way to categorize leaders and interpret their behavior. Such implicit assumptions about what an effective leader is serve as a benchmark for how the leader’s behavior is interpreted.