Social psychologyLesson 1 of 1 in the course Perception and Job Attitudes

Stereotyping, Selective Perception, and Perceptual Defense at Work

5 flashcards · 5 quiz questions · 5 match pairs · 5 fill-in sentences · English

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Summary

Social perception is how we interpret and form impressions of other people. This lesson introduces stereotyping, a common barrier to accurate perception at work, and examines how stereotypes can affect decisions and relationships.

A stereotype is a widely held generalization about a group of people. Stereotyping is the process of assigning attributes to someone solely because they are perceived to belong to a particular class or category.

All flashcards

Stereotype
A widely held generalization about a group of people.
Selective perception
Screening out or discrediting some information while focusing on what seems salient.
Salience
The quality of seeming especially noticeable or important to an observer.
Perceptual defense
Distorting or ignoring information that feels personally threatening or culturally unacceptable.
Denial
Rejecting the existence of information that conflicts with an existing belief.

Quiz questions

  1. According to the principles of perceptual defense, what may happen to emotionally threatening stimuli?Answer: They may have a higher recognition threshold than neutral stimuli.
  2. Which response illustrates recognition of conflicting information without changing an existing view?Answer: Acknowledging that evidence conflicts with a view while continuing to hold that view.
  3. What does the Not-Invented-Here syndrome describe?Answer: Judging outside ideas or products as inferior because they originated elsewhere.
  4. How can role-based selective perception make coordination harder in an organization?Answer: People may overemphasize their specialty and overlook concerns from other functions.
  5. Which managerial approach can help people face threatening information more directly?Answer: Give truthful reassurance, explain known facts clearly, and allow time for questions.

Based on Organizational Behavior by J. Stewart Black, David S. Bright, Donald G. Gardner, Eva Hartmann, Jason Lambert, Laura M. Leduc, Joy Leopold, James S. O’Rourke, Jon L. Pierce, Richard M. Steers, Siri Terjesen, Joseph Weiss (OpenStax), licensed CC BY 4.0. Adapted into a summary, flashcards and quizzes.

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