actions that violate established norms and threaten the organization, its members, or
both. These actions are called employee deviance.^99 They fall into categories such as pro-
duction (leaving early, intentionally working slowly); property (stealing, sabotage);
political (gossiping, blaming co-workers); and personal aggression (sexual harassment,
verbal abuse).10 0
Many of these deviant behaviours can be traced to negative emotions. For instance,
envy is an emotion that occurs when you resent someone for having something that
you don’t have but strongly desire.^101 It can lead to malicious deviant behaviours. Envy,
for example, has been found to be associated with hostility, “backstabbing,” and other
forms of political behaviour, as well as with negatively distorting others’ successes and
positively distorting one’s own accomplishments.^102
SUMMARY AND IMPLICATIONS
1 What is perception?Perceptionis the process by which individuals organize and
interpret their impressions in order to give meaning to their environment.
Individuals behave in a given manner based not on the way their environment
actually is but, rather, on what they see or believe it to be. An organization may
spend millions of dollars to create a pleasant work environment for its employees.
However, despite these expenditures, an employee who believes that his or her
job is lousy will behave accordingly.
2 What causes people to have different perceptions of the same situation?
A number of factors operate to shape and sometimes distort perception. These
factors can be present in the perceiver,in the object or targetbeing perceived, or in
the context of the situationin which the perception is made. The perceiver’s attitudes,
motives, interests, and past experiences all shape the way he or she sees an event.
The target’s characteristics also affect what is perceived. Novelty, motion, sounds,
size, and other characteristics of a target shape the way it is seen. Objects or events
that are unrelated are often perceived together because they are close physically
or in timing. Persons, objects, or events that are similar to each other also tend to
be viewed as a group. The setting in which we see objects or events also affects
how they are perceived.
3 Can people be mistaken in their perceptions?Perceiving and interpreting what
others do is difficult and takes time. As a result, we develop shortcuts to make this
task more manageable. These shortcuts, which include attribution theory, selec-
tive perception, the halo effect, contrast effects, projection, and stereotyping, are
often valuable—they can sometimes allow us to make accurate perceptions quickly
and provide valid data for making predictions. However, they are not foolproof.
They can and do get us into trouble.
4 Does perception really affect outcomes?The evidence suggests that what indi-
viduals perceive about their work situation influences their productivity more than
the situations do. Whether a job is actually interesting or challenging is irrelevant.
Whether a manager actually helps employees to structure their work more efficiently
and effectively is far less important than how employees perceive the manager’s
efforts. Similarly, issues such as fair pay, the validity of performance appraisals, and
the adequacy of working conditions are not judged “objectively.” Rather, individu-
als interpret conditions surrounding their jobs based on how they perceivetheir jobs.Chapter 2Perception, Personality, and Emotions 55employee deviance Voluntary
actions that violate established
norms and threaten the organiza-
tion, its members, or both.SNAPSHOT SUMMARY1 Perception Defined
2 Factors Influencing
Perception
The Perceiver
The Target
The Situation
3 Perceptual Errors
Attribution Theory
Selective Perception
Halo Effect
Contrast Effects
Projection
Stereotyping
4 Why Do Perception and
Judgment Matter?
Self-Fulfilling Prophecy
5 Personality
What Is Personality?
Personality Determinants
Personality Traits
Major Personality Attributes
Influencing OB
Personality and National
Culture
6 Emotions
What Are Emotions?
Choosing Emotions:
Emotional Labour
Why Should We Care About
Emotions in the Workplace?