Perception and Decision Making
Alan Piña
Axia College of University of Phoenix
Stephen Robbins (2005), defined perception as “a process by which individuals organize and interpret their sensory impressions in order to give meaning to their environment” (p.135). Perception is what leads one to behave a certain way in a given situation. One can define perception as the way that mind reacts to sensory information, and how we go about reacting to the stimuli and behaving according to the information known in a given situation. Perception aids us in making decisions on how to behave based what is known or seen; making an educated decision or guess based on what is seen or understood. However, perception comes with a vital flaw.
Perception causes a behavioral judgment to be made on based on what reality is believed to be, not on what the reality actually is (Robbins, 2005). As perception is used in the workplace on a global scale, it is important to understand the importance of perception in organizational theory. “Why is perception important in the study of OB? Simply because people’s behavior is based on their perception of what reality is, not on reality itself. The world as it is perceived is the world that is behaviorally important” (Robbins, 2005, p.134).
A person’s perception of others can have a direct impact on an organization’s behavior. There are internal and external factors that control people’s behavior. Internal factors are behaviors that can be controlled by an individual. External factors are uncontrollable or not planned for as the situation is the source of the cause for the given behavior (Robbins, 2005).
Perception plays an integral role in deciding the root of a behavio ...