The Relationship between Perception and Decision-Making - Assignment Example

Student’s Name: Instructor’s Name: Course Code: Institution: Date Assignment is due: The relationship between perception and decision-making Introduction: Perception as the definition by Robbins is, “a process through which individuals interpret and organize their sensory impressions to develop meaning to their respective environments" (Robbins 46-57). Humans habitually construe what they see, touch, taste, hear, and smell into something making sense logically. Each individual touches, sees, hears, and smells things quite differently from others (Nicholson 62). Thus, people differ in perceptions a fantastic deal. People see exactly what they want to see; equally hear what they want; also smell what they want; feel exactly what they want to feel; and equally taste what they want (Robins 46-57). To individuals, it is not what it is, in fact, but what they want it to be. This is what perception is all about in human beings. Out of this, the perceptions develop a position in decision making when the individuals construe meanings of their respective senses about particular things (Robbins 132-167). This paper looks into relationships between perceptions and decision-making and evaluates the applicability of making rational decisions. Organizations rely heavily on the decisions made for their success and accomplishments. The right decisions bring victory while the negative choices cause severe disaster. Perception is an expansive virtue playing a prominent role in the decisions humans make. In reality, it is possible to make rational decisions for any individual (Robins 46-57). People make decisions daily and on varying issues based on their individual perceptions, which they construe. Each person perceives situations, people, and places using the five senses meaning that decisions made can be rationale but with conditions of appropriate perceptions (Nicholson 62). However, what a person perceives is not accurate always. People's perceptions can at times be quite misleading and may be a leading cause of negative effects. Perception at times makes individuals to make the wrong choices because they base them on non-factual information. In organizations, making wrong decisions causes tremendous and severe negative effects (Alexander 156-161). Therefore, understanding perception is extremely crucial for anyone in all situations to evaluate decision-making processes (Robbins 132-167). Some of the most crucial issues to handle in this correlation include how an individual’s perception of others affects an organizations behavior, how negative and positive effects emerge when incorporating perceptions in decision-making and how individual perceptions ultimately shape a person’s ethical decisions (Jones). Perception has substantial influences from elements including time, mind-set, personality, environment, intentions, as well as history of the respective perceiver (Robbins 132-167). There are also considerable influences basing on personality, attitude, appearance, and situation of the respective person, object or place perceived (Robins 46-57). In this case, the individual makes a decision out of the influences. It is usually a biased issue when an individual is influenced and has to make a rational decision (Melbourne). It is however, to note that these influences are controllable because of the rational thinking in human beings (Manuel 24). The individual can overcome the influenced and surpass the biased decision-making through the rational thinking applications (Robbins 132-167). However, it is always a controversial moment in an individual when making a choice between emotions and feelings and the pressures of the rational mind (Goldstein 56). Perception involves a process that individuals take part regularly and meets individuals in varying feelings and moods (Robbins 132-167). When an individual meets people, evaluate performances, make business decisions, or pass judgments, his or her perception surrounding respective events help in persuading his or her next course of direction (Goldstein 56). This means that the decisions made will result from the immediate perception. In a sense, whether perception is flawed or accurate it develops the next stage of decision-making. Robbins (2005) defines the term perception as an individual process that each person goes through, influenced by stimuli and sensory impressions surrounding him, to define their immediate surrounding environment (Robins 46-57). Causes that distort or shape an individual’s perceptions have an enormous effect on the decision-making in both individuals and organizations (Manuel 24). This is why organizations apply various approaches to deal with individual perceptions at the work place and overcome the compromise in decision-making (Alexander 156-161). In realizing rational decisions, the organizations know equally well that they have to overcome the challenges of individual perceptions and tackle the concept of groupthink therefore, improve the rationality involved in decision making within an organization (Michael). An individual’s perception of others develops initially through an influence from visual statements from others, cues, or by characteristics surrounding individual behavior (Goldstein 56). When developing individual perception of others, an individual develop judgment first of the surrounding external and internal factors influencing him (Melbourne). For example, a person might infer that the lonely man on the corner might have made poor decisions earlier in life, is a drug addict, or is a con artist basing on the internal factors (Barron Research Group). However, a person might base on external factors and make inferences that the lonely man suffers an untreated mental case (Manuel 24). All the same, the perceptions have an influence in the decisions of the individual. In making a rational choice under such circumstances, it is only through enquiry or meeting the individual for a person-to-person talk that can develop answers to the questions (Goldstein 56). Robbins develops three types of applications defining how rational decisions develop. He argues that fundamental attribution error, the arbitration theory, and self-serving bias are crucial and develop sound decisions when applied (46-57). The arbitration theory argues that when a person observes behavior, they make definitions whether the respective behaviors emanate from internal or external factors (Robins 46-57). For instance, when managers have situations that require dealing with poor performance from individual employees, they can rational disciplinary decisions basing on external or internal factors, which influence the individual behavior (Manuel 24). For instance, has the victimized employee been ill? Alternatively, he can do it basing on the employee’s history of performance. This way, it is possible to make rational decisions and avoid biasness in disciplining the employee (Alexander 156-161). Every person has some elements within his mind including the subconscious expectations, assumptions and hypotheses about the real world (Melbourne). These elements profoundly influence the individual’s perception and carries on to the kind of decisions the individual makes (Jones). These assumptions, expectations, and hypotheses cannot thrive in isolation, but they do derive from the influences in the internal mind that leads to spontaneous behaviors including the decisions made. In the same context, decision-making develops influences from the individual’s environment including education, biases, culture, and motivations (Robbins 46-57). The respective environmental influences derive from the influences therefore, resulting to reflective behaviors, which is decision making (Melbourne). In the pursuit of making rational decisions, the environment is a great feature, it has to be fit and conducive provoking the individual to rationalize before making a decision (Goldstein 56). These assumptions, expectations, and hypotheses define what individual senses lead them to perceive or not within a given the environment (Michael). In reality, rational decisions only feature when the environment allows the three concepts to merge and produce something appealing to the individual to influence positive thinking and later develop rational decisions (Barron Research Group). Robbins argues that there are elements of perceptive shortcuts for instance projection, stereotyping, and the halo effect that have both negative and positive effects in the individual decision making process (46-57). He develops an argument that these perceptive shortcuts determine how rational a decision made is and its impact on the subjects involved. For instance, inferences can be made that all college graduates are ambitious, motivated, hardworking, and candidates for future advancement (Melbourne). This status is ultimately broad and does not indicate that it is equally true for all individual graduates, but on the other hand, that kind of perception can positively effect decisions made when dealing with graduates (Goldstein 56). The same could have a negative effect because of the assumptions leading individual to discriminate against those who do not have degree (Michael). It is a two-way traffic in the decision making process whether being individual wise or within organizations (Barron Research Group). Whether the decision in this case is rationale, is hard to tell but it is possible to make a rational decision (Manuel 24). Other factors can be applied in relating with the graduate or non-graduate and elimination of the degree bias to incorporate other external factors and consider appropriately making a rational decision (Alexander 156-161). Conclusion Decision-making and perceptions are two intertwined variables. It is hard to separate the two concepts in the event of relating with other persons and within organizations (Melbourne). The later has a considerable influence in individual decisions. Perceptions have both negative and positive effects in the process of individual decision-making and results to a rational or irrational decision (Barron Research Group). It is however, pertinent to note that there is always a possibility of making rational decisions in all environments (Robbins 46-57). The only requirement is the incorporation of all internal and external factors coupled with using the conscious mind in any decision made (Manuel 24). Works Cited Alexander, H. Human Relations in a Changing World. New York: E. P. Dutton &Co. Inc., 2006, pp 156-161. Barron Research Group. Perception and Organization: Management for Science and Engineering. 20 August 2007. From Rice University. Goldstein, E. B. Sensation and Perception. New York: Wadsworth, 2006. p.56. Jones, E. Interpersonal Perception. New York, NY: Freeman, 2000. Manuel, L. How People Evaluate Others in Organizations. Mahwah, N.J: Erlbaum, 2001. p.24 Melbourne, E. Perception and Individual Decision Making. 14 Dec. 2001. 20 August 2007 http://home.ubalt.edu/ntsbmilb/ob/ob3/tsld001.htm Michael, W. Fundamentals of Sensation and Perception. California, C.A: Pacific Grove, 2001. Nicholson, N. “How to Motivate Your Problem People”, Harvard Business Review, January 2003. p. 62 Robbins, S. P. Perception and Individual Decision Making in Organizational behavior. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, 2005. p. 132-167 Robbins, S. Organizational Behavior, Eleventh Edition. New York, NY: Prentice, 2005 p.46-57. Read More