Organizational Behavior, 17e

Person Perception: Making Judgments About Others

1. 2 Explain attribution theory.

The perception concepts most relevant to OB include person perceptions, or the perceptions people form about each other. Many of our perceptions of others are formed by first impressions and small cues that have little supporting ­evidence. This is particularly troublesome—but common—when we infer another person’s morality. Research indicates we form our strongest impressions based on what we perceive about another’s moral character, but our initial information about this can be sketchy and unfounded.8 Let’s unravel some of our other human tendencies that interfere with correct person perception, beginning with the evidence behind attribution theory.

Attribution Theory ...