Psychological and philosophical studies gave indicate that reality is a fact or the truth. Perception, on the other hand, is the process of organizing and interpreting stimuli to understand surroundings. Reality exists entirely outside the mind and cannot be easily be manipulated because it represents “what is” or the truth. Perception exists entirely inside the brain because it represents mental gymnastics about the world. In other words, the former is a constant factor, while the latter is a variable (Betancourt, 2018). However, reality is complex and cannot always be accessed by human beings, and it is the main reason why perception exists. Perception has an overwhelming ability to influence how people look at reality, and it is the reason why cognitive processes have the power to turn beliefs into reality (Draaisma, 2017). Primarily, since perception can affect reality, it prevents people from making objective judgments about their surroundings. Because of perceptions, people can have distinctive meanings of the same truth. Therefore, this paper will be a discussion of reality and perception in light of organizational decision making.
Objective Perceived and Realities
Objective realities represent accounts of how things are. In other words, objective realities represent a collection of facts. A fact is considered a reality because it is neutral, or it is not influenced by interests, prejudices, or feelings. Objective realities are independent of the mind of the person, making them because they correspond with facts. Every person can verify an objective reality (Betancourt, 2018). The perceived reality, on the other hand, represents the process where people tend to view their perceptions of a particular as the objective truth. In this case, people see observations of others about the same event as incorrect. For example, the beauty of a flower is a perceived reality. People will choose whether the flower is beautiful or not based on their perceptions (Betancourt, 2018).
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Factors that Influence the Perception of Reality
Reality is complex and cannot be accessed entirely by human beings. Therefore, perceptions, according to psychologists, occur to help people understand the realities of their world. However, the limitations of perceptions limit how people look at reality, and it is the reason it has the power to turn beliefs into reality (Draaisma, 2017). Factors that influence perceptions are attribution, bias, selective perceptions, primacy and recency effects, bounded rationality, cognitive biases, conjunction fallacy, contrast effects, and stereotyping.
Attribution
Attribution is explained by the attribution theory designed in 1977 by Harold Kelley. Attribution describes how people establish the realities of others based on their innate characteristics or external factors. In this case, people believe that behavior is caused by personal characteristics or external factors that are out of a person’s control (Youssef-Morgan, 2017). For attribution to occur, people must observe the behavior, and then they must decide whether it was intentional or it was forced by external factors. As a result, the behavior will be attributed to a person or a situation (Draaisma, 2017). Attribution affects the perception of reality because people tend to think one attribute is more desirable or appropriate than the other. For example, people attribute the success of marathoners to their talent and not situational factors such as training methods and running shoes.
Bias
Bias is the inclination or prejudice against or towards someone, event, or something. Biases are mainly bases on stereotypes rather than the actual state of events. The stereotypes act as cognitive shortcuts that allow people to embrace a particular inclination or school of thought. There are positive biases, such as choosing to eat organic foods or only (Draaisma, 2017). However, there are cognitive shortcuts that lead to poor decisions. For instance, racial and religious stereotypes often lead to prejudgments that cause a rash or discriminatory outcome.
Selective Perceptions
Selective perceptions represent the use of objects, events, or people that stand out to make quick judgments. The process involves responding to attractive, colorful, or loud stimuli. People selectively respond to events or objects that stand and ignore the subdued ones (Youssef-Morgan, 2017). For example, a pregnant woman is likely to notice pregnant women at a party compared to other women. As a result, people are likely to make decisions based on signals rather than underlying factors. Selective perceptions call for immediate action instead of objective analysis of stimuli.
Primacy and Recency Effects
The primacy effect is the inclination to rely on information gained from early experiences, while recency effects involve the tendency to depend on recent experiences to make decisions. Primarily, while making decisions, people tend to make sense of the events by relying on information gain from early or recent experiences (Draaisma, 2017). These factors affect the perception of reality through serial positioning. Serial positioning is the act of remembering the first and last items in a series of things. For example, the first and last items in a shopping list are likely to be remembered in high amounts. The inclination to primacy and recency effects affect the motivation to remember all the facts of an event (Youssef-Morgan, 2017).
Bounded Rationality
Bounded rationality dictates that human beings are prevented from making rational decisions because of external factors and limited mental abilities. These factors prevent decision-makers from seeing the bigger picture and exploring all alternatives to a problem. According to bounded rationality theory, people cannot make rational decisions because of limited mental capacities, information available, and time (Draaisma, 2017).
Cognitive Biases
Cognitive biases revolve around heuristics or mental shortcuts that people apply to reduce the complexities of the decision-making process. Cognitive biases are systematic and predictable rules that decision-makers apply to process complex information (Youssef-Morgan, 2017). For example, people ignore the flaws of their loved ones because of the strong love they have. Although cognitive biases can lead to accurate decisions, they can also lead to wrong decisions because they depend on people’s motivations and social pressures (Draaisma, 2017).
Conjunction Fallacy
Conjunction fallacy revolves around the idea that specific conditions are more probable compared to the general ones. When people are presented with choices, they are likely to choose the ones that are based on specific information. For example, if A is a subset of B, then A is more probable than B. The fallacy occurs because people are primed to choose the subset as the most probable choice (Draaisma, 2017).
Contrast Effect
Contrast effect occurs when an outcome or reaction is influenced by previous information. Primarily, when two stimulants are similar, or close people tend to evaluate them against each other instead of against a fixed benchmark or standard. The comparison leads to contrast error when events are compared to others of greater value. For example, in performance evaluation, a new employee’s performance can be lower if it is compared to that of a retired employee (Youssef-Morgan, 2017).
Stereotyping
Stereotyping happens when information regarding people or objects is categorized in the same group. Stereotyping is used to group people and objects into categories that prevent individuals from relearning their characteristics. Stereotypes are essential when learning new skills, such as operating new software. However, when dealing with people, they influence reality mainly when individuals who share fewer characteristics are grouped together. Furthermore, stereotyping cannot work in modern diverse social and workplaces (Youssef-Morgan, 2017).
Bias Awareness in Organizations
Reality is complex, and it is the reason why people make biased decisions. Awareness of unconscious bias is one of the factors that lead to rational decisions. One of the reasons why managers should be aware of their unconscious bias is that it makes them form teams based on facts rather than their motivations (Draaisma, 2017). When managers are not aware of bias, their likely to form teams based on their feelings, desire, and what they are familiar with. However, when managers are aware of bias, they create systematic processes that help them to form teams based on reality. The processes are also used in performance and talent management processes whereby employees are not affected by the unconscious bias of their managers (Youssef-Morgan, 2017).
Also, awareness of bias helps to create an innovative workplace. Ideally, unconscious bias prevents managers from exploring all the possible solutions to a problem (Youssef-Morgan, 2017). However, when they are aware of the likelihood of bias, they drive towards seeking many answers to a problem. As a result, managers create an environment that encourages new and innovative ideas (Betancourt, 2018).
There are different strategies that managers can use to increase awareness of bias in the workplace. One of the strategies is through progressive education that allows all stakeholders to know how to conceptualize things without attaching feelings and motivations (Draaisma, 2017). Education can also be enhanced by providing feedback on previous decisions. This step helps individuals to identify factors that led to the right decisions in the past and overcome the ones that led to negative decisions (Youssef-Morgan, 2017).
The second step is encouraging diversity in the workplace. Diversity brings different ideas that expand the realities of managers and employees (Betancourt, 2018). To gain experience in rational decision making people must expand the horizons of their knowledge to gain insights on new unknowns. Further, studies have shown that diversity gives managers and employees the opportunities to make decisions in a broadened array of contexts (Youssef-Morgan, 2017). As a result, managers and employees cannot focus on surface factors while making novel decisions.
Conclusion
This essay has shown that reality is fact or the truth, while perception is the process of organizing and interpreting stimuli to understand surroundings. The former is a constant factor, while the latter is a variable. However, the limitations of perceptions limit how people look at reality because of attribution, bias, selective perceptions, primacy and recency effects, bounded rationality, cognitive biases, conjunction fallacy, contrast effects, and stereotyping. For example, bounded rationality represents the inability of people to make rational decisions because of restricted mental capacities. Creating awareness of bias in the workplace is crucial because it encourages innovation and objective performance appraisals a. Managers can create awareness in the workplace through education, giving feedback on previous decisions and encouraging diversity.
References
Betancourt, J. R. (2018). Perception is Reality, and Reality Drives Perception: No Time to Celebrate Yet. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 33, 3, 241-242.
Draaisma, D. (2017). PERCEPTION Our useful inability to see reality. Nature, 544, 7650.)
Youssef-Morgan, C., & Noon, A. (2017). Industrial/Organizational Psychology (2nd ed.). Bridgepoint Education.
