Perception And Decision Making
One may ask what perception is. Harris and Hartman (2002) describe perception as “a
sensory experience in which an individual observes a behavior, event, or condition; forms
interpretations of the factor observed; develops attitudes; and allows the processed observation to
become factors influencing his or her behavior” (p.175). Naturally since all individuals are
unalike, how one interprets their own perceptions tends to vary from what others
perceive. Individual choices tend not to based solely on the facts of life, they make perceptions
based on what they believe to be common sense through what they see, touch, taste, hear, and
smell. How and what individuals use their senses of perception tends to be based on a variation
of things such as, what kind of environment they live in, if they naturally have a positive or
negative attitude, the current situation they are in, and their overall personality. For example if a
person has a negative attitude, they are likely to have a negative perception of that idea, object,
etc. It is human nature to make mistakes and therefore people tend to miss-interpret information
and causes a lot of problems.
In regards to the behavior inside the organizational world, it tends to be placed up the
perceptions of the employees themselves. Harris and Hartman (2002) state that “It is the workers
perception that influences personal behavior, however not so much the real” (p.175). Harris &
Hartman (2002). describe a situation in which an employee uses her self-perception about an
observation she sees with her boss. This employee observes that her boss is always smiling and
talking to the other employees but, never to her. Regardless if this is true or not, she makes the
presumption that her boss doesn't like her. Because of self-perception and the credibility of
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