Chapter 6: Values, Perceptions and Attributions
Learning Objectives
In this chapter, we will:
- Define values.
- Describe how values influence our behaviours.
- Define perception.
- Identify how salience influences the selection of perceptual information.
- Recognize ways in which we organize perceptual information.
- Describe the role of schemata in the interpretation of perceptual information.
- Define attribution.
- Compare between internal and external attributions.
- Explain the fundamental attribution error and the self-serving bias.
- Identify the influence that our values have on our behaviours.
- Review strategies for perceiving the self and others more accurately.
- Use perception checking to improve perception of self and others.
In this chapter, we will turn our attention away from organizational level factors and begin to explore the influence of our own behaviours and perceptions on conflict. We will start with how our personal values guide our behaviours. Next, we will review of the process of perception – how we select, organize and interpret information. We will discuss how we assign meaning to the behaviour of ourselves and others by making attributions. As you will learn, we make very different attributions for our own behaviours compared to the actions of other people. Finally, we will review perception checking and other considerations for making perceptions during conflict.
