Question 1

David is difficult to work with.Whenever he is successful,he takes full credit for what has happened.Whenever he is unsuccessful,he attributes his failure to bad luck or to one of his colleagues.David is displaying

Accepted Answer

David's behavior is indicative of self-serving bias, as he takes credit for his successes but blames external factors or others for his failures. This bias allows individuals to maintain their self-esteem and protect their ego by attributing success to internal factors such as ability or effort, while attributing failure to external factors such as luck or others' actions.

Question 2

Kyle does not like to work with people of a particular ethnicity even before he has met them.Kyle is exhibiting

Accepted Answer

Kyle is exhibiting prejudice, which is a preconceived opinion or feeling, often negative, towards people based on their ethnicity without having met them.

Question 3

Peoples' perceptions are influenced by the perceiver,the target,and the situation.The situation factor comprises

Accepted Answer

The situation factor refers to the context in which the perception occurs and includes elements such as time, location, and social setting. These factors can greatly influence how effectively people perceive and interpret information. Time is an important element of the situation as it refers to the moment in which the perception occurs, which can affect one's attention, focus, and memory. Therefore, of the given options, time (E) is the most appropriate choice for this question.

Question 4

Joseph is 54 years old and has been looking for work for 16 months.He is sure that he has been unable to obtain work because younger employees are more appealing to employers.If true,this is an example of

Accepted Answer

This is an example of prejudice, as Joseph believes that his age is the reason for being unable to obtain work, indicating a bias against his age group by employers.

Question 5

Your company,Exceptional Business Products,has expanded lately and just recently hired some 150 new recruits.Your department,where you are the direct sales manager,has hired approximately 30 of these new recruits.You have had to quickly draw conclusions about the skill level of new recruits in order to make training decisions.To do so,you have considered each recruit's level of sociability.You

Accepted Answer

The use of sociability as a predictor of skill level is an example of the halo effect, where one positive trait influences judgments about other traits. It is not necessarily a misjudgment or personal bias, but it is not a reliable or effective method for making training decisions.

Question 6

When a sales manager attributes the poor performance of his or her sales agents to laziness,rather than to the complexity of the project and the innovative products of the competitor,the sales manager is engaging in

Accepted Answer

The sales manager is making a dispositional attribution by attributing the sales agents' poor performance to their personality trait of laziness, rather than situational factors such as the complexity of the project and competition from innovative products of the competitor. This error is known as the fundamental attribution error. Self-serving bias refers to taking credit for our successes and blaming external factors for our failures. Selective perception refers to perceiving and interpreting information in a way that is consistent with our existing beliefs and attitudes. The halo effect refers to forming an impression of an individual based on a single characteristic or trait. The contrast effect refers to the tendency to compare two or more things that are similar and perceive differences in a greater way than they actually are.

Question 7

A process by which individuals organize and interpret their sensory impressions in order to give meaning to their environment is called

Accepted Answer

Perception refers to the process through which individuals organize and interpret sensory information (sights, sounds, smells, tastes, and textures) in order to make sense of their environment. It involves both physiological and psychological factors and is therefore subjective and prone to personal biases and interpretation. Selective interpretation and selective analysis are both related to perception and can be considered as components of the perception process. However, they are not the best overall description of the process. Selective outlook and environmental assessment are not related to the perception process.

Question 8

Terry is a new salesman who has just been assigned to the northwest branch of his company.Shortly after his appointment to his new position,sales for his territory jumped significantly.Terry's appointment and the increase in sales were not related,but people tended to see the two occurrences as related.The timing of Terry's appointment and the soon-after increase in sales is an example of

Accepted Answer

The answer of Terry is a new salesman who has...

Question 9

Sadir strongly believes that he did not pass the biology test because his teacher intentionally made the test difficult.This is called

Accepted Answer

Sadir's belief that his teacher intentionally made the test difficult is an example of self-serving bias, where individuals attribute their successes to internal factors and their failures to external factors. In this case, Sadir is not taking responsibility for his own performance and is instead attributing his failure to external factors beyond his control.

Question 10

You are one of the managers at TRS Co.Joan is a new employee at your place of work.Using your ability to respond to individual differences between yourself and Joan

Accepted Answer

Responding to individual differences between yourself and Joan is likely to result in fewer perceptual errors because it allows you to better understand Joan's perspective, communication style, work preferences, and strengths and weaknesses. This understanding can help you tailor your communication and management style to better suit Joan's needs and expectations, and in turn, improve her job satisfaction, performance, and retention. While it is important to avoid making assumptions or stereotypes based on individual differences, it is also important to recognize and appreciate diversity in the workplace.

Question 11

Kerry was observing one of her underachieving employees,and was trying to decide whether her behaviour is caused by internal factors or external factors.This is consistent with ________ theory.

Accepted Answer

Kerry is trying to determine whether the employee's behaviour is caused by internal factors (such as lack of motivation or ability) or external factors (such as lack of resources or support). This is consistent with attribution theory, which focuses on how people attribute behaviours to internal or external causes.

Question 12

Kasha firmly believes she got the job working at the local supermarket because of her superior interviewing skills.Kasha fails to focus on the fact that she was the only person who applied for the job.Kasha is using

Accepted Answer

Kasha is displaying self-serving bias, which is the tendency to attribute one's success to internal factors (in this case, their superior interviewing skills) and one's failures to external factors. In this case, Kasha is giving herself credit for getting the job, while ignoring the fact that she was the only applicant.

Question 13

Natasha is often late for work.Her manager,Eleanor,always attributes Natasha's lateness to Natasha's laziness and lack of responsibility,and never to unforeseen circumstances like congested traffic.Natasha thinks Eleanor underestimates the traffic problem and overestimates any lack of responsibility that Natasha may have.Eleanor is engaging in

Accepted Answer

Eleanor is committing the fundamental attribution error by attributing Natasha's lateness solely to her personality traits and not taking into consideration external factors, such as congested traffic.

Question 14

Yvonne was bothered because many of her co-workers considered her to be lazy.As a result,she began to neglect her work responsibilities and spent most of her time making personal phone calls.This is an example of

Accepted Answer

Yvonne's behavior is an example of a self-fulfilling prophecy, where she has internalized the belief that she is lazy and has started behaving accordingly. This behavior reinforces the belief of her co-workers, further perpetuating the cycle.

Question 15

Ron was having a discussion with one of his colleagues as to whether the rise in the Canadian dollar was good or bad,and found himself quickly overwhelmed with all of the various arguments.All he could remember after the discussion was a few of them.Ron was engaged in

Accepted Answer

Ron is only able to remember a few arguments from the discussion, indicating that he selectively perceived or paid attention to certain aspects of the conversation while filtering out others.

Question 16

The most important reason why managers need to know how to measure personality is that research has shown that personality tests

Accepted Answer

Personality tests are utilized in hiring decisions because they can provide insights into how well a candidate may fit into a company's culture, work with a team, and perform in a role. This makes understanding how to measure personality crucial for managers involved in the hiring process.

Question 17

The three rules used to determine whether or not behaviour is internally or externally caused are

Accepted Answer

The three rules used to determine whether or not behavior is internally or externally caused are distinctiveness, consensus, and consistency. Distinctiveness refers to the extent to which the behavior is unique to the situation or context, consensus refers to the extent to which other people behave similarly in the situation, and consistency refers to the extent to which the behavior is consistent over time. These three rules help to distinguish whether a behavior is caused by internal factors, such as personality or motivation, or external factors, such as the situation or environment.

Question 18

Peoples' perceptions are influenced by the perceiver,the target,and the situation.The perceiver factor comprises

Accepted Answer

The perceiver factor is influenced by the attitudes and abilities of the person doing the perceiving. Attitudes refer to the person's overall mindset and beliefs, which can affect how they perceive a certain target or situation. Abilities refer to the person's cognitive and perceptual skills, which can also affect the accuracy and depth of their perception. The other options (B, C, D) do not directly relate to the perceiver factor.

Question 19

Angelina is a manager at the largest manufacturing plant in her company's division.She is quick to perceive how talented her employees are and formulates her expectations of them accordingly.If she expects people to perform exceedingly well,she puts more time and effort into managing them,and gives them ample opportunity to develop their skills and talents.Angelina finds that such employees do indeed become some of the best performers.Angelina's actions are an example of

Accepted Answer

Angelina's actions demonstrate the concept of a self-fulfilling prophecy. She perceives her employees as talented, which leads her to have higher expectations for their performance. She then puts more effort and attention into managing them, providing opportunities for skill development, which in turn leads these employees to become some of the best performers. This cycle reinforces Angelina's initial perception and expectations, making it a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Question 20

Suppose a sales manager is unhappy with the performance of her/his sales people and attributes this to laziness on their part.Closer scrutiny of the real situation,however,shows that the sales manager has made a "fundamental attribution error." This means that she/he has

Accepted Answer

The fundamental attribution error refers to the tendency to attribute a person's behavior to internal factors, such as their personality or attributes, rather than external factors, such as situational or contextual factors. In this case, the sales manager is assuming that the salespeople's laziness (an internal factor) is the sole reason for their poor performance, without considering external factors such as competition or market conditions. By underestimating external factors, the sales manager is making a fundamental attribution error.

Quiz 2: Perception, personality, and Emotions