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A Theoretical Perspective The word Perception comes from the Latin words perception, percipio,

meaning “receiving, collecting, action of taking possession, apprehension

with the mind or senses”.

In psychology, philosophy and the cognitive sciences, perception

is the process of attaining awareness or understanding of sensory

information.

In biology, perception is understood as “the mental interpretation of

physical sensations produced by stimuli from the outside word”. Here

‘mental interpretation’ has been interpreted as a process of constructing

an internal model of the environment.

Perception as per businessdictionary.com, definition of perception is

the “Process by which people translate sensory impressions into a coherent

and unified view of the world around them. Though necessarily based on

incomplete and unverified (or unreliable) information perception is ‘the

reality’ and guides human behavior in general”

1.1DefinitionofPerceptionAccording to Dr. Shirley Telles, Shreevidya Nagesh and Naveen K. V.

Shirley Telles, Ph.D., the word ‘perception’, known by Sanskrit terms as,

‘pratyakna’ and ‘aparokna’, where ‘pratyakna’ denotes a ‘pramana’ and

leads to direct and valid knowledge, exists from Vedic age. In many of

our ancient texts like the Vedas, Upanishads, Bhagavad Gita, Patanjali and

CHAPTER 1

PERCEPTION

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many schools of yoga, perception is one of the methods of knowledge

from sensory experience, which man shares with the lowest living beings,

up to the transcendental perception of ultimate reality claimed by great

mystics and seers of the world.

Forgus and Melamed have defined perception as “the process of

information extraction” (1976). Forgus and Melamed based their

description of perception on cognitive structures and according to them,

“perceptions are the processes that determine how humans interpret their

surroundings”.

According to Steward L. Tubbs & Stylvia Mors “Perception is an

active process as one selectively perceives, organizes and interprets

what one experiences. Interpretations are based on the perceivers past

experiences, assumptions about human behavior, knowledge of the others

circumstances, present moods / wants / desires and expectations.”

According to D. Scott & Baydon “Perception is a selective process

as eye is capable of sensing much more data then the brain is capable

of processing. Six factors which enhance selectivity are background,

intensity, extensity, concreteness, contrast, velocity and impressivity.”

The Perceptions have been analyzed by Peter B. Warr, Christopher

Knapper in their book titled “the Perception of People and Events”

published by John Willey & Sons. They have tried to clarify perceptions as

personal perceptions and general perceptions. They felt that the behavior

of individuals is determined by the way they perceive each other and this

behavior gets affected by the general perceptions which may be direct or

which may be indirect.

As per Ludy T. Benjomin, J. Roy Hoppkins, Jack R. Nation (MacMillan)

perception is not only made of stimulus variables that make up our

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perceptual environment - like sounds, colours, shapes, textures, etc. but

other variables too which reside within the perceiver and are usually

labeled organismic variables. Thus perception is a result of stimulus

variables and organismic variables.

According to Encyclopedia Britannica Gestalt psychologist and other

psychologists have propounded the theory of perception of relations and

according to which the perception is relativistic rather than absolute.

According to it, an object has no perceived size except when it is compared

with another object.

Therefore, it can be concluded that perception is the interpretation of

stimuli as established by relating it to earlier perceptual sets which may

be by way of experience, exposure or any other interaction.

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1.2 Perception and Public Opinion

Public‘Public’ according to Hold Reinhart & Winston, New York, may

designate any loose association of individuals held together by common

interests, common cultural base and various mechanical means of

communication. It lacks formal institutionalization and is transitory,

amorphous and relatively unstructured association. Robinson defines

‘Public’ as any group of people who have a common interest.

As per Herbert Blumer the term public is used to refer to a group

of people confronted by an issue, divided in their ideas and engaged in

discussion.

Thus public is a heterogeneous / unstructured group of individuals

held together due to an issue, interest or event.

Public OpinionHolt Reinhart & Winston has defined opinion as belief or conviction

more verifiable and stronger in intensity than mere hunch or impression

but less valid and stronger than truly verifiable or positive knowledge.

Thus there is a difference between a fact and an opinion. Keeping in mind

the difference between fact and opinion, public opinion may be defined

as “beliefs, convictions or views of individuals on matters or issues of

widespread or public interest and concern”.

Some definitions of ‘public opinion’ have been compiled by Ulrich

Strauss. These are given as under:

W.W. Willoughby speaks of the Sovereignty of Public Opinion and the

power which Lieber (Political Ethics) defines as “the sense and sentiment

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of the community necessarily irresistible, showing its power everywhere”

and the power which “gives sense to the letter and life of the law without

which the written law is a mere husk”.

The Public Opinion, as per Cantril, has three major phases i.e. rise of

the issue, discussion, proposed solutions and arrival at consensus.

According to Lawrence Lowell there are 4 stages by which the

opinions can be formed. First stage is wherein the impressions are

formed which are positively or negatively reinforced by subsequent

interactions. In the second stage the issue is debated and the controversy

in the mind begins to settle which helps the perceiver to take up a definite

position on either side. In the third stage the perceiver takes a definite

side; and the fourth stage is reached when the action on the perception

becomes necessary.

As per S. Ganesh, “Public Opinion, although looks like a loosely held

opinion of individuals is much more than this. It is a strong opinion of the

people and with it people have come to exert their views on the decision

makers”.

Elizabeth M. Perse in “Shaping Public Opinion” while stating that

Public Opinion is something that is marked by being endorsed by a

number of people (a group) states that public opinion is not the expression

of narrow views of political isolates. Public Opinion focuses on matters of

political concern and that sentiments that large groups of people share are

not necessarily public opinion.

All these definitions have been summed up by Lester Markel as under

“Public Opinion in a democracy is a collective viewpoint powerful enough,

if the power is exerted, to influence public policy. It may be the viewpoint

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of a majority of the people, or, in the absence of an effective majority, the

viewpoint of an effective minority”.

The public in a democratic society with almost universal

communications is a dynamic and shifting body and not a homogenous

and stable one. Its viewpoint is subject to change, often swift change, by

statements of people of influence, their image and standing in a society.

Public opinion whether based on reality or perception can determine mass

behavior.

Relation between Perception and Public Opinion In layman’s terms ‘Public Opinion’ is a collective view i.e. the sum

total of all that is thought and said on a subject or an event by a majority

of people or we can say it is majority view. In the words of James Bryce in

the book ‘Public Opinion and Propaganda’ “it is what any man (not every

man) says, i.e., it is the natural or the general thought or wish which an

occurrence evokes. According to him, every public opinion before being

crystallized has to pass through various stages. For example, in the first

stage when a person reads about the event or the subject this reading arouses

in his mind, sentiments of approval or disapproval which may be strong or

weak depending on his earlier experience/ impression, expectations and

his personal interests in the matter. They also arouse an expectation and

certain consequences likely to follow. These sentiments or expectations

are not based on any reasoning or any analysis but simply on impressions

formed at the spur of the movement. In the second stage this sentiment

starts settling when he interacts with people at say his work place or while

commuting to his work place or at his Coffee House and slowly these

impressions further start affecting him making his sentiment a definite

view. In the third stage these views after reading further information

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or collecting further information on the subject through various sources

start crystallizing into a conviction and is accepted by the majority of the

people leading to formation of a public opinion”.

As per this view, Perception is the first stage of the formation of

an opinion and is linked to experience, expectations and the general

impression. Public opinion regarding organizations thus gets initiated by

prevailing perceptions reinforced by experience, expectations and public

interface i.e. delivery of services.

Public opinion thus is a culmination of experience, impressions, beliefs,

convictions of an individual on matters or issues which may have public

interest or concern. Here individuals favour or support some definite

conditions, person or proposal of widespread importance in a way that it

affects the action of all the concerned in a particular way. For an organization

public opinion is basically a demand or an expectation and involves a phase

of expression and intensity depending upon the issue concerned whether

it is general or it affects a number of individuals directly or indirectly. The

intensity depends upon the number of people it affects.

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Thus perception is the first impression which may be true or not but

if allowed to settle it becomes a conviction or belief leading to formation

of opinion. Once an opinion is formed it becomes like a hardboiled egg

which is very difficult to change. Perception or impression, the first step

in opinion formation can be formed by experience, by the issue concerned,

the utterings of professionals, politicians or statesmen or the people within

the organization and travel to affect the largest number of people. The

acts and responses of the opinion makers upon the mass and of the mass

upon them is the most crucial part of the whole process by which opinion

is produced. There is no doubt that it affects the behavior of public and

media towards organizations.

1.3 Difference between Perception and Attitude According to Peter B. Warr and Christopher, the line between

perception and attitude is clearly a blurred but there are three clear points

of difference:

1. In the first place attitudes are generally taken to be relatively

permanent structures which are in most instances fairly resistant

to change. Perception on the other hand is more transitory and

flexible.

2. Attitudes may have as their objects more general or abstract

entities than do perceptions. One may hold an attitude concerning,

say, communism or academic freedom but one cannot be said to

perceive these in anything other than a very loose sense.

3. The third difference between attitude and perception is more

fundamental: it is implicit in the definition of perception that this

only occurs in the presence of a stimulus. Yet the more permanent

generalized nature of an attitude allows it to persist when no

stimulus is present.

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There is clearly an interplay between attitude and perception.

Perception is influenced by attitude, and change and development of

attitude is dependent upon the way a source person and his message are

perceived. Yet the two concepts are separate.

Thus, perception and attitude are diverse as the former is not

permanent and keeps on changing whereas the attitude is permanent in

nature and resistant to change.

1.4 Perception and Behaviour The way individuals behave with each other is clearly in part

determined by the manner in which they perceive each other. According

to Hammod, Wilkins and Todd (1966) “the way people learn to relate to

others is presumably affected by their ability to learn to perceive them

accurately. The nature of interaction between personal perception and

interpersonal behavior is complex and is yet incompletely known, but

existence of some interaction is beyond question.”

In an organization the behavior of public dealing with it depends

on its perception. For example, if a person approaches a Government

organization and a private/multi-national organization, the way of

approach and behavior will be different. It is because multi-national

/private organizations have a perception of being helpful modern

organization whereas Govt. organizations have the perception of being

monolithic and too procedural organizations.

In a research paper by Ki. Jung–Evun, the researchers tested a model

that posits the linkages among perceptions of the organization – public

relationships, attitude and behavioural intentions towards an organization.

This research was based on the hypotheses that public perception of a

relationship affects the attitude and behavioral intentions towards the

organization.

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For an organization the formation of attitude of public is a slow process

which becomes permanent when perceptions are allowed settle which

may be generated through delivery of services, fulfilling the mandate or

any other interaction. It also depends upon the communication patterns

and the related components of the perception of the organization. If the

communication is steady and is in consonance with performance, the

perceptions will match reality and thus develop the right opinion, attitude

and behavior of public towards the organization.

1.5 Perception and Media According to S. Ganesh “The mass media communication provides

information to people on number of aspects relating to public opinion of

an issue and it provides solutions or it suggests solutions to an issue. We

know about many of the events happening in our immediate environment

not because of anything else but often because of mass media. Thus media

performs the function of correlation and socialization to us. Harwood L.

Child says that the “Press is an important factor in the formation of public

opinion. But there is little evidence to prove this perspective.”

Elizabeth M. Perse in the study ‘Do Media Have Effects’ has concluded

that the media effects are grounded in the belief that mass communication

has noticeable effects over individuals, society and culture. Evidence for

these effects, though is problematic. One the hand, despite consistence

findings of effects, the variance accounted for is typically small. Secondly

strongest effects are usually relegated to laboratory settings, which

are artificial. According to him, there are several reasons to expect that

research underestimates media effects like models, theories and methods

as imprecise. In case of organizations, the media influence according

to sociologists Melvin De Fleur and Sandra Ball – Rokeach (1975) is

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guided by social categories perspective, which holds that there are groups

in the social world who tend to react to any particular media message

in similar ways.

Karan Thapar in a middle in H.T. dated 29th March, 2009 titled

“Perception vs. Truth” wrote as to how perceptions can be far from reality.

He was commenting on Obama’s first press conference where he called

himself a ‘mutt’ as he happens to be half black and half white. His mother

a Christian and father a Muslim. But the overall perception is that he is

a Christian. According to this piece of writing even though perception

about Gandhi’s (Smt. Indira Gandhi & family) is that they are Hindu,

in reality they are a ‘pot pourri-kichdi’ of various religions - such as

Sanjay and Rajiv Gandhi were half-Parsi and half-Hindu. Similarly,

Rahul, Priyanka and Varun are three-quarters non-Hindus and only

a quarter Hindu.

Media has a great influence on perception whereas the reverse is also

true as media reporting whether true or untrue go with the general opinion

or view point and thereby the acceptance of audiences as that is what sells.

Secondly, today media in its hurry to report first, disregards ethics or any

extensive investigation, reporting whatever is known - directly or indirectly.

Many times it is judgemental in its reporting as in the case of Arushi Murder

and is thereby able to sway opinions creating perceptions contrary to the

reality. This happens due to intense competition within the newspapers /

media to break the news first. The media is thus guided by :

(1) Popular perceptions

(2) Competitiveness within the media

(3) Ensuring public acceptance by arousing curiosity

i.e. sensationalization

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Effect of Audio Visual Media on PerceptionAccording to Jennings Byant, Graber (1996) noted that audio-visuals

in the news are uniquely successful in creating a sense of reality and a

sense of actually witnessing an event makes these images powerful

tools for manipulating media audiences. For example image of atrocities

inflicted on women or children evoke sympathy. The recent reporting

and coverage of CWG scams created hatred for Sh. Suresh Kalmadi, the

Chairman of Organising Committee much before he was proven guilty.

1.6 Organizational Perception and its Components The nature of perception has been pondered by psychologists and

philosophers for centuries and still there is no formally accepted definition.

As reported by Peter B. Warr and Christopher Knapper “The guidelines

of specification have of course long been sketched in but about the final

details there is still much uncertainty. It is clear that in some sense

perception involves an interaction or transaction between an individual

and his environment. He receives information from the external world

which in some way modifies his experience and behavior. But beyond

statements of this order of generality there are few formulations which

are universally accepted”.

Organizational perceptions depend on a number of factors. Many

scholars have tried to establish as to how perceptions get generated in an

organization. As per S. Ganeshan “In an organization, perceptions are

generated by policies, programmes, their implementation or by the work

done, delivery of services, or even by interpersonal and intrapersonal

relations. The perception of reality to be in the right frame is as important

as reality itself. But if there is a gap between reality and perception even

the reality can be belied to create an illusion far away from reality leading

to unexpected public behavior.”

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In a research study titled “Expanding the Organisation Public Relations

Scale” the relationship between the service provider and customer was

studied through survey. It was found that such relationship had four

dimensions / components (i) Anthropomorphism i.e. the way organization

demonstrates positive human qualities (i.e trustworthiness, open and

willing to invest in the relationship) which can be construed to be good

customer relations (ii) Professional benefits / Expectations represent a public

perception of professionalism of the organization which can be construed

as image (iii) Personal commitment is wanting to maintain relationships,

feeling linked to the organization. In simple words it can be construed as

creating identity where employees as well as customers identify with the

organization (iv) Community Improvement meaning thereby that the

organization is working for good of the community. The result from this

research also established that an organization’s relationship with the public

is multi-dimensional.

Human behavior is complex and there are no set rules or principles

which can be identified that govern the behavior but there is a general belief

based on experience that the behavior is regulated by certain circumstances,

conditions or cultures, experiences, etc. In a similar fashion perceptions

also get influenced by factors such as one’s experience by learning through

circumstances or by the utterings of known personalities including media.

As we know, perception is response to stimulus. Similarly, an individuals

relationship with social stimulus objects like people and groups evaluate

attitudes of attraction or repulsion, playing an important role in the

perception of non-social stimuli. In organizations the perception of reality

may be a part of a larger whole which we cannot perceive. It may be having

components which indirectly contribute to the whole in a big way. It may

be linked to reality or not but it determines the opinion and behavior of

stakeholders.