Fundamentals of Management, 8th ed

selective perception

The process of

screening out

information that we

are uncomfortable

with or that

contradicts our

beliefs

stereotyping

The process of

categorizing or

labeling people on

the basis of a single

attribute

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Part 4: Leading

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be harmful. For example, suppose a manager forms the stereotype that women can per-

form only certain tasks and that men are best suited for other tasks. To the extent that

this affects the manager’s hiring practices, the manager is (1) costing the organization

valuable talent for both sets of jobs, (2) violating federal law, and (3) behaving

unethically. On the other hand, certain forms of stereotyping can be useful and effi-

cient. Suppose, for example, that a manager believes that communication skills are

important for a particular job and that speech communication majors tend to have

exceptionally good communication skills. As a result, whenever he interviews candi-

dates for jobs, he pays especially close attention to speech communication majors. To

the extent that communication skills truly predict job performance and that majoring

in speech communication does indeed provide those skills, this form of stereotyping

can be efficient.