Understanding Social Perception & Managing Diversity

Understanding Social Perception & Managing Diversity Perception can and is influenced by a number of different things whether from the things that is read, seen on television, or simply from what we retain from family and friends. The way that perception is interpreted determines how we perceive people or our surrounding. Steve Harvey film and book Act like a Lady Think like a Man elaborates on how the perception between genders, as well as the diversity that distinguishes the communication barriers between men and women and helps to break down that barrier.

In the text Organizational Dynamics and Human Behavior (second edition) major component of social perception and the Kelley’s Model of Attribution are reflected in Act like a Lady Think like a Man and will be elaborated on how it all relates throughout our discussion. Act like a Lady Think like a Man shines light on how men and women perception of the opposite gender is totally different. A woman may view all men in a negative light based off of one negative out come and a man will put every woman in the same category based off of what a woman requires. With both genders categorizing each other the text refers to this as stereotyping.

Stereotyping occurs when individuals are placed into categories. For example Act like a Lady Think like a Man placed men in to the different categories Momma’s Boy which is a man who has yet to let go of his mother and tend to his woman, then there is the non committer who is a man who is not willing to go to the next phase which is marriage, the dreamer who will not just focus on accomplishing one task at a time but doesn’t seem to know what and how to implement his plan, and then there is the player who just simply will not commit to anyone due to the desire and challenge in playing the game.

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Act like a Lady Think like a Man is a guide for women to understand how to perceive men. Steve Harvey has simplified by encoding the males perception of a females, which means he has created a mental representation on how the male mind works (kinicki, 2009, p. 64). In Act like a Lady Think like a Man Lauren was a successful young female CEO of a Major company who wanted a man who is on her level or higher which she believed would make them more compatible in a relationship.

Lauren knew what she wanted in a man and received it all but soon came to realize that her dream guy wasn’t what she needed. She met a dreamer Dominic who made her happy with the little things that cause her to reflect back on the different occurrences and share with friends how much this individual made her happy even though he did not possess the required traits she looked for initially. Event memory is containing information for specific events and general events, as well as personal memory which contains information of a single individual or group ((kinicki, 2009, pg. 6). Lauren had to make a judgment call on what she wanted. Was it going to be her happiness with a gentlemen that had potential to be what she wanted or was she going to sacrifice her happiness for status. This was the retrieval process that is retrieved from the memory to make a decision. When a man approaches you you're the one with total control over the situation-whether he can talk to you, buy you a drink, dance with you, get your number, take you home, see you again, all of that.

The woman is in control from the start. For the non committer he doesn’t feel the necessary urge to go to the next phase because the woman does not require it of him, by giving him the perception that you are content in with the current status. This relates to managerial implication through both a performance appraisal and the leadership aspect. Performance appraisal determines good versus poor performance through motivation and commitment and loyalty.

Act like a Lady Think like a Man, Kristin realized that her boyfriend the non committer of nine years wasn’t willing to go to the next phase of their lives because she didn’t require anything from him so he displayed no willingness to want more. Leadership is when you lead by example. Kristin then began to make changes by encouraging him to want to apply for a better job and by just simply change the environment of their home through redecorating.

Act like a Lady Think like a Man indicated that a woman can find all kinds of deficiencies in themselves-"I didn't do this right," "I wasn't good enough," "I didn't love him the way I should," "she came in here and outperformed me” (Harvey). Women need to reframe from placing the blame of the man's actions on themselves. By holding on to that weight can be hindering for future encounters. Steve Harvey said, “You simply cannot drive forward if you're focused on what's happening in the rearview mirror. ” Causal attributions is constantly formulating cause and affect explanations for our own and others behavior (kinicki, 2009, pg. 8). Kelley’s Model of Attributions proposes that behavior can be attributed either to internal factors within a person or external factors within the environment (kinicki, 2009, pg. 69). Consensus involves a caparison of an individual’s behavior with that of his or her peers. In Act like a Lady Think like a Man the men were easily influenced by what the others were doing or would say about them. The men would go to play basketball every Thursday and out for a night cap afterwards if one were to attempt to stray from the usual the group would instantly began to place judgment instead of being excepting of prior plans.

External factors are behaviors caused by environmental characteristics. Men are more concerned on how their surrounding perceives them and their status. Women want their love to be reciprocated in the same way they give it where as men will reciprocate their love only to the one that feel is deserving of their love. A man is not just going to provide and share his love with just anyone he has to know that you are the one. Women should expect that a man will pay for your dinner, movie, and more in exchange for her time.

Men view women who expect this type of treatment as a gold digger, which is someone who is just after the contender with the most. Diversity represents the multitude of individual’s differences and similarities that exist amongst people. In Act like a Woman Think like a Man diversity is reflected in the way that men and women carry themselves, communication styles, and perception of one another. In conclusion Act like a Woman Think like a Man relates to diversity and perception between genders.

Diversity highlight how different the thought patterns are but all how it is similar also. Although men are not as open and expressive as women we are all looking for the same things from each other. The perception on how the information is process is totally different but that’s what makes a relationship or organization success is the differences. Act like a Woman Think like a Man helps to understand diversity and perception from a relationship status and through a male’s point of view on where women need help on understanding the male species.

Just like an organization has standards and employees respect them women should have standards also. “Men respect standards get some,” Steve Harvey (Harvey).

References Kinicki, A. and Kreitner. R. (2009). Organizational dynamics and human behavior. (Second ed. , pp. 64-70). New York: McGraw Hill. Harvey, S. (2009). Act like a lady, think like a man. New York: HarperCollins Publishers. Harvey, S. (n. d. ). Goodreads. Retrieved from www. goodreads. com/author/quotes/206062. Steve_Harvey Story, T. (Director) (2012). Think like a man [Theater]. (Story, 2012)

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