Perception: Some Recent Research and Implications for Administration.

The administrator frequently bases decisions and actions on his perception of other people. Behavioral scientists have been systematically studying the process of perception, focusing in recent years on interpersonal perception. Although their work has been done largely in laboratory settings, their conclusions have relevance for the administrator. This paper examines some of the recent work on interpersonal perception and suggests some implications for administrative practice. No easy means is proposed to make objective what is essentially a subjective process; nevertheless it is possible to indicate some guidelines and precautions to use in this complex aspect of interpersonal relations. Understanding the process of interpersonal perception is one means of trying to avoid gross errors in interpersonal judgments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]