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Management Practices and Organisational Behaviour

Notes and therapy. Bar-On hypothesizes that those individuals with higher than average
E.Q.'s are in general more successful in meeting environmental demands and
pressures.
3. Trait EI model: This model proposes a conceptual distinction between the ability based
model and a trait based model of EI. Trait EI refers to an individual's self-perceptions of
their emotional abilities. This definition of EI encompasses behavioral dispositions and
self perceived abilities and is measured by self report, as opposed to the ability based
model which refers to actual abilities, which have proven highly resistant to scientific
measurement.
The trait EI model is general and subsumes the Goleman and Bar-On models discussed
above. The conceptualization of EI as a personality trait leads to a construct that lies
outside the taxonomy of human cognitive ability. This is an important distinction in as
much as it bears directly on the operationalization of the construct and the theories and
hypotheses that are formulated about it.
The concept the theoretical foundation of EI has been criticize a lot on the basis of the
following factors:
(a) EI is too broadly defined and the definitions are unstable
(b) EI cannot be recognized as a form of intelligence
(c) EI has no substantial predictive value

10.1.3 EI and Job Performance

Researches on the relationship between EI and job performance have only shown mixed results:
a positive relation has been found in some of the studies, in others there was no relation or an
inconsistent one. This led researchers to offer a compensatory model between EI and IQ, that
posits that the association between EI and job performance becomes more positive as cognitive
intelligence decreases, an idea first proposed in the context of academic performance. The results
of the former study supported the compensatory model: employees with low IQ get higher task
performance and organisational citizenship behavior directed at the organisation, the higher
their EI.

10.2 Perception

Perception involves the way we view the world around us. It adds meaning to information
gathered via the five senses of touch, smell, hearing, vision and taste. Perception is the primary
vehicle through which we come to understand our surroundings and ourselves. Perception can
be defined as a process by which individuals organise and interpret their sensory impressions in
order to give meaning to their environment.

Why is perception important in the study of OB? Simply because people's behaviour is based on
their perception of what reality is, not on reality itself. Virtually all management activities rely
on perception. In appraising performance, managers use their perceptions of an employee's
behaviour as a basis for evaluation. One work situation that highlights the importance of
perception is the selection interview. Perception is also culturally determined. Based on our
cultural backgrounds, we tend to perceive things in certain ways.
Thus, perception is the primary vehicle through which we come to understand our surroundings
and ourselves. Social perception is the process of interpreting information about another person.
Social perception is directly concerned with how one individual perceives other individuals.
Formal organisation participants constantly perceive one another. Managers are perceiving

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