Question: Understanding Perceptions and Attributions in Group Meetings Think about the last meeting or gathering you attended. It could be a meeting that took place at the organization you are currently working for, a meeting of a club or student organization you are a member of, a meeting of a group you have been assigned to for a project in one of your classes, or any other recent gathering that involved more than two people.
1. Describe your perceptions of what took place during the meeting and explain why events unfolded as they did.
2. Describe the characteristics and behavior of the other people who were present at the meeting and explain why they acted the way they did.
3. Describe how you think you were perceived by other people during the meeting and explain why you behaved as you did.
4. After you have completed activities 1 through 3, pick another person who participated in the meeting and arrange to meet with her or him for about 15 minutes. Explain to the person that you want to ask a few questions about the meeting for one of your classes.
5. When you meet with the person, ask her or him to be as accurate and honest as possible. Remind the person that your get-together is part of an assignment for one of your classes and assure him or her that answers to your questions are confidential. While the person is answering you, take careful notes, and do not attempt to correct anything that is said. Just listen and take notes. Ask the person to respond to each of these questions (one by one):
a. How would you describe what took place during the meeting, and why do you think it took place?
b. How would you describe the characteristics and behavior of the other people who were present at the meeting, and why do you think they behaved as they did?
c. How would you describe the reasons why I behaved as I did during the meeting?
6. Compare your own descriptions from activities 1 through 3 with the descriptions you obtained from activities 4 and 5. In what ways were your perceptions and attributions similar to those of the other person? In what ways were they different?
7. Use the knowledge you gained from this chapter to explain why there were differences in your and the other person's perceptions and attributions and why there were similarities. Be specific.