[2] Selective perception has roots in cognitive psychology, where it is studied as a fundamental part of how individuals filter and process information based on biases, expectations, and past experiences.
It is closely related to concepts like confirmation bias—favoring information that aligns with one’s beliefs—and cognitive dissonance, the discomfort of holding conflicting thoughts, both of which shape perception.
[3] Its applications extend beyond psychology, playing key roles in marketing (shaping consumer focus), politics (influencing voter perception), and mental health (understanding biases in disorders), highlighting its impact on both individual behaviors and societal trends.
The work of Leon Festinger provided a major milestone in the field with his statement of the cognitive dissonance theory in 1957, which went a long way toward explaining selective perception.
[5] Festinger's theory was given empirical support through some brilliant experiments, most notably his study of a UFO doomsday cult, in which participants rationalized their continued beliefs in the face of contrary evidence.
Around the same time, supporting findings were demonstrated through studies by Hastorf and Cantril in the 1954 Princeton-Dartmouth football game experiment, showing how personal allegiances influenced the perception of the same events.
The studies established selective perception as one of the key concepts in understanding human cognition—outlining its strong implications for areas like media use, political decision-making, and interpersonal communication.
These findings suggest that business executives focus on issues relevant to their departments when considering various organizational challenges and, thus, substantiate the influence of departmental roles on the shaping of managerial preoccupation and perception.
[11] In one classic study on this subject related to the hostile media effect (which is itself an example of selective perception), viewers watched a filmstrip of a particularly violent Princeton-Dartmouth American football game.