An industrial use of peer ratings.

Can peer ratings identify managers who later are promoted rapidly in a large corporation? A representative sample of 56 graduates was selected from 4-week middle manager training classes where a lengthy 13 item peer rating was administered. When the mean peer ratings of 21 managers who received 2 or more promotions after graduation were compared with the mean peer ratings of 19 managers who received no promotions, differences were significant at the .01 level for all but 3 of the rating items. The results suggest that a large body of predictive data for industry exists in the judgments contemporary managers are able to make about each other. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Rater bias in performance ratings: Superior, self-, and peer ratings.

Leniency errors, halo effects, and differential dimensionality were explored in an analysis of superior, self-, and peer performance ratings of 107 managerial and 76 professional employees in a medium-sized manufacturing location, representing 95% of the managerial and professional staff. Self-ratings showed greater leniency effects than superior or peer ratings. A multitrait–multimethod (MTMM) analysis supported the presence of strong halo effect and significant convergent validity but not discriminant validity. The dimensional analysis supported the presence of strong halo effect. A statistical control procedure for the halo effect was developed that involved calculating residuals of the performance items, controlling for the "overall effectiveness" variance component in each item. The procedure did not reduce the significant halo effect, nor did it improve the nonsignificant discriminant validity in the MTMM analysis. It did, however, clarify the dimensional structure of ratings by superiors. Data from 4 previously published studies were also reanalyzed using the statistical control procedure. (19 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Prediction of managerial success by peer and training-staff ratings.

Examined the predictive validity of peer and training-staff ratings made under "real" conditions in an industrial situation. Ratings were obtained for 156 middle-level managers and 83 higher level executives attending a 4-wk training course. Analysis of 13 peer-related characteristics yielded 2 factors: Impact and Tactfulness. Follow-up showed that later success (promotion and performance appraisal) was predicted by most peer ratings mainly from the Impact factor. Training staff ratings were much weaker predictors and added little to the peer ratings. Broader use of peer ratings for executive selection is discussed. (15 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Perceived similarity and the projection of similarity: The influence of valence.

Some of the implications of Heider's concept of balance were investigated using 104 students as Ss. Based upon their responses to the Revised Allport-Vernon Scale of Values, partially completed test booklets were prepared incorporating different degrees of similarity to each Ss' original answers. The Ss were required to complete them in the way the hypothetical person had. The results confirmed the hypotheses. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The contribution of category relationships to similarity ratings.

Two experiments with university students produced evidence that category relationships contribute to similarity ratings. In Exp 1, participants gave similarity ratings with respect to a semantic category (VEGETABLE) and a set of exemplars, some of which were members of the category (e.g., BROCCOLI) and some of which were not (e.g., BANANA). A regression analysis was used to predict the similarity ratings in terms of numbers of common and distinctive features, as reported by other participants. Perceived similarity was greater for exemplars that were members of the category, independently of feature overlap. Exp 2 examined similarity ratings with respect to pairs of exemplars. In some cases, both exemplars were members of the same category (e.g., BROCCOLI/CUCUMBER). In other cases, one exemplar was a member of the category and the other was not (e.g., BROCCOLI/BANANA). A regression analysis was used to predict the similarity ratings in terms of numbers of common and distinctive features. Perceived similarity was greater when both exemplars were members of the same category, independently of feature overlap. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effect of race on peer ratings in an industrial situation.

Examined the effect of race on the peer ratings of 43 black and 50 white industrial employees recently exposed to a foreman-training program which included intensive human relations training. Contrary to previous studies, no race effect was found. In addition, almost all the requirements for convergent and discriminant validity between the races were met. Possible explanations for these results and implications for the use of peer ratings in integrated settings are discussed. (15 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of racial similarity and interviewer intimacy in a peer counseling analogue.

The effects of the intimacy of an interviewer's disclosure and the racial composition of a dyad on interviewees' liking for an interviewer, impressions of the interviewer, and subsequent self-disclosure were examined in a peer counseling analogue. We predicted and found that intimate disclosure by an interviewer is especially useful in eliciting self-disclosure from Black subjects. Furthermore, we predicted and found that differences in liking for and impressions of intimate and nonintimate interviewers would be particularly pronounced in those dyads in which the interviewer was White and the interviewee was Black with greater liking for and more positive impressions of the intimately disclosing interviewer. We discuss the implications of these results for the reported tendency for Blacks to terminate counseling prematurely and to disclose less than Whites in counseling. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of ratee task performance and interpersonal factors on supervisor and peer performance ratings.

The study examines the effects of a wide array of rater–ratee relationship and ratee-characteristic variables on supervisor and peer job-performance ratings. Interpersonal ratings, job performance ratings, and ratee scores on ability, job knowledge, and technical proficiency were available for 493 to 631 first-tour US Army soldiers. Results of supervisor and peer ratings-path models showed ratee ability, knowledge, and proficiency accounted for 13% of the variance in supervisor performance ratings and 7% for the peer ratings. Among the interpersonal variables, ratee dependability had the strongest effect for both models. Ratee friendliness and likability had little effect on the performance ratings. Inclusion of the interpersonal factors increased the variance accounted for in the ratings to 28% and 19%, respectively. Discussion focuses on the relative contribution of ratee technical and contextual performance to raters' judgments. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Student/instructor attitude similarity, student ratings, and course performance.

Investigated the validity of student ratings of instructional effectiveness by exploring the relations among student ratings, course performance, and the perceived attitude similarity of students and their instructors. 349 college students enrolled in 22 classes first rated instructor effectiveness on a 28-item rating form and then rated their own attitudes plus instructor attitudes on an attitude scale adapted from D. Byrne (1971). Another 296 college students enrolled in 19 classes rated instructor effectiveness and then their own attitudes plus instructor attitudes on an attitude scale adapted from F. E. Hofman and L. Kremer (see record 1980-33352-001). For both S groups, official end-of-term grades were also collected. Consistent with prior research, modest correlations were found between student ratings and perceived attitude similarity. There was also a modest relation between similarity and course grades. These relations were greatly reduced (56.2 and 44.5%, respectively) when the large influence of instructors on ratings and achievement was removed. Findings fail to support the claim that perceived attitude similarity is a substantial source of bias in student ratings. (13 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

An examination of the relationship between the accuracy and favorability of ratings.

Administered a scale to 68 senior marketing students, who rated the prospecting ability of a life insurance agent on 7 videotaped telephone approaches. 3 randomly selected subgroups were given different background information about the agent. It was found that induced mental sets varied significantly in terms of favorability. A differential accuracy phenomenon (dap) was the only significant source of variance. However, neither the dap nor the overall accuracy of ratings was related to the favorability of s's general impression of the ratee. Findings make suspect the current practice of operationalizing leniency error by means of the average level of favorability of global ratings. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of the semantic similarity of items on student ratings of instructors.

Investigated the effects of the semantic similarity of items on student ratings of instructors by asking 28 graduate students to rate several hypothetical instructor profiles that were constructed by systematically manipulating information about the instructors' classroom behaviors. Factor analyses of the student ratings were performed before and after all behavioral information in the instructor profiles had been statistically removed. Results revealed no substantive change in the underlying factor structure. In both analyses the factors represented clusters of semantically equivalent items. Thus, Ss appeared to be imposing an implicit semantic organization on their ratings, apart from any covariance among the instructors' actual classroom behavior. (30 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of perceived etiology attribution similarity on client ratings of counselor credibility.

An experimental design was used to test the hypothesis that clients who perceived their counselors as holding etiology attributions similar to their own would rate their counselors' credibility higher than clients who perceived their counselors as holding dissimilar attributions. 40 undergraduate volunteers participated as clients in counseling role-plays with 11 graduate student counselors. At the end of the 3-session counseling analogue experience, each client was exposed to a mock counselor questionnaire on which the counselor's etiology attributions were manipulated to either agree or disagree with the client's etiology attributions. Results indicated that clients in the similarity of etiology attribution condition rated their counselors to be more credible sources of help than did clients in the dissimilarity of etiology attribution condition. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Teacher ratings predict peer ratings of aggression at 3-year follow-up in boys with attention deficit disorder with hyperactivity.

Compared initial and 3-yr follow-up peer ratings of 19 boys, who were in Grades 1–3 at the beginning of the study, who had attention deficit disorder with hyperactivity (ADDH). When the entire group was considered, nominations on the Aggression and Likability factors of a pupil evaluation inventory improved. Subgroups were created using teacher ratings on an aggression scale. Peer ratings of Aggression improved for Ss whom teachers rated below the median on the aggression scale but not for Ss rated above the median. Subgroups reflecting other teacher and peer ratings were less effective in predicting differential change in peer ratings of ADDH Ss. (8 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Conceptual similarity as a source of illusory halo in job performance ratings.

Tested whether a possible source of difficulty in materially reducing illusory halo in job performance ratings is raters' beliefs that rating categories are conceptually similar and hence covary, thereby inflating observed correlation matrices. 11 graduate business administration students evaluated the conceptual similarities among job dimensions within 3 jobs. The previously observed interdimension correlation matrices were successfully predicted by Ss' mean conceptual similarity scores. When the observed correlation matrix obtained by W. C. Borman (see record 1980-26801-001) was compared with the normative true score matrix, the conceptual similarity scores were found to be inferior predictors of the observed correlation matrix compared with the superior predictive ability of the normative true score matrix. It is suggested that conceptual similarities among job dimensions represent one potentially recalcitrant source of illusory halo in performance ratings, particularly when ratings are based on encoded observations that have decayed in memory. (24 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Scaling peer ratings: An examination of the differential validities of positive and negative nominations.

Peer ratings obtained by the nomination technique are typically scaled by algebraically combining the top nominations with the bottom nominations. It is thus implicitly assumed that top and bottom ratings are equally valid measures of performance. This assumption was tested in 2 studies of Reserve Officer Training Corps cadets (ns = 113 and 87) by correlating several kinds of peer rating scales with a number of criteria. Results suggest that negative nominations contribute little to peer rating scales and that the frequency of positive nominations may be the most useful index. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Perceived competencies, peer group affiliation, and risk behavior among early adolescents.

This study examined the role of self-esteem and peer group membership in risk behavior among 183 8th graders in a multiethnic school. The hypothesis was that domain-specific rather than global self-esteem would be associated with "crowd" membership that in turn would be related to risk behavior. Data were gathered through informant interviews and individual surveys. Domain-specific self-esteem was related to crowd affiliation as well as to alcohol and cigarette use; global self-esteem was not related. Crowd affiliation related to alcohol use and sexual behavior after controlling for the effects of demographic and self-esteem variables, but crowd membership did not fully mediate the relationship between self-esteem and risk behavior. Availability of alcohol and cigarettes mediated the relationship between crowd affiliation and use of these substances. Findings support growing evidence that multiple adolescent peer groups exist and that group membership is closely tied to behavior. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Perceived consensus and predictive accuracy: The pros and cons of projection.

This article examines the effect of high perceived consensus/projection on predictive accuracy and identifies those conditions where perceiving consensus indeed diminishes performance and where it is a reasonable prediction strategy. A model was developed to show how subjects should optimally weight their own positions compared with whatever other target-related information was available to them. Subjects predicted the attitudes of one of three target populations: the average, married American consumer; their average graduate school peer; or their spouse. The results indicated that although perceived consensus was quite high, 65% of the subjects could have actually increased their predictive accuracy by weighting their own positions even more. The heuristic value of relying on own positions varied dramatically depending on the target population: Although 63% of subjects predicting the attitudes of consumers projected too much, only 16% and 24% of subjects predicting attitudes of peers and spouses overprojected. Even when subjects perceived more consensus than actually existed, they often could have increased predictive accuracy by relying more heavily on their own attitudes because they seemed to have difficulty in identifying and consistently using other information about the target. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of rater accountability on the accuracy and the favorability of performance ratings.

The authors tested the effects of holding raters accountable for their performance ratings on the accuracy and the favorability of those ratings. Undergraduate research participants (N?=?247) completed an inbasket exercise and observed a videotaped simulation during 2 sessions over a 2-wk period. The simulation presented performance information on 4 simulated subordinates portrayed through videotaped vignettes. True performance scores were manipulated by varying the proportion of positive and negative performance vignettes presented for each subordinate. Participants who were made to feel accountable by having to justify their ratings to the experimenter in writing rated their simulated subordinates more accurately. In another experimental condition, accountable raters who were told their subordinates' previous performance ratings were too low rated their subordinates more favorably than did raters in the same experimental condition who were not accountable. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sex and race composition of assessment center groups as a determinant of peer and assessor ratings.

Evaluated the effects of sex and race composition of assessment center groups on assessment center ratings for 54 racially and sexually mixed groups. Results indicate that there were minimal effects as a result of the race–sex composition of the group, but some assessment ratings for Black females were negatively and significantly correlated with the number of White males in the assessment group. The ratings of White males tended to be higher when the number of White males in the assessment group increased. (16 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Some differential effects of race of rater and ratee on early peer ratings of combat aptitude.

Peer ratings of combat potential made by 669 Caucasian and Negro army recruits of the squad members were examined. The hypothesis that ratees would receive higher ratings from members of their own race than from members of another race was supported (p