ORDER EFFECTS IN PERSONNEL DECISION-MAKING

Research on primacy versus recency effects in personnel decision makin g was reconsidered within the framework of the belief-adjustment model of Hogarth and Einhorn (1992) in this article. The model posits that primacy/recency is a function of the interaction of various features o f the judgment task. On the basis of this model, we predicted that rec ency effects will predominate in a simulated work sample, regardless o f whether ratings are made after each work-sample exercise or only at the end of the process. One hundred seventeen university students rece ived rater training and observed a candidate's performance in 2 role-p lay exercises. The conditions differed in terms of exercise order (pos itive-negative performance vs. negative-positive performance) and resp onse mode (step-by-step vs. end-of-sequence). Results were consistent with predictions. In addition, evidence was found for (within-target) contrast effects in the work-sample ratings. Implications of the model for selection and performance evaluation judgments are discussed.