A MODEL OF VOLITIONAL RATING BEHAVIOR

It is commonly believed that the practice of intentionally distorting performance appraisals is widespread among those serving as raters in the appraisal process. This behavior is theorized to result from consc ious decisions about the direction and degree of distortion to introdu ce into ratings at the point where they are reported. A model of the d eterminants of such decisions is proposed and issues in the model's op erationalization, validation, and implementation in practice are discu ssed.