N. Brewer, THE EFFECTS OF MONITORING INDIVIDUAL AND GROUP-PERFORMANCE ON THE DISTRIBUTION OF EFFORT ACROSS TASKS, Journal of applied social psychology, 25(9), 1995, pp. 760-777
This study was concerned with the mechanism(s) via which performance m
onitoring affects task performance. To investigate whether an individu
al's concerns over the evaluation of his or her performance underlie t
he effects of performance monitoring (independent of contingent conseq
uences) on the distribution of effort across tasks, the study examined
whether the way in which individuals performed two tasks was differen
tially affected by the way in which supervisors monitored performance
on those tasks. Subjects working in a group setting performed two diff
erent tasks for 90 minutes, their instructions being to perform as wel
l as possible on each task. When supervisors periodically monitored th
e work output of each individual within the group on one of the two ta
sks, subjects perceived that the supervisor was evaluating and compari
ng individual performance, and produced more on the monitored task at
the expense of the unmonitored task. When, however, the supervisor's m
onitoring focused on group rather than individual products, subjects p
erceived that the supervisor was less likely to be able to evaluate an
d to compare individual performance, and their performance on the two
tasks was the same, regardless of which task was monitored. Path analy
sis supported the interpretation that the effects of monitoring on per
formance were mediated by evaluation concerns associated with performa
nce on each task.