CONTINGENT SUPERVISORY BEHAVIOR - A PRACTICAL PREDICTOR OF PERFORMANCE

Effective supervisory behavior is conceptualized and examined in terms of operant psychology. A total of 365 subordinates rated 82 first-lin e supervisors on traditional and operant leader behaviors. Analyses sh owed that monitoring and consequence behaviors made significant contri butions to the prediction of the supervisors' performance ratings over that associated with initiating structure and consideration alone. Th e results support the generality of an operant model of supervision, a nd the practicality of rating operant-type behaviors to predict superv isory performance without the intrusion of direct observation.