THE ROLE OF PERCEIVED SYSTEM KNOWLEDGE IN PREDICTING APPRAISAL REACTIONS, JOB-SATISFACTION, AND ORGANIZATIONAL COMMITMENT

There is a very large research base in Applied Psychology on the impor tance of affective reactions on organizational functioning. Likewise, performance appraisal has been a heavily researched area within the fi eld. The present field studies attempt to bridge our understanding of these two areas by studying the relationship between performance appra isal process variables and employee affective reactions. In particular , the current studies examine the effects of a relatively new performa nce appraisal variable, Perceived System Knowledge (Williams and Levy, 1992), on appraisal reactions and job attitudes. In both studies, the re was a strong relationship between employees' levels of perceived sy stem knowledge and their appraisal reactions and job attitudes. In Stu dy 1, when controlling for performance rating, PSK was positively rela ted to appraisal reactions, job satisfaction, and organizational commi tment. The findings from Study 1 were replicated in the second study w hich employed a longitudinal design. Tn addition, Study 2 found a rela tionship between PSK and fairness perceptions. Implications for these results and suggestions for approaching performance appraisal from an organizational perspective are proposed. (C) 1998 John Wiley & Sons, L td.