EFFECTS OF UPWARD ACCOUNTABILITY AND RATING PURPOSE ON PEER-RATER INFLATION AND DELAY - A FIELD EXPERIMENT

Procedural influences on peer-rater distortion and delay were investig ated in a field experiment. Employees (N = 123) of a business informat ion firm were randomly assigned to conditions in a 2 (upward accountab ility versus no accountability) by 2 (administrative purpose versus re search purpose) experimental design. Results revealed evidence for an accountability by purpose interaction on rater delay. Specifically, ra ters delayed rating their peers when the purpose was research-only and they had to explain their ratings to a supervisor. When the rating pu rpose was administrative, no differences in delay due to accountabilit y were obtained. We found no effects for upward accountability and rat ing purpose on peer-rater inflation. (C) 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.