The relationship between performance appraisal and indulgence in the evaluation process

There has been a substantial amount of research on performance appraisal. P ractically all of this work has focused on understanding and improving a ra ter's ability to provide accurate ratings. Thus a plethora of research exis ts regarding such issues as the effect of rating formats and training on th e ability to perform accurate evaluations of subordinates. More recently, s everal researchers have suggested that increasing the quality of performanc e ratings can only occur through a better understanding of the cognitive pr ocesses that underlie performance judgments. This perspective argues that r ating errors and inaccurate appraisals are a function of the rater's inform ation processing capabilities. Recent models of performance appraisal have focused on motivational factors rather then cognitive deficits as explanations for apparent rater errors. Despite recent calls for more work in this area, very few studies have inve stigated the motivation to inflate ratings in the performance appraisal con text. The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between the performance appraisal context and rater motivation to inflate ratings. Hypo theses were developed from the Murphy and Cleveland (1995) model of rater l eniency. The assumption underlying the study is that rating inaccuracy is p redominantly intentional. The participants in the study were 106 managers in the Quebec public sector . Rating inflation was defined as the discrepancy between public and privat e performance appraisal ratings for a target ratee. A standardized intervie w and two questionnaires were used to collect the data. To gather public rating for the target ratee, each participant was asked to get an anonymous copy of the target ratee's last performance appraisal fro m the human resource department. Each participant's private ratings of the target ratee were collected. Private performance ratings consisted of the r ater's personal judgment of the employee's performance during the most rece nt performance appraisal period. These ratings were made during the intervi ew on a copy of the appraisal form normally used by the rater. After finish ing the interview, the researcher gave participants a first questionnaire a nd one month later sent the second questionnaire. The questionnaires includ ed measures of context variables. As expected, raters' perceptions of the performance appraisal context are r elated to rating behaviour. Specifically, the results show that the quality of the interpersonal relationship between supervisor and subordinate influ ence rating inflation. The ratings of an employee in low-quality relationsh ips are inflated. In contrast, supervisory ratings are more accurate for em ployees in high-quality relationships. A supervisor's perceptions of subord inates' self rating of their performance is related to rating inflation. Th is accountability pressure might arise because supervisors wish to avoid co nflict. The level of rating inflation varies across raters and in relation to the type of standard used to judge performance. The lack of clear perfor mance standards is related to rating inflation. Discomfort in giving feedba ck was not significantly related to rater motivation to inflate ratings. The results also indicate that the purpose of performance ratings affects r ating inflation. Rating inflation will be more likely to occur when perform ance appraisal is not linked to human resource management decisions. Rater trust in the appraisal system is likely to affect rater motivation. Low tru st in the system is related to rating inflation. As predicted, a rater's im pression of management activities is related to rating inflation. Raters ar e likely to inflate ratings to maintain a positive image of the organizatio n and to maintain an appropriate image vis-a-vis his or her subordinates. C onsistent with the hypothesis, managers may be more likely to inflate ratin gs when there are political influences within the performance appraisal pro cess. Overall, the findings suggest that the performance appraisal context does affect rater behaviour. This research helps to bridge the gap between practice and research in the area of performance appraisal.