THE INFLUENCE OF INDIVIDUAL AND CONTEXTUAL VARIABLES ON 360-DEGREE FEEDBACK-SYSTEM ATTITUDES

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the influence of i ndividual and contextual variables on attitudes toward 360-degree feed back systems. It was hypothesized that individual differences as well as contextual factors would influence employees' receptivity to the im pla mentation of a multirater appraisal system. Respondents were 52 em ployees from a manufacturing company and 23 employees from a telecommu nications organization. All respondents had participated in the piloti ng of a multirater feedback system. The identified variables accounted for nearly 50% of the variance in 360-degree feedback system attitude s. These findings support the notion that organizations must begin to recognize the variety of needs of the workforce and understand the imp ortance of providing a multitude of tools to improve performance. Furt her analyses indicated that contextual factors appear more important t han personality in determining 360-degree attitudes. Implications for organizational practices are suggested along with areas of future rese arch.