SOCIAL-CONTEXT OF PERFORMANCE EVALUATION DECISIONS

The rote of social and situational influences in the performance-rating process has received relatively little research attention yet merits increased attention. Although there has been acknowledgment of the role of social and situational factors in shaping rater cognition and evaluation, research has typically proceeded in a piecemeal fashion, isolating a single variable at a time. Such an approach fails to recognize that performance rating is a process with multiple social and situational facets that need to be considered simultaneously. In the present study, we tested a model of the performance-rating process, employing several social and situational variables that have been infrequently investigated and typically not in conjunction with one another. Results indicated support for the overall model and specific links within it. Implications of the results for performance-rating research are discussed.