Self-Other Agreement on Performance Ratings as a Predictor of Individual Longitudinal Outcomes and Future Agreement

Abstract

Performance appraisals have come under fire recently in the field of Industrial-Organizational Psychology, sparking some debate as to whether the field should continue the practice. The primary goal of this dissertation is to suggest that performance appraisals, within the lens of feedback, are a valuable tool and have some meaningful implications for individuals within organizations. The results from a 5-year archival longitudinal study suggest that (1) individuals tend to disagree initially from their manager’s rating of their performance, but converge with time; (2) the initial and longitudinal agreement in these ratings predicts individual outcomes (e.g. salary, organizational level, promotions) in predictable ways; and (3) that participation in another form of feedback procedure (i.e. a 360º feedback program) does not impact individual performance rating trajectories, but does influence the manager’s ratings of that performance in negative ways.