Do dispositional attributions regarding peer endorsers influence product evaluations?

The effect of a peer endorsement advertisement on research participants' attitudes toward the advertised product was examined. An advertisement for a Seiko watch and a questionnaire were administered to participants. The degree of dispositional attributions regarding the endorser's motivation and participants' subsequent attitudes associated with the Seiko watch were measured. In addition, other factors that might affect product evaluation were measured. Whether product evaluation could be accounted for by correspondence bias was investigated. The results showed that the degree of dispositional attributions correlated with product evaluations. There was no correspondence bias. Possible causes for the lack of correspondence bias are discussed and a model suggesting factors accounting for participants' product evaluations is presented.     

Peer responses to a team's weakest link: a test and extension of LePine and Van Dyne's model

This article reports research intended to assess and extend a recent theory of peer responses to low-performing team members (J. A. LePine & L. Van Dyne, 2001a). An instrument that assesses 4 types of peer responses to low performers (compensating for, training, motivating, and rejecting) was developed and then cross-validated in a subsequent study. Results of the study supported the validity of the peer responses measure and were generally consistent with the attributional theory of peer responses. Low-performer characteristics influenced the peer responses. These effects were mediated in part by peer attributions, affect, and cognitions, which explained variance in the peer responses over and above the variance explained by respondents' personality characteristics (i.e., The Big Five).     

METAANALYSES OF VALIDITY STUDIES PUBLISHED BETWEEN 1964 AND 1982 AND THE INVESTIGATION OF STUDY CHARACTERISTICS

Review and metaanalyses of published validation studies for the years 1964-1982 of Journal of Applied Psychology and Personnel Psychology were undertaken to examine the effect of (1) research design; (2) criterion used; (3) type of selection instrument used; (4) occupational group studies; and (5) predictor-criterion combination on the level of observed validity coefficients. Results indicate that concurrent validation designs produce validity coefficients roughly equivalent to those obtained in predictive validation designs and that both of these designs produce higher validity coefficients than does a predictive design which includes use of the selection instrument. Of the criteria examined, performance rating criteria generally produced lower validity coefficients than did the use of other more "objective" criteria. In comparing the validities of various types of predictors, it was found cognitive ability tests were not superior to other predictors such as assessment centers, work samples, and supervisory/peer evaluations as has been found in previous metaanalytic work. Personality measures were clearly less valid. Compared to previous validity generalization work, much unexplained variance in validity coefficients remained after corrections for differences in sample size. Finally, the studies reviewed were deficient for our purposes with respect to the data reported. Selection ratios, standard deviations, reliabilities, predictor and criterion intercorrelations were rarely and inconsistently reported. There are also many predictor-criterion relationships for which very few validation efforts have been undertaken.     

Social Biases and Solutions for Procedural Objectivity

An empirically sensitive formulation of the norms of transformative criticism must recognize that even public and shared standards of evaluation can be implemented in ways that unintentionally perpetuate and reproduce forms of social bias that are epistemically detrimental. Helen Longino's theory can explain and redress such social bias by treating peer evaluations as hypotheses based on data and by requiring a kind of perspectival diversity that bears, not on the content of the community's knowledge claims, but on the beliefs and norms of the culture of the knowledge community itself. To illustrate how socializing cognition can bias evaluations, we focus on peer‐review practices, with some discussion of peer‐review practices in philosophy. Data include responses to surveys by editors from general philosophy journals, as well as analyses of reviews and editorial decisions for the 2007 Cognitive Science Society Conference.     

A NOTE ON EVALUATING BEHAVIOR MODIFICATION AND BEHAVIOR MODELING AS INDUSTRIAL TRAINING TECHNIQUES

The training literature (1967-1976) was searched for reports of scientific evaluations of behavior modification and behavior modeling used in industrial training. No reported scientific evaluations of behavior modification were found. Four reports (1976) of scientific evaluation of behavior modeling used in training managers were found. The research designs used in these studies were analyzed for possible threats to internal validity. Enough threats to internal validity were discovered in the designs used to question the reported results of behavior modeling training of managers.     

Perception and acceptance of evaluations by supervisors and peers

A survey of 200 employed graduate and undergraduate business students investigated differences in individuals’ acceptance and perceptions about peer evaluation vs. supervisor evaluation. Results showed that, compared to peer evaluations, acceptance of supervisor evaluations is higher, supervisor evaluations are perceived as more accurate and more trusted, supervisors are seen as having more qualifications to evaluate performance and more opportunities to observe performance, and suffer less from friendship bias.     

Perception and acceptance of evaluations by supervisors and peers

A survey of 200 employed graduate and undergraduate business students investigated differences in individuals’ acceptance and perceptions about peer evaluation vs. supervisor evaluation. Results showed that, compared to peer evaluations, acceptance of supervisor evaluations is higher, supervisor evaluations are perceived as more accurate and more trusted, supervisors are seen as having more qualifications to evaluate performance and more opportunities to observe performance, and suffer less from friendship bias.     

Individual and Group Meaning: Exploring the Reciprocal Relation

Abstract

Group construct systems were defined through application of a group construct grid that elicited types of groups in which an individual had participated or closely observed. The Group Grid was administered at the beginning and the end of a 4-month graduate class. The meanings of groups to participants were interpreted by examining changes in Group Grids over time and in relation to high and low levels of group performance. The meaning of individuals to the group was assessed by peer evaluations given at the end of the project. High and low levels of peer evaluation were then predicted by an individual's Group Grid measures. The most consistent findings were that greater variation in application regarding types of groups and characteristics about groups showed strong associations with both high levels of group performance and high levels of peer evaluation. Suggestions are given for future research     

VALIDITY AND FAIRNESS OF SOME ALTERNATIVE EMPLOYEE SELECTION PROCEDURES1

Despite extensive evidence that tests are valid for employee selection, Federal Guidelines have urged employers to seek alternative selection procedures that are equally valid but have less adverse impact on minorities. Research on the validity, adverse impact and fairness of eight categories of alternatives was reviewed. Feasibility of operational use of each type of alternative in an employment setting was also discussed. Only biodata and peer evaluation were supported as having validities substantially equal to those for standardized tests. Previous reviews and more recent research indicated that interviews, self-assessments, reference checks, academic achievement, expert judgment and projective techniques had levels of validity generally below those reported for tests. Data, where available, offered no clear indication that any of the alternatives met the criterion of having equal validity with less adverse impact. Results are discussed and several additional promising alternatives are described.     

Children's peer selection: experimental examination of the role of self-perceptions

Although previous studies have examined characteristics of children selected as friends, little research has examined the role played by characteristics of the selecting child. In 2 experimental studies that examined the role of self-perceptions in peer selection, participants (91 seventh graders in Study 1 and 83 third graders in Study 2) viewed various evaluations of themselves. Participants either believed evaluations were written by unfamiliar peers (Study 1) or were asked to imagine that the views of puppets were views of unfamiliar peers (Study 2). Participants were asked to select the peers they wished to meet and interact with. When evaluations were related to specific competence domains, 7th graders preferred positive peers to negative peers, whereas 3rd graders selected peers who viewed them as they viewed themselves. When evaluations were related to global self-worth, children's selections were unrelated to views of their own global worth. Selection of a globally negative peer was associated with attachment-insecurity/maternal-rejection and depressive symptoms.     

EFFECTS OF ROTATED LEADERSHIP AND PEER EVALUATION ON THE FUNCTIONING AND EFFECTIVENESS OF SELF-MANAGED TEAMS: A QUASI-EXPERIMENT

In a quasi-experiment of 38 self-managed undergraduate teams, we examined the effects of team designs that differed with respect to the form of member evaluation and team leadership. Relative to teams that relied on external evaluations, teams with peer evaluations had higher levels of workload sharing, voice, cooperation, performance, and member satisfaction. Relative to teams that relied on leader emergence, teams that rotated leadership among members had higher levels of voice, cooperation, and performance. Overall, results of the study demonstrate the potential importance of team-design decisions in self-managed teams.     

Emergent leadership and female sex role identity.

The effects of female sex role identity on self- and rater evaluations of emergent leadership behavior were compared in two studies. We used the same consensus-seeking procedure in both studies to collect the data; only the biological sex composition of the groups in the second study was changed. Study 1 examined 15 mixed-sex groups of 39 female and 21 male students; Study 2 contained 96 female students in 22 same-sex groups. Sex role orientation was measured with the Bem Sex Role Inventory (BSRI: Bem, 1974). Androgynous and feminine-oriented self-ratings of leadership were significantly higher than peer ratings and were also significantly higher than the undifferentiated self-ratings. The self-ratings of masculine-oriented women agreed most closely with peer ratings. Contrary to research and theory, peer evaluation of leadership behavior by sex role orientation did not differ.     

Emergent Leadership and Female Sex Role Identity

The effects of female sex role identity on self- and rater evaluations of emergent leadership behavior were compared in two studies. We used the same consensus-seeking procedure in both studies to collect the data; only the biological sex composition of the groups in the second study was changed. Study 1 examined 15 mixed-sex groups of 39 female and 21 male students; Study 2 contained 96 female students in 22 same-sex groups. Sex role orientation was measured with the Bern Sex Role Inventory (BSRI: Bem, 1974). Androgynous and feminine-oriented self-ratings of leadership were significantly higher than peer ratings and were also significantly higher than the undifferentiated self-ratings. The self-ratings of masculine-oriented women agreed most closely with peer ratings. Contrary to research and theory, peer evaluation of leadership behavior by sex role orientation did not differ.     

Overcoming adolescents' resistance to anti-inhalant appeals.

This research was concerned with factors that affect adolescents' evaluations of persuasive anti-inhalant messages and the association of these evaluations with usage intentions. Sixth and 7th graders (N=894) received anti-inhalant messages that varied as a result of the factorial combination of message source (doctor or peer), suggested harm (social or physical), and target (message was addressed directly or indirectly to receivers). Manipulated variables were crossed with inhalant-user status (resolute nonuser, vulnerable nonuser, and user). Significant (p<.01) target and status effects on message evaluation were found. Significant interactions of status with each of the manipulated variables also emerged. Users were resistant to threatened physical harms, but suggested harms did not differentially affect resolute nonusers or vulnerable nonusers. Users and vulnerable nonusers evaluated the message more positively when targeted indirectly (p<.05). Vulnerable nonusers were more receptive to peer sources, whereas users preferred adult sources. Message evaluation was significantly associated with inhalant usage intentions (r=-.22), and this association held even after the contributions of sex, sensation seeking, acculturation, prior use, familism, and assumed peer usage were accounted for in a multiple regression analysis (overall R(2)=.24).     

Human social defeat and approach–avoidance: Escalating social-evaluative threat and threat of aggression increases social avoidance

Basic research on avoidance by Murray Sidman laid the foundation for advances in the classification, conceptualization and treatment of avoidance in psychological disorders. Contemporary avoidance research is explicitly translational and increasingly focused on how competing appetitive and aversive contingencies influence avoidance. In this laboratory investigation, we examined the effects of escalating social-evaluative threat and threat of social aggression on avoidance of social interactions. During social-defeat learning, 38 adults learned to associate 9 virtual peers with an increasing probability of receiving negative evaluations. Additionally, 1 virtual peer was associated with positive evaluations. Next, in an approach–avoidance task with social-evaluative threat, 1 peer associated with negative evaluations was presented alongside the peer associated with positive evaluations. Approaching peers produced a positive or a probabilistic negative evaluation, while avoiding peers prevented a negative evaluation (and forfeited a positive evaluation). In an approach–avoidance task with social aggression, virtual peers gave and took money away from participants. Escalating social-evaluative threat and aggression increased avoidance, ratings of feeling threatened and threat expectancy and decreased ratings of peer favorableness. These findings underscore the potential of coupling social defeat and approach–avoidance paradigms for translational research on the neurobehavioral mechanisms of social approach–avoidance decision-making and anxiety.     

PAIRED COMPARISON EVALUATIONS OF MANAGERIAL EFFECTIVENESS BY PEERS AND SUPERVISORS

Paired comparison evaluations were solicited for a relatively small group ( N = 20) of savings and loan association branch managers. Peer evaluations were obtained from 16 of these managers; supervisory evaluations were obtained from 4 officers. Inter-judge agreement (both within and between groups) was high. Further, this agreement extended beyond the derived paired comparison score to certain independently measured psychological characteristics of the persons evaluated. The peer-generated evaluations assisted the officers in making acceptable promotional decisions. In addition, discussion by the 4 officers of differences between their independently made evaluations made explicit a previously covert but potentially important difference in perspective about the determinants of managerial effectiveness. Ratings assigned by one officer reflected his implicitly heavy weight to human relations skill as a component of branch manager effectiveness; those assigned by the other 3 tended to give more weight to knowledge about financial matters related to the savings and loan industry.     

Rating Procedures for Improving Identification of Exposure to Potentially Traumatic Events When Using Checklist Measures

Research has shown peer victimization to have strong lasting effects on adolescents’ mental health. The purpose of this study was to examine relationships among religiousness, forgiveness, and mental health in the context of peer victimization. We hypothesized that religiousness and forgiveness could be protective factors against negative effects of peer victimization on internalizing symptomatology and emotion regulation. Participants were 127 adolescents between 12 and 18 years old and their primary caregivers. Results of structural equation modeling analyses show that religiousness might not be a strong protective factor in the context of peer victimization and that certain dimensions of forgiveness (specifically benevolence motivations) might actually exacerbate the effects of peer victimization on internalizing symptomatology rather than acting as a protective factor.     

Pay Equity Evaluations of Occupations and Their Bases

Recent research indicates that type of occupation is a major basis for evaluating the fairness of earnings. The present paper reports the results of a research investigating which of the characteristics of occupations serve as bases of pay-equity evaluations, and whether there is a measure of consensus in regard to these bases. Major prevalent theoretical perspectives, such as equity theory and status value theory, served as bases for formulating and testing a series of hypotheses. The findings, based on a cross-sectional city sample of 222 employed individuals in Israel, show that pay-equity evaluations of occupations are based on a consensual frame of reference. The major bases of such evaluations were found to be occupational prestige and certain contributive inputs such as the amount of vocational training and the physical demands required of the incumbents' occupations.     

Effects of expectations about evaluation and peer recommendations on students' ratings

Previous research on consumer satisfaction suggests that the anticipation of providing a later evaluation leads to more negative appraisals. Within the context of higher education, the current experiment focused on the evaluation of a presentation and its presenter. College students (35 men, 59 women) were randomly assigned to six conditions regarding evaluative expectations and peer recommendations. Students watched a brief video of a lecture on an educational topic and then evaluated the speaker and presentation. Anticipation of providing evaluations did not influence the subsequent evaluations; however, peers' positive recommendations led to more positive evaluations whereas negative recommendations led to more negative evaluations.     

Self and Peer Ratings and Evaluations of Group Process in Mixed-Sex and Male Medical Training Groups

Medical students randomly assigned to mixed-sex or male anatomy dissection groups completed two questionnaires assessing self and peer evaluations and perceptions of group functioning. Results indicated that women and men respondents from mixed-sex groups had similar perceptions of group functioning. Respondents from both groups had similar self-evaluations and perceptions of leadership and role determinants. Significant differences were found between respondents from mixed-sex and male groups for peer evaluations, perceptions of certain aspects of group functioning (e.g., quality of communication), and for causal explanations of problems in group functioning. These differences were associated with significant differences in cohesiveness as indicated by desire for and actual change of group.