Self‐Supervisor Agreement: The Influence of Feedback Seeking on the Relationship Between Self and Supervisor Ratings of Performance1

Self‐assessment research has continued to search for those factors that increase self‐other rating agreement. The current field study investigated the feedback‐seeking strategies (i. e., monitoring and inquiry) used by 125 employees to obtain performance information, as well as the relationship between feedback‐seeking strategy use and self‐supervisor performance‐rating agreement. Results indicate that the frequency of monitoring reported by employees significantly moderated the relationship between self and supervisor ratings of performance. Individuals who reported higher levels of feedback seeking through monitoring were more likely to have self‐assessments that were congruent with their supervisors' ratings of performance.     

Intergenerational Conversations Young Adults' Retrospective Accounts

This research was conducted by combining the theoretical insights of communication accommodation theory and the communicative predicament model (CPM) of aging with methodological procedures drawn from the study of interethnic communication. Accordingly, young adult respondents were asked to describe two recent conversations with an older person, one satisfying and the other dissatisfying. Results indicated that older communicators in dissatisfying conversations were characterized as being underaccommodative and negatively expressive and as stereotyping young people. In response, young people frequently characterized themselves as reluctant accommodators. In addition, dissatisfying conversations were judged as more “intergroup” than those that were satisfying. Suggested improvements for dissatisfying conversations often were placed primarily on the shoulders of the older counterparts. In contrast, in satisfying conversations, older interactants were construed as supportive, telling interesting stories, astereotypical of older people, and positively expressive. However, these same encounters often were characterized by mixed positive and negative emotions, and few suggested improvements were proffered. The data are interpreted theoretically in relation to accommodation theory and the CPM as suggesting that both satisfying and dissatisfying intergenerational conversations sustain ageist ideologies.     

THE EFFECTS OF PERCEIVED SYSTEM KNOWLEDGE ON THE AGREEMENT BETWEEN SELF-RATINGS AND SUPERVISOR RATINGS

The viability of self-assessment in the performance appraisal process has been the focus of recent work. Although some contend that self-appraisals can be beneficial, the consistent finding of lenient and inaccurate self-ratings has led others to discount and doubt their usefulness. Recent research (Farh & Dobbins, 1989a,b) has investigated the influence of a variety of factors in improving the accuracy of self-ratings. The present study was conducted to examine the effect of perceived system knowledge (PSK) on the discrepancy between self- and supervisor ratings. Seventy-three employees of two banking institutions participated by completing a questionnaire on their perceived knowledge of the performance appraisal system. The results of moderated regression analyses suggest that the level of knowledge did in fact influence the agreement among subordinates and supervisors. Self-ratings were more congruent with supervisors'ratings when the subordinates reported high levels of perceived system knowledge. Implications of these findings for organizations and areas for future research are discussed.     

Gendered Power in Cultural Contexts: Part II. Middle Class African American Heterosexual Couples with Young Children

When race and gender intersect, understanding gendered power may be complicated. The authors first describe the historical context that serves as important background for understanding gender and power in heterosexual African American relationships. Then they show how family solidarity in the face of social injustices often overrides gender equality as a goal for middle class African American couples with young children. The findings illustrate pragmatic equality within couple relationships and the willful suspension of gender roles for the well-being of the family as a whole. However, gendered power impacts couples in a variety of ways. Sometimes a woman's fear that the man might leave, for example, diminished her power in the relationship. Often a woman accommodated a man's greater power in the family because of her perception that he was often denied power in the larger society. Societal discrimination of women was less visible to couples. Implications for practice are provided.