Optimism and Positivity Biases in Performance Appraisal Ratings: Empirical Evidence from Professional Soccer

Using unique assessment data for players from a German Bundesliga club’s youth academy, we tested four core hypotheses on how player ratings and rater or ratee-related characteristics reflect the (prospective) optimism bias and (retrospective) positivity bias. The results indicate not only that the ratings of predicted and remembered performance are indeed higher than the talents’ actual performance throughout a season, but that these differences depend positively on the rater’s organizational experience and negatively on the amount of ratee data available. They also suggest that (prospective) anticipation is even more positively biased than (retrospective) recollection of player performances, underscoring the asymmetry between looking forward and looking backward.     

Relationship between Family Functioning and Possible Selves in Adolescents from Argentina

Abstract

The goal of this study was to analyze the relationship between different family functioning types and the content, valence, and structure of adolescents’ possible selves (PSs). Participants were adolescents (n?=?392) of both genders (female = 54.9%) from private and catholic high schools in the city of Buenos Aires, Argentina (age, M?=?14.92, SD?=?1.52). We performed a cluster analysis to explore family functioning profiles in terms of communication with parents, promotion of challenges, family cohesion, and flexibility. In order to study family functioning type and PSs content association, we performed a chi-squared test. To study family functioning type differences in PSs valence and structure we conducted a one-way MANOVA. The chi-squared test indicated that there was no significant association between family functioning type and adolescents’ PSs spontaneous content. On the other hand, the MANOVA revealed the existence of significant differences in PSs valence between each type of family functioning group. In regard to the structure of PSs, there were no significant differences between family functioning types. In conclusion, adolescents who perceived positive family functioning have more positive PSs. Family functioning type was not related to PSs content and structure.     

Indirect Effects of Daily Self-Control Demands on Subjective Vitality via Ego Depletion: How Daily Psychological Detachment Pays Off

The present study uses a within-person approach to provide insights into day-specific dynamics in the relation between self-control demands at work and well-being. Integrating arguments derived from the Limited Strength Model of Self-Control and research on spillover processes, we develop and test a theoretical model of how the adverse effects of day-specific self-control demands at work may spill over to the home domain. Specifically, we propose ego depletion at home (an indicator of regulatory resource depletion) as a mediator linking self-control demands on a given working day to reduced subjective vitality at home (an indicator of well-being). Furthermore, we suggest that daily psychological detachment moderates this indirect relationship to the effect that high detachment prevents the spillover of the adverse effects of self-control demands to the home domain. Results from our daily diary study across ten days (N = 86 employees) provide support for the proposed moderated mediation model, demonstrating that daily psychological detachment buffers the effect of self-control demands on ego depletion, thereby disrupting the indirect effect of self-control demands on subjective vitality at home. The study underlines the importance of within-person approaches for examining the adverse effects of self-control demands, and provides further evidence for the immediate resource-replenishing benefits of daily detachment levels.