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Three rating instruments (Behaviorally Anchored Rating Scales, Numerically Anchored Rating Scales, and Trait Ratings) were compared to an external criterion of police patrolman job performance. The external criterion was five vignettes of hypothetical patrolmen's job behavior based on an inclusive job analysis. Each of the five vignettes was rated by 28 first-level supervisors using each of the three instruments. Rater perceptions of each instrument's relevance for various organizational purposes were also gathered. Analysis of the three rating instruments centered on their respective criterion sensitivity. Results indicated that the three comparison instruments were approximately equal in terms of their resistance to the errors of leniency and central tendency. None of the three instruments was shown to be resistant to halo error. The NARS instrument was preferred for applied usage. Explanations for the results center on scale ambiguity, rater opportunities to observe behavior, and the nature of rater perceptions of performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The utility of ability, effort, and direction of behavior to predict performance was examined in an experimental simulation where emphasis was placed on the conceptualization and measurement of key variables. Sixty people were hired to work on a 1-week job. Strong support was found for a linear combination of the variables to predict overall performance. Task difficulty was shown to moderate the relationship between ability and performance and the usefulness of the multiplicative combination of the predictors. The importance of considering the demands of the task in future research is discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Role ambiguity and role conflict were hypothesized to be negatively related to employee satisfaction and performance. Previous research, however, had revealed that these two types of role perceptions were not always negatively related to satisfaction and performance. Furthermore, when the predicted negative relationships were found, the magnitudes of the relationships varied widely. In this study employee ability was hypothesized to reduce the negative relationships between role perceptions and satisfaction and performance. In addition, the effect of ability was hypothesized to be moderated by organization level. The results generally failed to support the hypothesized relationships. There were, however, two significant interactions that partially supported one hypothesis. Employees with high ability were less affected by role ambiguity than employees with low ability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports an investigation of the underlying dimensionality of managerial performance utilizing a multidimensional scaling approach. Using similarities and preference data supplied by practicing managers, four dimensions were identified: Perceived Managerial Competence, Activity Level, Role Centrality, and Purposefulness. Dimensions were replicated in three independent analyses. These dimensions are descriptive and represent the relevant and discriminable criteria used by managers to evaluate managers. It is suggested that performance and evaluator "profiles" may provide a rich source of data for the analysis of managerial performance. The authors propose that a better understanding of the dimensionality of performance is a necessary precondition for the development of meaningful normative models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Five sources of feedback (the formal organization, supervisor, co-workers, the task, one's own self) were investigated for their "informativeness" as providers of information about what the job requirements are (referent) and the extent to which they were met (feedback). Findings indicate that there is a greater reliance on intrinsic sources (sources psychologically "closer" to the individual) than on more external sources for feedback information, this reliance being reduced for referent information. These findings are discussed in terms of job description items which indicate that various characteristics of the external sources are associated with a reduced reliance on intrinsic sources. Implications for future research and organizational life are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Addressing a lack of individual differences parameters in equity theory as presented by J. S. Adams, this thesis states that different individuals perceive the same ambiguous job elements differently (as inputs or outcomes); this, in turn, either facilitates or attenuates the predicted main effects of under- and over-reward in terms of job performance and attitudes. A 120-item moderator was empirically developed to test the thesis. It served to subgroup 91 male college students who had previously participated in 7-day equity study. Their data were reanalyzed, separately. The results generally supported the thesis and its differential predictions. The differential results, using subgrouping, were discussed and related to earlier main effect results, using the total undifferentiated group. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Extensive empirical research has been concerned with job performance and performance change, but virtually nothing has been done to develop a broader conceptual framework which might be useful in giving direction to further research. Toward this end, a number of diverse and previously unrelated empirical findings relevant to job performance are shown to converge on one generalization which accounts for all. The central theme of this generalization pertains to the changing nature of performance across time. The applicability of this generalization beyond the job performance setting is shown by various findings from psychological testing and animal learning research. The increased use of this inductive approach is suggested as one possible way to alleviate the widely recognized shortage of theory in industrial-differential psychology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Performance decrements and dissatisfactions at the work place have long been observed but have not been adequately explained. Activation research and selected studies of work behavior are reviewed to show that decrements in performance may be better understood in the light of recent neuro-psychological findings. This review indicates that activation theory and the research upon which it is based anticipates behavior related to variations in task design and suggests new avenues of investigation for those interested in the determinants of work behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]