Title

Explaining individual differences in supervisors rating strategies: The influence of leadership style

Date of Completion

January 2006

Keywords

Business Administration, Management|Psychology, Industrial

Degree

Ph.D.

Abstract

Individuals differ in their implicit theories of job performance, resulting in a wide range of strategies used to rate overall job performance. This leads to individual differences in the relative importance placed on various workplace behaviors by supervisors making performance ratings. ^ The primary goal of the current study was to investigate individual differences in the relative weight placed on different types of behaviors related to overall job performance. Using a three-factor model of performance described by Rotundo and Sackett (2002), it was proposed that individual differences in the relative importance of the three factors could be modeled and explained through leadership style. This was investigated through a simulated rating task and leadership style assessment completed by 352 supervisors who participated in an online survey. ^ Multilevel analysis demonstrated that leadership style scales have significant positive and negative relationships with relative weights of performance components. Specifically, the transformational leadership style positively predicted the importance of contextual performance behaviors in overall ratings, and negatively predicted the importance of counterproductive behaviors. Passive management-by-exception leadership was found to positively predict the importance of counterproductive behaviors in overall ratings of job performance. Theoretical and practical implications are offered and future research directions are proposed. ^

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