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Taking advantage of social comparisons in performance appraisal: The relative percentile method
Author(s) -
Goffin Richard D.,
Jelley R. Blake,
Powell Deborah M.,
Johnston Norman G.
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
human resource management
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.888
H-Index - 94
eISSN - 1099-050X
pISSN - 0090-4848
DOI - 10.1002/hrm.20278
Subject(s) - percentile , psychology , performance appraisal , variance (accounting) , social comparison theory , percentile rank , assessment center , social psychology , sample (material) , absolute deviation , statistics , applied psychology , absolute (philosophy) , econometrics , mathematics , economics , management , chemistry , accounting , chromatography , philosophy , epistemology
Social comparison theory (Festinger, 1954) implies that it may be more efficacious for job performance raters to compare an employee to other employees rather than to use typical “absolute” rating standards. We assessed whether the incorporation of social comparisons into performance appraisals, using the relative percentile method (RPM), would predict criterion variance beyond that predicted by more traditional absolute ratings of performance. A sample (N=170) of managers involved in an assessment center was used, and the center provided criteria by which the relative criterion‐related validity of social‐comparative versus noncomparative (absolute) appraisals could be assessed. Overall, in consonance with a preponderance of earlier research, social‐comparative (RPM) performance appraisals showed incremental criterion‐related validity over traditional absolute performance appraisal methods. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.