The cultural context of performance appraisal: Evaluating the effects of raters' cultural values on performance ratings using a policy capturing approach

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the influence of the rater values of individualism and collectivism on weights placed on different types of performance behaviors when making overall performance ratings in a performance appraisal context. Specifically, it was proposed that in comparison to individualistic raters, collectivistic raters would place lower weights on task performance, higher weights on citizenship performance and higher weights on counterproductive performance behaviors. It was also proposed that similar effects will be observed when raters are situationally primed to activate either a collectivistic (interdependent) or individualistic (independent) mindset through self-construal priming. Furthermore, it was proposed that self-construal priming would moderate the relationship between rater values of individualism and collectivism and weights placed on task and citizenship performance behaviors. Additionally, performance appraisal discomfort was proposed to mediate the relationship between rater individualism and weights placed on task performance behaviors as well as the relationship between rater collectivism and weights placed on citizenship performance behaviors.;Participants were assigned to either independent prime, interdependent prime or no prime condition and were asked to assume the role of a cellular phone store manager and rate the performance of different subordinate profiles that were manipulated on task, citizenship and counterproductive performance behaviors. Rater policies were captured using regression analyses and relative weights placed on each performance behavior were computed. As proposed, collectivistic raters placed higher weights on citizenship performance behaviors and less weight on task performance behaviors as compared to individualistic raters. Results indicated that both individualistic and collectivistic raters placed significant weights on counterproductive behaviors; however, collectivistic raters did not significantly place higher weights on counterproductive behaviors as compared to individualistic raters. Propositions regarding the effects of situational priming were only partially supported, i.e. only the activation of interdependent self-construal priming led to significantly higher weights on citizenship performance behaviors as compared to the no prime condition. The results also indicated that independent priming moderated the relationship between rater collectivism and weights placed on counterproductive performance behaviors. Hypotheses pertaining to the mediating role of performance appraisal discomfort were not supported. Implications of these findings for future research and practice are discussed.