Performance Appraisal Process Research in the 1980s: What Has It Contributed to Appraisals in Use?

In the early 1980s, Landy and Farr (1980) and Feldman (1981) redirected performance appraisal research from issues related to the development of psychometrically sound rating scales to those involving the cognitive processes of raters. Since that time, several reviews have attempted to translate principles from social cognition and cognitive psychology to the specific conditions of formal appraisal systems in work-oriented organizations. In addition, a number of empirical studies have been conducted on this topic. This article reviews empirical research during the 1980s that focused on performance appraisal processes, particularly the research that has focused upon rating accuracy. The review is structured around a three-stage process model of gathering, storing, and retrieving information about social stimuli for the purposes of rating performance. Factors affecting this process are clustered into four categories: appraisal settings, ratees, raters, and the nature of the scales used for the appraisal. Once reviewed, the research is evaluated in terms of its contributions to improving the quality of appraisal systems as they are used in organizations.