Employee Impressions of a Manager

Abstract

This study examines computerized simulations of employee impressions of a manager in specific manager-employee interactions. Prior research has shown that employee impressions play a significant role in work outcomes including job performance, job performance appraisals, acceptance of change, and relationship quality to mention a few. This project examines the validity of affect control theory through application of software INTERACT, the tool that operationalizes theory principles to predict impressions and other social interaction outcomes. The key ingredients to the theory are fundamental sentiments, quantified in EPA (evaluation, potency, activity) profile dimensions on semantic differential scales ranging from −4.3 to +4.3. The theory holds that people intuitively rely on sentiments that prevail among a cultural group and extend across time. It is proposed that these sentiments maintain meaning and order in the lives of employees at work and for people in general in social life. The research compares computer-simulated predictions with experimental results for comparable manager-employee interactions. The hypothesis is supported with highly significant results.