Mission Accomplished? Attention to performance during the Iraq war

Abstract

Drawing from and extending research that proposes a socially embedded view of attention, we examine the influence that audiences’ legitimacy judgments have on decision makers’ attention to performance. Using data from speeches by Pentagon officials during the Iraq war, our empirical analyses yield three findings: (1) an audience’s favorable legitimacy judgments increase decision makers’ attention to performance; (2) decision makers are more likely to attend to performance when performance is strong than when performance is weak; (3) an audience’s favorable legitimacy judgments attenuate the tendency to give less attention to performance when performance is weak. Implications of these results for organizational research on attention, legitimacy, and performance feedback are discussed.