The wolf in sheep's clothing.

Abstract

Many universities and business schools have introduced a specific form of performance feedback: Student Evaluation of Teaching (SET). SET increasingly take place in a digitized and anonymous form, thereby reversing the power relations between professors and students in a form that would never exist in face-to-face interactions. SET is a double-edged sword. While SET are relied on for administrative decisions, researchers question their value, validity and reliability. Yet despite the extensive research on the student perspective of SET, we know little about professors´ mental reactions to the receipt of negative SET. In the present work, we identify different categories of negative SET, test their frequency and investigate their influence on professors´ perceived levels of stress. We also explore the mediating effect of interpersonal justice. Our theoretical and empirical findings highlight that negative SET can be operationalized in a 2x2 matrix comprising active disrespect regarding the person/course and matter-of-fact feedback concerning person/course. All SET categories targeting the person lead to increased stress in professors, which is significantly positively mediated by the perception of fairness. By examining this relationship, we offer important limitations for the use of SET at universities as tool to motivate professors to improve their teaching performance.