Appraisal Outcomes Research Articles

Understanding the Mechanisms Underlying the Production of Facial Expression of Emotion: A Componential Perspective

We highlight the need to focus on the underlying determinants and production mechanisms to fully understand the nature of facial expression of emotion and to settle the theoretical debate about the meaning of motor expression. Although emotion theorists have generally remained rather vague about the details of the process, this has been a central concern of componential appraisal theories. We describe the fundamental assumptions and predictions of this approach regarding the patterning of facial expressions for different emotions. We also review recent evidence for the assumption that specific facial muscle movements may be reliable symptoms of certain appraisal outcomes and that facial expressions unfold over time on the basis of a sequence of appraisal check results.

Public Service Motivation, Task, and Non-task Behavior: A Performance Appraisal Experiment with Korean MPA and MBA Students

ABSTRACT Appraisals of public employees are important for a host of reasons, and particularly so with the increasing emphasis on pay-for-performance systems and performance-based management in the public sector. However, managerial appraisals of employees can be somewhat subjective and our understanding of the appraisal process in the public sector is largely U.S.-centric. In this study, we explore whether characteristics of managers, like a rater's public service motivation (PSM), affect appraisal outcomes for their subordinates. Using a mixed experimental design, we analyze these dynamics in a non-U.S. context with MBA and MPA students enrolled in one of Korea's top universities. We find that rater PSM moderates the influence of both task and non-task behavior on an employee's performance appraisal.

Can performance appraisals motivate employees to improve performance? A Mexican study

In this study of Mexican employees, we examined the relationship between performance appraisal characteristics (appraisal source, appraisal purpose and feedback richness) and perceived reactions of employees to the appraisal characteristics (perceived fairness and perceived accuracy of appraisals) and appraisal outcomes (appraisal satisfaction and motivation to improve). We hypothesized that multisource appraisals, appraisals used for administrative and developmental appraisals (multipurpose appraisals) and appraisals that have a high degree of feedback richness would lead to more perceived accuracy and perceived fairness of appraisals. We further hypothesized that higher levels of perceived fairness and accuracy would lead to higher levels of employee appraisal satisfaction and motivation to improve performance in the future. Results based on a survey of Mexican employees provide support for most of the hypothesized relationships. We discuss implications of the findings for research and practice of performance appraisals in the Mexican context.

EMPLOYEE PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL AND ITS IMPLICATION FOR INDIVIDUAL AND ORGANIZATIONAL GROWTH

Organizational performance and its resultant efficiency and effectiveness can only be achieved when individuals are continuously appraised and evaluated. The inability of organization to install an effective performance appraisal strategy has hindered them from achieving competitive advantage which they require more now than ever before. Appraisal processes are not systematic and regular and often characterized by personal influences occasioned by organizations preoccupation to use confidential appraisal system which hinders objectivity and fairness. Often organizations ignore management by objectives, critical incidents to personal prejudices. This is retrogressive as it affects the overall performance of the individual. 360 degrees appraisal method whereby superiors and the appraise their subordinates, subordinates appraise their superior and the appraisee appraise himself or herself and the average of all the appraisal taken to arrive at the final appraisal outcome should be now be considered by organizations. Also post appraisal counseling whereby the appraisal outcomes are analyzed to explain strengths and weaknesses and set agenda for better future performance. Organizations should stop giving less attention to the evaluation of their employees and recognize that organizational training needs can only be identified from performance appraisal outcomes. It is an invaluable tool but in the hands of human resource management officers to continuously evaluates and audits the performance of its employees in other to help organizations win competitive advantage.

Authors' sharing on handling reviewers' comments

JASA is a highly reputable journal in acoustic community and publishing in the journal is very important to academia. In the universities in Hong Kong at least, a publication in JASA could affect staff appraisal outcome. The journal has very professional editors and a secretariat office, who screen all the submissions before sending them out to reviewers. To publish in JASA, quality of the work is certainly of prime importance. However, the responses to reviewers' comments can sometimes play an important role in the process, especially on controversial issues. We believe that authors and reviewers are equal in the whole process but comments from both the editors and reviewers must be handled professionally. In this presentation, we would like to offer our views from an author's perspective. In particular, we would like to share some experiences and discuss some issues which we think could affect the final decision on a submission.

Seven biggest problems with performance appraisals: and seven development approaches to rectify them

Purpose – This paper aims to highlight the common failures of performance appraisals and describe how training can help overcome these failures. Further, to propose some practical strategies on maximizing the effectiveness of appraisal systems.Design/methodology/approach – The paper is based on, and is a synthesis of, a comprehensive literature review of over 300 articles published between 1980 and 2010.Findings – The design, management and implementation of performance appraisals have been hampered for many years by several common strategic and operational mistakes. Training and learning has a big role to play in addressing these mistakes and improving appraisal outcomes for individuals and organizations.Practical implications – Organizations invest a great deal of time and money every year into conducting employee performance appraisals. However, they are missing simple opportunities to get more value from the process and increase the integrity of their appraisal systems. Organizations can adopt the str...

PR1 Key Market Access Drivers for A Successful Health Technology Appraisal outcome – The Case of Rheumatoid Arthritis

PR1 Key Market Access Drivers for A Successful Health Technology Appraisal outcome – The Case of Rheumatoid Arthritis

Evaluating the performance appraisal system in the bank of Botswana

This article seeks to appraise the performance appraisal system in the bank of Botswana. A qualitative research design was used. The sample for the investigation was drawn from a population of 417 employees, all from nine departments. Proportionate stratified sampling was used to select representative units of measurement. A questionnaire was then distributed to the random sample of 79 respondents but seventy were returned, 88% response rate therebycontributing to the generalisability of the findings. Empirical results indicate that the system is used to identity employees for promotion and to decide on salary a wards. However, it was also found out that the reward outcomes did not always show a positive reflection of the performance appraisal outcomes, and that the system was not consistent. The article identified issues that need to be addressed for the Bank’s performance appraisal system to be effective and meet its objectives: regular training for both the employees and the evaluators; transparency in the implementation of the appraisal system; provision of continuous feedback to employees on their performance and reduction of inconsistency in the system across the Bank. Notwithstanding that, the study had limitations in the sense that the appraisal of the appraisal system was done only in one organisation, the Bank of Botswana. Also, the researcher used only one method to collect data, the questionnaire, thus, limiting the chances for triangulation of the information obtained from the survey. The study highlights the unique challenges of the PAS in the bank and provides suggestions for its improvement. Key words: Human resource management, performance management, performance appraisal.

Robustness of Judicial Decisions to Valuation‐Method Innovation: An Exploratory Empirical Study

Abstract: In shareholder litigation, judges and litigants choose from a menu of valuation methods that is evolving over time. What drives demand for new valuation methods? Does valuation method choice affect a judge's final appraisal? Is a judge more likely to favor the litigant whose valuation method coincides with the judge's if the other litigant uses a different method? Using a comprehensive hand‐collected sample of Delaware appraisal remedy shareholder litigation cases, we show that the distribution of judicial appraisal outcomes is insensitive to valuation methodology. Moreover, valuation method agreement between judge and plaintiff (or between judge and defendant) does not influence the judge's appraisal. In this sense, judicial valuation is robust to innovations in valuation technology. However, we find that judicial valuation method choice is contextual. The method a judge chooses depends on the fundamental attributes of the firm as well as the quality of litigants' proposed valuation estimates. We conclude that judges demand new valuation methods when the new methods are contextually more appropriate.

Means, motive and opportunity? Disentangling client influence on performance measurement appraisals

This paper investigates the extent to which clients were able to influence performance measurement appraisals during the downturn in commercial property markets that began in the UK during the second half of 2007. The sharp change in market sentiment produced speculation that different client categories were attempting to influence their appraisers in different ways. In particular, it was recognised that the requirement for open‐ended funds to meet redemptions gave them strong incentives to ensure that their asset values were marked down to market. Using data supplied by Investment Property Databank, we demonstrate that, indeed, unlisted open‐ended funds experienced sharper drops in capital values than other fund types in the last quarter of 2007, after the market turning point and at the time when redemptions were at their highest. These differences are statistically significant and cannot simply be explained by differences in portfolio composition. Client influence on appraisal forms one possible explanation of the results observed: the different pressures on fund managers resulting in different appraisal outcomes.

Public participation for sustainability and social learning: Concepts and lessons from three case studies in Europe

Shaping change such that it avoids losing potentially useful options for future development is a challenging task in the face of complex, coevolving socio-ecological systems. Sustainability appraisal methods, which open up dialogue and options before closing down and making suggestions, pay attention to the inclusion of various and conflicting points of view and address uncertainty, are increasingly used in the science, environment and energy policy domains. The quality of the process is seen as key to high quality appraisal outcomes. Dimensions of quality include learning opportunities which are seen as ways for addressing complexity and uncertainty. Participatory sustainability appraisal methods intend to support social learning among participants. Despite high expectations, social learning processes in sustainability appraisals are poorly conceptualized and empirically understudied. This paper (1) briefly reviews theories of social learning; (2) develops a conceptual framework for the analysis; and (3) presents an empirical application of the framework by use of data obtained from three energy and natural resource management case studies around Europe.

Accuracy and effectiveness in appraisal outcomes: the influence of self‐efficacy, personal factors and organisational variables

Two studies tested relationships of personal factors and organisational context variables with rating accuracy and perceived effectiveness of appraisals, and the role of self‐efficacy as a mediator of the relationships between the two sets of variables. Study 1 was a controlled experiment in which nurse supervisors appraised a video stimulus of a nurse's performance. Study 2 was a field study in which nurses and their supervisors each independently completed an assessment of their annual appraisal review, following the meeting. A ten‐item scale for performance appraiser self‐efficacy (PASE) was developed and tested for measurement properties on a large sample of nurses that included those who participated in either Study 1 or Study 2. The PASE scale was found to have high reliability and reasonable predictive validity. PASE predicted rating accuracy, appraiser and appraisee perceptions of effectiveness, and appraiser‐appraisee agreement on the effectiveness of an actual appraisal, after controlling for the effects of personal factors and organisational context. The main contextual influences were accountability, importance and management concern but the effects varied for self‐efficacy and different appraisal outcomes. The main predictor of self‐efficacy was the amount of training received by appraisers across the multiple sub‐tasks of appraisal.

Appraisal-driven somatovisceral response patterning: Effects of intrinsic pleasantness and goal conduciveness

Several componential emotion theories suggest that appraisal outcomes trigger characteristic somatovisceral changes that facilitate information processing and prepare the organism for adaptive behavior. The current study tested predictions derived from Scherer's Component Process Model. Participants viewed unpleasant and pleasant pictures (intrinsic pleasantness appraisal) and were asked to concurrently perform either an arm extension or an arm flexion, leading to an increase or a decrease in picture size. Increasing pleasant stimuli and decreasing unpleasant stimuli were considered goal conducive; decreasing pleasant stimuli and increasing unpleasant stimuli were considered goal obstructive (goal conduciveness appraisal). Both appraisals were marked by several somatovisceral changes (facial electromyogram, heart rate (HR)). As predicted, the changes induced by the two appraisals showed similar patterns. Furthermore, HR results, compared with data of earlier studies, suggest that the adaptive consequences of both appraisals may be mediated by stimulus proximity.

Assessing the Performance of Supervisors: Lessons for Practice and Insight into Middle Management Resistance to Change

Data from the U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board's First-Line Supervisors survey conducted in 1991 is investigated to assess the relative power of ratings on twelve management functions ( what managers do) and nine effectiveness characteristics ( how the work is performed) in the prediction of performance appraisal outcomes. Findings from this secondary analysis of the MSPB survey data indicate that a subset of the Office of Personnel Management's Management Excellence Inventory (MEI) provides a broadly useful foundation for public sector supervisor performance appraisal. As importantly, however, the analysis reported here also reveals some troublesome findings regarding impediments to employee empowerment and the devolution of problem solving incentives to lower levels of bureaucratic authority. There is evidence that middle managers tended to view supervisors less favorably when they took a greater strategic view and exercised more leadership initiative in problem solving. The more intrepid supervisors were indeed taking career risks (receiving lower performance ratings) by engaging in more reinvention of government than their bosses were comfortable with at the dawn of the federal reinventing government effort.

Changing approach to undergraduate studies documented during annual appraisal of medical students

Background: Transition from school to university life involves maturation changes in areas of academic and personal life.Method: Evaluation of factors involved was studied though analysis of appraisal interview outcomes during the first two years, which documented achievements and goal setting in 511 medical students (98% of two student-year cohorts). Qualitative analysis identified key issues in study skills, aspects of personal lives and differences in approach to university life.Results: Study goals were identified in 71% of first-year students. New study skills goals were set by over one-third of students in year 2, including goals for change in both learning techniques and assessment preparation. Organizational skills deficiencies were identified in 24.5% of first years, and as a new issue in an additional 16% of second years. Personal difficulties had little impact on resolution of study skills goals, whilst imbalances in study–leisure activities and organizational skills were significant. Motivation and consideration of career choice remained unresolved in 4.5% of second-year students. Some 63% of second years reported changes in approach to studies following discussion during the previous year's appraisal.Conclusion: Appraisals are resource intensive but valued highly by students. Appraisal outcomes provided valuable information elucidating factors affecting transition into university life.

First evidence for differential and sequential efferent effects of stimulus relevance and goal conduciveness appraisal

In the context of a memory task, participants were presented with pictures displaying biological and cultural threat stimuli or neutral stimuli ( stimulus relevance manipulation) with superimposed symbols signaling monetary gains or losses ( goal conduciveness manipulation). Results for heart rate and facial electromyogram show differential efferent effects of the respective appraisal outcomes and provide first evidence for sequential processing, as postulated by Scherer's component process model of emotion. Specifically, as predicted, muscle activity over the brow and cheek regions marking the process of relevance appraisal occurred significantly earlier than facial muscle activity markers of goal conduciveness appraisal. Heart rate, in contrast, was influenced by the stimulus relevance manipulation only.

Emotional gratifications during media use – An integrative approach

Abstract The desire to experience emotions is widely considered to be a key motivation for media use, especially for the use of media entertainment. But what exactly do people seek when they seek emotions? What kinds of gratifications do they obtain from the experience of emotions during media use? An overview of research on emotional gratifications shows that emotions can be gratifying in multiple ways – ranging from simple hedonistic gratifications to more complex gratifications such as feeling competent or morally good. An integrative framework is outlined that aims at a more systematic understanding of emotional gratifications and their influence on selective media use. We suggest that different aspects of an emotion's gratification potential are appraised simultaneously, and integrated into a holistic appraisal outcome that can be conceptualized as ‘meta-emotion’. Meta-emotions guide the recipient's intuitive decision to accept, or reject a media offer's invitation to experience emotions.

Levels of appraisal: A medial prefrontal role in high-level appraisal of emotional material

Appraisal refers to the evaluation of the meaning of emotional stimuli and is considered causal in the generation of an emotional response. Cognitive neuroscience has paid little attention to a theoretical distinction between low-level appraisal, considered to be automatic and preattentive, and high-level appraisal that requires attentional and working memory resources. To disentangle low-level from high-level appraisal, we varied cognitive load in a concurrent, unrelated working memory task, while anxiety was induced through anticipation of impending pain. Confirming theoretical predictions, we show that anxiety-related activity in dorsal medial prefrontal/rostral anterior cingulate cortex (dorsal MPFC/ACC) is attenuated under high, relative to low, cognitive load. Lateral prefrontal regions previously implicated in reappraisal and cognitive emotion regulation show a similar interaction between anxiety and cognitive load. Critically, there were no changes in physiological and subjective measures of low-level appraisal outcome and emotional response generation as a function of load, allowing us to conclude that MPFC/ACC and lateral PFC activity during anticipatory anxiety reflects high-level appraisal. Our data provide neurobiological evidence for a distinction between low-level and high-level appraisal mechanisms.

Cognitive appraisal accuracy moderates the relationship between injury severity and psychosocial outcomes in traumatic brain injury

Objective:Traumatic brain injury (TBI) frequently results in significant changes in physical, cognitive and emotional status. Outcomes after TBI may be related to accurate appraisal of these changes. This study examined the relationship between cognitive appraisal accuracy and psychosocial outcomes in TBI survivors.Methods: Participants were male and female TBI survivors (n = 103) who were at least 6 months post-injury and a family member of each survivor. Appraisal accuracy was assessed using self- and observer-report measures of perceived cognitive difficulties. Family members also completed a measure of psychosocial function. Hierarchical regression techniques were used to determine whether cognitive appraisal accuracy accounted for a significant proportion of variance in psychosocial outcomes.Results:Study findingsindicated cognitive appraisal accuracy moderated the relationship between injury severity and aspects of psychosocial function.Conclusions:The results suggest that brain injury outcomes may be improved when an individual is able to accurately assess limitations.

Property Taxation of Multifamily Housing: An Empirical Analysis of Vertical and Horizontal Equity

This paper analyzes the uniformity of the property appraisal outcome for multifamily apartment complexes in Phoenix, Arizona. Specifically, it investigates vertical and horizontal equity and equity across assessment methods. Apartment transactions and assessed valuations are examined over a five-year period (1998-2002). Once possible bias in model specification is accounted for, no evidence of vertical inequity in the sample is found. However, there is modest evidence of horizontal inequity: the results suggest that complex size and geographic location are more difficult for the assessor to value uniformly. There is also inequity between small and large properties, as represented by two different valuation methods. Thus, the findings indicate that the income approach is superior to the sales comparison approach for valuing multifamily properties for tax purposes.