Negative Performance Evaluations Research Articles

Who's to blame for the crisis of the healthcare system?

AbstractUsing an original survey, we probe Canadians' evaluation of the performance of their healthcare system and their attribution of the blame for the system's problems. We show that more vulnerable and left‐wing respondents are more likely to believe that the system is in crisis. In turn, respondents having negative performance evaluations are more likely to blame poor provincial organization rather than insufficient federal funding. Perceiving that the system is in crisis and that poor organization is the main problem are associated with support for the imposition of national standards by the federal government as a condition for additional healthcare transfers.

The Way I Feel, the Way I Play? The role of affect in goal realization in musical practice

We examined practice-related affect to determine the role it plays in four phases of goal realization in musical practice. Study 1 with a sample of 171 piano students and Study 2 with 235 students playing various instruments allowed for testing the relationships between four types of affect differing in valence and activation level based on the circumplex model and the phases of goal realization: practice intention, practice planning, actional phase of practice, and performance evaluation. In Study 2 we also analyzed longitudinal relationships between affect measured at Time 1 and actional phase of practice and performance evaluation measured 2 weeks later at Time 2. In both studies, highactivation positive affect was related to higher practice intention, while both high- and low-activation negative affect were related to more negative performance evaluation. The results are important for advancing affect and goal theories and for improving theoretical models of musical practice. They are relevant for music educators and music education researchers and can be used in screening and progressmonitoring efforts, shaping interventions to enhance students’ motivation to practice their instruments.

Judicial Inconsistency and Citizen Anti-Corruption Demobilization: Evidence from Brazil

Abstract This study examines the impact of judicial inconsistency in high-profile corruption cases on citizens' willingness to combat corruption. Based on evidence from an unexpected event during a survey in Brazil, the study demonstrates that contradictory decisions by different judges within a single day erode trust in courts and citizens' inclination to report corruption. Notably, perceptions of corruption and trust in other institutions remain unaffected. The findings support the argument that citizens can be discouraged from engaging in anti-corruption efforts not only by exposure to information about corruption but also by forming negative evaluations of anti-corruption performance. Building on previous research and the perspective of corruption as a collective-action problem, the article proposes that judicial inconsistency is perceived as a sign of insincere commitment to fighting corruption. These findings contribute to understanding the public opinion consequences of anti-corruption initiatives and the politicization of courts.

Negative performance evaluation in the imposter phenomenon

Negative performance evaluation in the imposter phenomenon

Incentivising accuracy reduces bias in the imposter phenomenon

The imposter phenomenon (IP) involves a bias towards negative performance evaluation. While dispositional theories predict that such biases are inflexible, situational theories suggest that they may respond to accuracy incentives. In this study, we tested whether performance evaluation bias in IP is responsive to financially incentivising accuracy. Participants (n = 225) high and low in IP solved a set of reasoning problems that they were informed were designed to test their intelligence. After the task, participants estimated their performance, in either an incentivised or unincentivized condition. The results replicated previous findings, as participants high in IP evaluated their performance more negatively. However, when incentivised to do so, high IP participants became more positive in their self-assessments. Amongst low IP participants, no effect of incentive was revealed. These findings emphasise the importance of situational factors in understanding and intervening on the biases associated with IP.

Exploring the nexus between microlevel and contextual influencers on women leaders’ paradox mindset

PurposeWomen leaders struggle with the persistent paradoxical expectations. Literature suggests that a paradox mindset helps to leverage these tensions. This study aims to understand the nexus between the microfoundations of individual women leaders’ experiences, their responses and the organisational context, which enables or hinders their paradox mindset.Design/methodology/approachThis study adopted a qualitative approach by conducting semistructured interviews with 14 women, all senior leaders in corporate South Africa.FindingsThe results reveal the interaction in the nexus between, firstly, women leaders’ authenticity and awareness as key anchors that enable them to adopt a paradox mindset and, secondly, the organisation’s role in creating hindrances or opportunities to leverage tensions. Women leaders in our sample applied one of two strategies: they either adapted to the environment or curated a subenvironment. This study shows that, if done authentically, through her own agency, a woman can influence interactions that make it easier to manage tensions within her environment, especially those created by negative performance evaluation because of unconscious institutional gender bias.Research limitations/implicationsThe extent to which the findings of this research can be generalised is constrained by the selected research context.Originality/valueThis research contributes to the literature on paradox theory by revealing organisational contextual influencers, such as institutional bias in negative performance evaluation, which hinders a woman leader’s opportunity to be hired or promoted. These organisational influences also interact with women leaders’ ability to embrace paradox and internally leverage agentic and communal tensions.

Explaining the American crisis of policing: Media, malfeasance, and racial prejudice

AbstractObjectiveTo include the factor of police malfeasance in the crisis of confidence in American police. Further, to explain the role of race, media, and contextual factors on individual perception of police performance. We argue that while the BLM movement was amplified by the deaths of Black people at the hands of police, it originates from the reality that police are continuously engaged in nefarious activities that wear down communities of color extensively.MethodsUsing the 2016 Collaborative Multiracial Post‐Election Survey (CMPS) and data on media reported police malfeasance in 2016 collected from the CATO institute, we explore the relationship between police malfeasance, race, and evaluations of police performance. We create two sets of logit regressions, one for all CMPS respondents and second, disaggregated by race to show the effects of media reported police malfeasance on respondent’s evaluations of police performance.ResultsIn the pooled model, we find a positive and significant correlation between poor police performance evaluations and incidences of police malfeasance. Further, substantive increases in the probability of rating police performance as poor are correlated with all respondents when disaggregated by race. We find a significant correlation among Black and White respondents, who are more likely to rate police performance as poor.ConclusionConventional narratives around the Black Lives Matter movement seem to show that deaths at the hands of local law enforcement “created” the BLM movement. We argue that the current delegitimating of police in terms of public support is related directly to police behavior themselves. Police malfeasance increases the likelihood of negative performance evaluations, thus undermining community trust in the police.

Social watching the 2020 presidential and vice-presidential debates: the effect of ideological homogeneity and partisan identity strength

This study presents a novel test of the effects of social watching a live campaign debate. We recruited just over 500 participants to view one of the two 2020 presidential campaign debates or the vice-presidential debate in real time via Zoom watch rooms. We experimentally manipulated the social dynamics of these Zoom watches to include either ideologically homogenous real-time chat, heterogenous chat, or no chat. We found asymmetry in the extent to which these chat manipulations exacerbated biased information processing. Participants in the homogenous chat Zoom sessions were more likely to provide negative debate performance evaluations of the out-group candidate but were no more likely to provide positive evaluations of the in-group candidate. Stronger partisans exhibited more bias in performance evaluation regardless of chat condition but, contrary to our expectations, did not engage in more chat compared to weak partisans.

ADHD at the workplace: ADHD symptoms, diagnostic status, and work-related functioning

Adults diagnosed with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) commonly experience impairments in multiple domains of daily living. Work has a central role in daily life and is susceptible to ADHD due to its cognitive demands. The present study seeks to examine the nature of work-related problems and impairments of adults with ADHD, and explores the association to ADHD symptoms and neuropsychological test performance. A community sample of 1231 individuals took part in this study and completed a set of questionnaires assessing ADHD symptoms and work-related problems. Furthermore, a clinical sample of 134 adults diagnosed with ADHD were recruited from an ADHD outpatient clinic, who completed the same set of questionnaires. A subsample of 51 patients with ADHD additionally performed a neuropsychological assessment using tests of attention and executive functions. Work-related problems were found both in individuals of the community sample with symptoms of ADHD and individuals diagnosed with ADHD. Individuals with ADHD reported work related problems particularly in not meeting their own standards and perceived potential, yet it less commonly manifests in negative performance evaluations at work or job loss. ADHD symptoms, in particular symptoms of inattention, were found to be strongly associated with work-related problems, whereas neuropsychological test performance was no meaningful predictor of functioning at work. This study emphasizes the susceptibility of individuals’ functioning at work to ADHD symptoms and impairments associated with ADHD. ADHD related difficulties at work should be considered in the clinical evaluation and targeted screening at the work place to provide support when indicated.

The Road to Bostock

On June 15, 2020, the Supreme Court of the United States announced its opinion in the landmark case Bostock v. Clayton County, Ga., in which the Court ruled 6-3—crossing conceived ideological lines—that the statutory prohibition against discrimination “because of sex” set forth in the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (the “Act”) extends to prohibit discrimination because of sexual orientation or gender identity or expression. Bostock—a consolidated case —involved the plight of three employees who had been terminated because of their sexual orientation or gender identity and expression. Writing for the majority, Justice Neil M. Gorsuch succinctly explained: “An employer who fires an individual merely for being gay or transgender defies the law.” The Court’s decision here has significant societal implications for millions of American workers. By some counts, eight million people (or approximately four percent of the American workforce) identify as gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender. “Sexual orientation-based and gender identity discrimination is a common occurrence in many workplaces across the country.” “Research conducted over the past four decades yields compelling evidence that employment discrimination against LGBT people exists and that it has a range of negative effects on LGBT employees.” Studies conducted in the 1980s and 1990s revealed that 16% to 68% of self-identifying lesbian, gay, and transgender respondents “reported experiencing employment discrimination at some point in their lives.” Since the mid-1990s, at least fifteen studies found that 15 percent to 43 percent of lesbian, gay, and transgender respondents experienced discrimination in the workplace. Forms of discrimination varied, ranging from being fired or denied employment, being overlooked for promotions, receiving unequal pay or benefits, receiving negative performance evaluations, and being victimized by vandalism or verbal or physical abuse. Those who identify as transgender are particularly susceptible to workplace discrimination and disparate treatment. Studies conducted between 1996 and 2006 revealed that 20% to 57% of transgender individuals had been subject to mistreatment, including termination, being refused employment, harassment, and denial of promotion. As recently as 2011, 90 percent of respondents to the largest survey of transgender people to date reported having experienced harassment or mistreatment at work, or had taken actions to avoid it, and 47 percent reported having been discriminated against in hiring, promotion, or job retention because of their gender identity. Evidence demonstrates that such workplace discrimination and harassment can have a negative impact on the wages and mental and physical health of those who identify as LGBT people. A significant body of empirical data suggests that the fear of discrimination, in and of itself, is associated with poor workplace performance and negative health outcomes. A 1999 study indicated that LGBT employees who had experienced discrimination suffered from higher rates of psychological distress and other health-related problems. Likewise, they reported lower job satisfaction and were more likely to be absent from work, or quit altogether. Now, these workers may avail themselves through remedies under Title VII, not because of who they are not, but because of who they are. This moment in our legal history is the result of a remarkable and fascinating journey and should be characterized by celebration and foresightfulness. This article will attempt to concisely capture where we have been, assess where we are, and anticipate where we might be going. Part I will briefly review the history of civil rights law in the United States, with a particular focus on the “federalization” of civil rights protections and the suspect history of the inclusion of the term “sex” in Title VII of the Act. Part II will then survey the development of law relating to discrimination because of sexual orientation or gender identity or expression and will evaluate the roots of the legal arguments for such anti-discrimination prohibitions on the alternative grounds of textualism and stare decisis. Part III will consider how the Court resolved the question in favor of textualism. Finally, Part IV will anticipate the legacy of Bostock, including its impact on matters of statutory interpretation, social change, and the now-heightened tension between the statutory prohibition against employment discrimination and the First Amendment right to freedom of religion.

Performance Information, Racial Bias, and Citizen Evaluations of Government: Evidence from Two Studies

AbstractSocial accountability reforms emphasize expanding performance information disclosure and incorporating citizen feedback into performance evaluations of public organizations. However, social accountability scholarship has largely ignored possible discriminatory implications of performance information use despite calls for more social equity research. We look to bridge these two literatures, arguing that increasing exposure to performance information can actually activate racial bias in citizen feedback. Using two samples of White MTurk participants residing in the United States, we test this argument in a Negative Performance Information Study (n = 800) and a Positive Performance Information Study (n = 800). In the Negative Performance Information Study, we find increased exposure to negative performance information triggers more negative performance evaluations of public organizations led by Black public managers, but not White public managers, and strengthens preferences to fire Black public managers, but not White public managers. In the Positive Performance Information Study, we find increased exposure to positive performance information has no impact on performance evaluations of Black, nor White public managers but strengthens preferences to reappoint White, but not Black public managers. These findings suggest increasing exposure to performance information triggers racial bias in performance evaluations and preferences for holding public managers accountable.

Great Successes and Great Failures: The Impact of Project Leader Status on Project Performance and Performance Extremeness

AbstractResearch supporting the Matthew effect demonstrates that high‐status actors experience performance benefits due to increased recognition of their work and greater opportunities and resources, but recent research also indicates that high‐status actors face a greater risk of negative performance evaluations. In this paper, we seek to contribute to the status literature by reconciling these findings and ask: To what extent does status influence heterogeneity in performance evaluations? We explore how project leader status affects the performance of innovation projects in the video game industry. We hypothesize that there is an inverted U‐shaped relationship between project leader status and project performance, and a positive relationship between project leader status and performance extremeness (i.e., performance variation). In order to test our hypotheses, we analysed the performance of video game projects and computed the status of project leaders by applying a project affiliation social network analysis. We find that an intermediate level of status – neither too much nor too little – is positively associated with average project performance. We also reveal more extreme performance effects for high‐status leaders: While some achieve superior project performance, others experience significant project failures. We, therefore, provide important theoretical and practical insights regarding how status affects the implementation of innovations. We also discuss the implications of these findings for the literature on middle‐status conformity.

How abusive supervision ultimately might enhance performance ratings among silent, neurotic employees

PurposeWith a theoretical anchoring in the conservation of resources (COR) theory, this study investigates how employees' exposure to abusive supervision ultimately might lead to enhanced supervisor ratings of their job performance because employees react with defensive silence. Employees' neuroticism also might catalyze this process.Design/methodology/approachMulti-source, three-wave data were collected from employees and their supervisors in the power-distant, collectivistic country of Pakistan.FindingsBeliefs about the presence of verbally abusive leaders, somewhat ironically, mitigate the risk of diminished supervisor-rated performance evaluations to the extent that those beliefs prompt employees to engage in self-protective behaviors to avoid confrontations with the abusive leaders. This mediating role of defensive silence is invigorated to the extent that employees' personalities make them more sensitive to stressful work situations.Practical implicationsFor practitioners, this study identifies self-protective silence as a key, potentially worrisome mechanism that employees in power-distant, collectivistic countries may use to avoid negative performance ratings by leaders they perceive as abusive, and it reveals how this process tends to vary across different employees.Originality/valueThis research cites a critical, unexplored factor through which verbally abused employees can avoid negative performance evaluations, by engaging in defensive silence, not only as a potentially detrimental solution but also as an effective short-term solution. It further clarifies that this process is more likely to occur among neurotic employees.

Immigration and political distrust in Europe: a comparative longitudinal study

ABSTRACTEuropean countries have witnessed a steady rise of political distrust over the past decades, which coincides with the rise of mass immigration. Building on existing research regarding anti-immigration attitudes and political trust, this study presents two possible theoretical mechanisms through which actual immigration trends could generate political distrust in host societies: either through cultural change or through negative evaluations of institutional performance. To empirically test these, I employ a multi-level comparative longitudinal research design using micro-attitudinal data from the European Social Survey for 17 European countries (2002–16). The results do not find support for the cultural hypothesis, as there is no evidence of an overall relationship between growth in foreign populations and citizen distrust in political institutions. However, there is support for the institutional performance hypothesis, whereby growth in foreign populations is associated with higher political distrust amongst individuals who have anti-immigration attitudes. The implication of these findings is that mass immigration is not the central cause of the decline of political trust Europe, however, it may have been a factor in the growing distrust amongst a relatively small sub-group of citizens.

Factors associated with Chinese pregnant women's preference for a cesarean section based on the theory of planned behaviour.

Cesarean delivery on maternal request is one of the important public health issues in China. Our study aimed to apply the theory of planned behaviour to comprehensively determine the factors regarding pregnant women's preference for cesarean section and to provide references for establishing measures to reduce cesarean delivery on maternal request. This cross-sectional analysis was conducted in four women's and children's hospitals in China from May to June 2018. Eligible women arriving for routine antenatal visits at these hospitals were recruited to answer a structured questionnaire. A total of 1853 pregnant women consented to participate in the investigation, with a response rate of 88.75%. Finally, 1677 pregnant women (984 nulliparae and 693 multiparae) were involved in the analysis. Descriptive statistics and logistic regression analyses were used. Of the study participants, 20.39% preferred cesarean section. For both nulliparae and multiparae, those who had lower scores of attitudes towards vaginal delivery, lower scores of childbirth self-efficacy and higher scores of subjective norms were more likely to prefer cesarean section. Pregnant women's birth preferences were significantly associated with their attitudes towards the delivery mode, childbirth self-efficacy and subjective norms, which is consistent with the theory of planned behaviour. Interventions to reduce cesarean delivery on maternal request can be developed based on the theory of planned behaviour.

How specific is cognitive change? A randomized controlled trial comparing brief cognitive and mindfulness interventions for depression

Objective: There is a debate in psychotherapy research as to whether different kinds of psychotherapy work through specific mechanisms of change. Particularly, it is questioned whether cognitive change is specific to cognitive therapy. This study aimed to answer this question by comparing a brief cognitive intervention with an active comparison intervention (i.e., brief mindfulness-based intervention) and by following strict methodological guidelines. Method: 72 currently depressed outpatients were randomized to either cognitive intervention (n = 39) or mindfulness-based intervention (n = 33). Automatic thoughts (negative self-statements, well-being, and self-confidence), dysfunctional attitudes (performance evaluation and approval by others) and depressive symptoms were assessed before and six times during treatment. Within-person and between-person mediation effects were analyzed using multilevel structural equation modeling. Results: There was no difference in cognitive change between the interventions. Negative self-statements and performance evaluations were significant mediators of the within-person effect of time on depressive symptoms, while the three other cognitive variables did not change. Conversely, change in depressive symptoms also mediated within-person cognitive change. Conclusion: Cognitive change seems to be a general rather than a specific mechanism of change. However, the mutual impact of cognitive and depressive change does not support a unidirectional causal model.

Motherhood in the Workplace: A Sociological Exploration into the Negative Performance Standards and Evaluations of Full-Time Working Mothers

This research, entitled “Motherhood in the Workplace: A Sociological Exploration into the Negative Performance Standards and Evaluations of Full-Time Working Mothers,” examines the conscious and unconscious presumptions that are made regarding pregnancy, and, by extension, women and motherhood in the workplace. These presumptions, colloquially coined as “motherhood penalties” lead to biases about a woman’s commitment to her occupation and the workplace as a whole. The penalties—whether they be immediate financial repercussions or distant career stagnation—are placed onto a woman’s presumed responsibilities beyond her present occupation. They perpetuate negative judgments as well as different, and often unfair, standards that a woman must achieve for professional success. For women, it is historically perceived that being “inside the home” is prioritized primarily and being “outside the home” is prioritized secondarily, producing the uncredited and unpaid “double burden” of responsibilities for today’s full-time working mothers. Utilizing a theoretical framework of the status characteristics theory, the cultural tension between an “ideal worker” versus a “good mother,” as well as the second shift theory, this research seeks to sociologically examine the implicit and explicit devaluation of motherhood in the workplace. The extensive, lifelong, and generational repercussions contribute to the larger interlocking structures of sexism, burdening working women, and by extension, penalizing contemporary womanhood. These conclusions can meaningfully add to a broader understanding of the gendered social barriers imposed on working women, and thus inform the meaningful cultural changes needed for a more equal and equitable labor workforce.

Two cheers for diversity: An experimental study of micro-level heterogeneity in problemistic search

In this article, we argue for an expanded view of problemistic search. Recent behavioral theory research suggests that individual search preferences influence problemistic search. We draw on this to challenge the view of problemistic search as a centrally directed organizational process that proceeds sequentially from local to distant search. We argue that search activities in organizations are heterogeneous—some individuals will first engage in local search while others may move directly to distant search. We propose that problemistic search at the macro-organizational level is therefore the result of a mix of local and distant search activities at the micro-level that shifts toward distant search in response to negative performance evaluation. We test this idea in a laboratory experiment using a repetitive task and performance feedback.

Stigma Consciousness and Evaluative Concerns: A Pathway to Psychological Distress for Academically Stigmatized Students

The psychological health of ethnic minority college students, specifically Black and Hispanic/Latinx students, warrants particular attention given their experience of ethnic stigmatization in higher education settings (e.g., lowered expectations surrounding intellectual ability). When faced with ethnic stigmatization, especially in an inherently evaluative collegiate context, concerns about negative performance evaluation may trigger increased threat vigilance, self-monitoring for mistakes, and rumination about potential failure. Thus, the evaluative concerns component of perfectionism may be a mechanism through which ethnic stigma consciousness relates to psychological distress for these students. The current investigation explored the relationships between stigma consciousness, evaluative concerns perfectionism, and psychological distress (i.e., anxiety, depression) in a large sample of Hispanic/Latinx and Black college students in the United States. The moderated mediational analysis revealed that for Hispanic/Latinx students evaluative concerns served as a mechanism through which ethnic stigma consciousness related to psychological distress. For Black students, there was no relationship between stigma consciousness and psychological distress. Findings suggest that preventative and/or treatment approaches aimed at reducing psychological distress among Hispanic/Latinx college students take into consideration the contextual impact of ethnic stigmatization. Treatments may incorporate assessment and targeting of this maladaptive component of perfectionism to disrupt the pathway to psychological distress.

The Influence of Feedback and Expert Status in Knowledge Sharing Dilemmas

Groups and organisations set cooperative goals for their members, yet in reality some team members contribute more than others to these goals. Experts, in particular, face a social dilemma: from the group's perspective they should share their knowledge, whereas individually they are better off not sharing, because acquiring knowledge is costly and they would give up a competitive advantage. Two experiments (N1 = 96, N2 = 192) tested the hypothesis, derived from indirect reciprocity theory, that experts contribute more if their status is being recognised. Expert status was manipulated under different performance feedback conditions and the impact on people's contributions in two different knowledge sharing tasks was analysed. In both studies, experts contributed more when feedback was individualised and public, ensuring both individual status rewards and public recognition. In contrast, novices contributed more when performance feedback was collective, regardless of whether it was public or private feedback. Novices did not have to fear negative performance evaluations under group feedback and could gain in social status as members of a successful group. Social value orientation moderated expert contributions in Study 2, with proself‐oriented experts being particularly susceptible to reputation gains. The studies contribute to the neglected aspect of motivation in knowledge sharing dilemmas where collective and individual interests are not necessarily aligned.