Examining contrast effects in performance appraisals: using appropriate controls and assessing accuracy

In research on contrast effects in performance appraisals, control conditions or measures of accuracy have rarely been used. In the present study, the authors included appropriate controls and used expert ratings to develop "true scores" for assessing accuracy. The study is an examination of the influence of 3 variables on performance ratings: (a) the sequence of viewing and rating performance, (b) the delay between viewing and rating performance, and (c) whether the target of the performance rating was the same person as the anchor. Experimental conditions did not have the expected differential effects on target ratings, but target ratings in all the experimental conditions showed contrast effects when compared with ratings in relevant control conditions. The target ratings in experimental conditions were accurate, however, as assessed by comparisons with true scores, thus raising questions about the relationship between contrast effects and accuracy.