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The effect of implicit person theory on performance appraisals
Peter A Heslin1, Gary P Latham, Don VandeWalle
1Department of Management and Organizations, Cox School of Business, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, TX 75275, USA. heslin@cox.smu.edu
The Journal of Applied Psychology
|September 16, 2005
Summary
Managers who believe personal attributes are malleable (incremental implicit person theory) better recognize employee performance changes. Training can shift beliefs, improving performance acknowledgment.
Area of Science:
- Organizational Psychology
- Social Psychology
Background:
- Implicit Person Theory (IPT) shapes beliefs about attribute malleability.
- Managerial perceptions of employee change are crucial for performance evaluation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the impact of implicit person theory on managers' acknowledgment of employee behavior change.
- To determine if training can alter implicit person theory and improve performance recognition.
Main Methods:
- Four studies explored the relationship between incremental IPT and recognition of employee performance.
- Study 4 involved self-persuasion training for entity theorists to foster incremental IPT.
Main Results:
- Incremental IPT correlated positively with recognizing both good and poor employee performance.
- Managerial judgments were less anchored by prior impressions for incremental theorists.
- Training successfully shifted entity theorists towards incremental IPT, enhancing performance acknowledgment.
Conclusions:
- Beliefs about attribute malleability significantly influence how managers perceive employee development.
- Interventions fostering an incremental IPT can improve managers' ability to acknowledge performance improvements.