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Affective Disposition and the Letter of Reference
Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes
|December 16, 1998
Summary
Individuals with positive affective dispositions write more favorable letters of reference. Letter length partially mediates this relationship, impacting overall favorability in professional recommendations.
Area of Science:
- Psychology
- Organizational Behavior
Background:
- Letters of reference are crucial in professional and academic settings.
- The writer's personal disposition may influence the content and favorability of these recommendations.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the relationship between a writer's affective disposition and the favorability of their letters of reference.
- To examine whether the length of a letter of reference mediates the link between affective disposition and its favorability.
Main Methods:
- Study 1: 110 undergraduates wrote reference letters for hypothetical candidates in a controlled lab setting.
- Study 2: 95 faculty members submitted recent letters of reference to assess real-world generalizability.
Main Results:
- Affective disposition significantly correlated with the favorability of letters of reference in both studies.
- Letter length was found to partially mediate the relationship between affective disposition and letter favorability.
Conclusions:
- A writer's positive affective disposition is associated with more favorable letters of reference.
- The length of a reference letter plays a role in how affective disposition influences its overall favorability.