Affect, such as liking fora ratee, may adversely influence the accuracy of performance ratings. This investigation directly tested the possibility that liking may influence rating accuracy by operating as an integral dimension. Student raters evaluated vignettes of professors. Liking was manipulated with trait terms that engendered different liking levels but had little implication for professor performance. The significant effect on rating accuracy indicates that liking is an integral dimension, that is, a dimension difficult to separate from performance dimensions. The results support the potential importance of affect in appraisal and implications for appraisal and future research on affect are discussed.

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This field investigation examined the effects of conscientiousness and self‐leadership training on employee self‐direction. Conscientiousness correlated significantly with supervisor evaluations of self‐direction for employees working in a hotel/resort. Self‐leadership training was then conducted for a group of the employees. Gain score analysis failed to detect an overall effect for training on self‐direction. However, conscientiousness was found to moderate the effect of self‐leadership training in that training group employees who initially scored low on conscientiousness improved their behavior more than their high conscientiousness coworkers. Implications of these findings for the practices of employee training and selection are discussed.

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The present study explored the moderating effects of organizational variables on the appraisal characteristic-appraisal satisfaction relationship. Analyses indicated that the appraisal characteristics of action plans, frequency, and rater training were more positively related to appraisal satisfaction when subordinates experienced role conflict, were not closely monitored, and supervisors had a large span of control. The results provide substantial support for conceptualizing appraisal satisfaction as a contingent function of both appraisal characteristics and organizational variables. Implications of the findings for the design of appraisal systems, appraisal effectiveness, andfuture research are discussed.