Cultural Relativity in Action: A Comparison of Self‐ratings Made by Chinese and U.S. Workers

Abstract

Using a sample of 982 leader-subordinate dyads drawn from nine different organizations in the Republic of China (i.e., Taiwan), self-ratings of performance were compared with supervisory ratings of subordinate performance. Results indicated that Chinese employees rated their job performance less favorably than did their supervisors (i.e., they exhibited a modesty bias). This modesty bias occurred relatively uniformly across gender, various educational levels, and age groups. These results are contrary to the typically reported U.S. finding that self-ratings of performance are more lenient than are supervisory ratings. A further comparison of the means of supervisory and self-ratings between this study and previous U.S. research revealed that the modesty bias appeared to be produced by the lower self-ratings made by Chinese workers as compared to their U.S. counterparts. The findings suggest that culture plays a critical role in shaping workers' perceptions of their own work performance. Results of this study are discussed in terms of their implications for future research and practice in international human resource management.

Identification as an organizational anchor: how identification and job satisfaction combine to predict turnover intention

“…In contrast, self-report surveys suggest that Japanese workers may express less commitment to their organizations (e.g., Cole, 1979;Luthans, McCaul, & Dodd, 1985;Near, 1989), and these results do not seem attributable to modesty response bias (Farh, Dobbins, & Cheng, 1991;Lincoln & Kalleberg, 1985;Yu & Murphy, 1993). Previous research (Abrams et al, 1998) also revealed cross-cultural differences in the impact of subjective normative pressures on workers in Japan versus the UK, consistent with the relatively greater levels of interdependence in Japanese culture (cf.…”

Signal‐detection Properties of Verbal Self‐reports

“…For example, parents, as the primary verbal community early in life, might be one important social influence on self-evaluation. It is interesting to note, therefore, that American parents consistently overestimate their children's abilities (Gretarsson & Gelfand, 1988;Heriot & Schmickel, 1967;Miller, Manhal, & Mee, 1991 Svenson, 1981), and Chinese employees tend to rate their job performance more realistically (Fahr, Dobbins, & Cheng, 1991). Similarly, American students, who score relatively low on mathematics achievement tests, tend to judge their math skills positively, whereas Chinese students, who score relatively high, tend to judge their skills less positively (Stevenson, Chen, & Lee, 1993;Stevenson, Lee, & Stigler, 1986).…”

Bias in Self‐evaluation: Signal Probability Effects

“…In extreme versions, neither of these perspectives seems to be well equipped to incorporate factors (such as signal probability effects) that are capable of shifting bias momentarily from "self-enhancing" to "self-effacing" and thus are likely to be present in the self-evaluation of normal individuals. Moreover, it is unclear whether these views can accommodate possible cultural differences in self-evaluation biases (Fahr, Dobbins, & Cheng, 1991;Stevenson, Chen, & Lee, 1993). It seems likely that any viable theory of behavioral self-regulation would have to take into account the results of research on the situational determinants of self-evaluation, as would occur within a psychophysical framework.…”