The impact of performance cues on leader-behavior ratings: The role of selective information availability and probabilistic response bias

Previous research has demonstrated that performance cues can significantly influence raters' responses on leader-behavior rating questionnaires. The purpose of the present study was to explore the cognitive mechanisms that mediate this influence. Subjects watched a videotape of a problem-solving group and later rated the group leader's behavior. Perceptions of the group's performance were manipulated both before (preobservation) and after (postobservation) subjects watched the tape. Both manipulations affected the leader-behavior ratings. Analytic procedures borrowed from signal detection theory suggest that the preobservation performances cue effects were mediated by selective encoding of leader-behavior information in memory, while the postobservation effects were mediated by probabilistic response biases. Selective memory retrieval, on the other hand, did not seem to play a role. The implications of these results for developing strategies to overcome the confounding influence of performance cues on leader-behavior ratings are discussed.