Heike Heidemeier

Self-Other Agreement in Job Performance Ratings : A Meta-Analytic Test of a Process Model

This meta-analysis explores agreement in self- and supervisory ratings of job performance (k = 128 independent samples). It suggests a 3-stage model of the rating process and reviews the empirical evidence for the relevance of each of these 3 stages to an understanding of agreement in ratings. The proposed 3-stage model serves as the guiding rationale for the examination of an extensive set of variables that moderate rater agreement. Results are reported for 2 indicators of rater agreement (correlational and mean-level agreement). Self-supervisor ratings yielded an overall correlation of .22 (rho = .34; k = 115; n = 37,752). Position characteristics and the use of nonjudgmental performance indicators were the main moderators. Leniency in self-ratings is indicated by higher mean levels of self-ratings compared with supervisory ratings. Within Western samples, performance self-ratings showed leniency (d = 0.32, Delta = .49; k = 89; n = 35,417) dependent on contextual features, scale format, and scale content.

Competition and Achievement Goals in Work Teams

This study examined how competition within teams influences which type of achievement goals employees adopt. We studied how dispositional learning-goal and performance-goal orientation interact with team-level competition and predict whether team members adopt state learning or performance achievement goals. State achievement goals, in turn, were proximal antecedents of two outcome measures: job-related self-efficacy and supervisory ratings of job performance. The participants were 502 employees and 55 supervisors. Results confirmed that competition was positively associated with state performance goals. Trait performance-goal orientation influenced whether competition was negatively associated with state learning goals. In highly competitive teams, trait performance-goal orientation was negatively related to state learning goals, whereas in less competitive teams, a performance-goal orientation was positively related to state learning goals.

Successful Return to Work After Maternity Leave: Self-Regulatory and Contextual Influences

Womens return to work after maternity leave represents an important developmental transition. Intentional self-regulation can help women successfully master this transition. In a longitudinal study with three waves of measurement waves (5, 11, and 24 weeks after re-entry; N = 267), self-efficacy beliefs and self-regulatory strategies (selection, optimization, compensation; SOC) predicted better work adjustment over time. Most importantly, contextual characteristics interacted with intentional self-regulation: for mothers who worked only a very small number of hours, who had many family obligations and who reported high levels of stress at work, it was particularly adaptive to make use of self-regulatory strategies.

Achievement goals and autonomy: how person--context interactions predict effective functioning and well-being during a career transition.

This study examined how achievement goals interact with autonomy to explain mastery of a challenging career transition. In a sample of women who were returning from maternity leave, we examined how autonomy interacted with achievement goals to explain two types of outcomes: effective functioning (i.e., self-rated work adjustment, coworker-rated work adjustment, and coworker-rated learning competence) and well-being at work (i.e., positive affect and life satisfaction). In a longitudinal design (249 employees), we found that achievement goals and autonomy had direct effects on successful return to work. Moreover, maladaptive motivational states hindered the effective use of workplace resources: Autonomy moderated the consequences associated with performance-prove and -avoidance goals. Among those who adopted performance-prove goals, autonomy improved work adjustment and learning. However, women who adopted performance-avoidance goals experienced a trade-off between effective functioning and well-being, when equipped with high autonomy.

When Work Takes Over

This study investigates whether two specific strategies of emotional labor (surface and deep acting) shown during client interactions are associated with work-related intrusions on thoughts outside of work. N = 157 bank employees provided reports of emotional labor and of work-related rumination at home on five consecutive workdays. Converging with expectations, we found that on days when surface acting was used, participants reported higher rumination. In contrast, deep acting had no significant association with work-related ruminations at home.