Judging Performance – General Mental Ability and the Convergence of Operational Performance Ratings

Abstract

Abstract. This research examined whether general mental ability (GMA) predicts rater convergence with other performance measures in operational performance appraisals (PAs). GMA is consistently related to accurate judgments of others. However, contexts in which these effects have been examined differ from real PA environments. In this study, ratings from managers who also took a GMA test were compared to ratings from other knowledgeable sources (peers, subordinates, self). Ratings from managers with higher GMA converged more with others' evaluations of ratee job performance, with correlations ranging from .15 (peers) to .28 (self), and .30 with a composite across the three sources. These findings establish external validity in support of past research examining the relationship between GMA and PA rating convergence.