RATINGS OF MANAGERIAL CHARACTERISTICS: EVALUATION DIFFICULTY, CO‐WORKER AGREEMENT, AND SELF‐AWARENESS

Abstract

This research examined variables contributing to self‐awareness and coworker agreement on 30 managerial characteristics. The first study collected data from 233 management students on the difficulty of rating different characteristics. It also developed reliable measures of self‐protection mechanisms that may negatively influence self‐awareness. Four self‐protection factors were identified: Denial, Giving Up, Self‐Promotion, and Fear of Failure. The second study collected self‐, supervisor, peer, and subordinate ratings of the managerial characteristics to derive multiple measures of self‐awareness. There was a total of 283 co‐worker ratings for 36 target middle managers. The results showed that within‐sample co‐worker disagreement measures from Study 2 were higher for items that were perceived by the sample in Study 1 as more difficult to rate. Self‐ratings were more highly related to the average of co‐worker ratings than to the ratings provided by any one co‐worker alone. Co‐workers' ratings of the target's use of self‐protection mechanisms were negatively associated with self‐awareness measures. Ideas are discussed for other correlates of self‐awareness and ways to enhance the value of feedback processes.