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    Question

    During performance appraisal, a supervisor rates an

    employee as “excellent” in all criteria simply because the employee performed exceptionally well in one recent high-visibility project, ignoring average performance in other areas. This error most likely represents ____
    A Central tendency bias Correct Answer Incorrect Answer
    B Leniency bias Correct Answer Incorrect Answer
    C Halo effect Correct Answer Incorrect Answer
    D Recency bias Correct Answer Incorrect Answer
    E Horn effect Correct Answer Incorrect Answer

    Solution

    The halo effect occurs when a supervisor’s overall positive impression of an employee—often triggered by a single outstanding trait or achievement—colors their judgment across all other performance criteria. In this scenario, the supervisor's assessment of "excellent" in every category is a direct result of one high-visibility success, causing them to overlook the employee's otherwise average performance    

    • Central tendency bias: This error involves rating all employees as average or in the middle of the scale to avoid extremes, rather than rating them as "excellent" based on one success.
    • Leniency bias: This is a general tendency to rate all employees higher than their actual performance merits, regardless of specific recent projects or single traits.
    • Recency bias: While the high-visibility project was recent, recency bias specifically refers to over-weighting an employee's most recent actions (positive or negative) over their performance for the entire period. It does not inherently involve generalizing one trait to all other criteria.
    • Horn effect: This is the inverse of the halo effect; it occurs when one negative trait or failure causes a supervisor to rate an employee poorly in all other areas

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