An Investigation of Behavioral Accuracy and Leniency: The Roles of Aberrant Self-Promotion, Accountability, and Opportunity for Personal Recognition

Abstract

A sample of aberrant self-promoters (ASPs) was identified through their pattern of answers on a 179-item questionnaire. A group of comparison participants who did not exhibit the ASP pattern was also identified. The participants viewed a videotape of a lecture and rated the lecturer's performance. Half of the participants were told that they were required to provide face-to-face feedback to the lecturer (the accountability condition); the other half were not given these instructions (non-accountability condition). Also, half of the participants were told that there may be an opportunity for them to appear on a training video for graduate student instructors (opportunity for personal recognition condition); the other half were not told of this opportunity (no opportunity condition). This study attempted to identify the roles of aberrant self-promotion, accountability, and opportunity for personal recognition in rater accuracy and rater leniency.