Introduction

Performance appraisal represents a central function of human resource management and has remained an important topic of investigation among organizational researchers (Dulebohn and Ferris, 1999). Because the usefulness of performance appraisal as a managerial decision tool depends partly on whether or not the performance appraisal system is able to provide accurate data on employee performance, rating accuracy is a critical aspect of the appraisal process. Although past studies tended to focus on cognitive models for explaining the quality of appraisals, the call for greater emphasis on social and contextual factors in performance appraisal research (Bretz et al., 1992; Ilgen et al., 1993) has led more researchers in recent years to consider affective, motivational, and political factors (Lefkowitz, 2000). Of particular interest is the notion that, often, it is not the ability but the motivation of the rater that determines the accuracy of a formal appraisal (Cleveland and Murphy, 1992). Raters may be able yet not want to provide accurate appraisals because it is not in their best interests to do so. There is some evidence that managers deliberately distort subordinates performance ratings for political reasons (Longenecker et al., 1987). For example, a manager may inflate ratings to gain employee goodwill or avoid confrontations over lower performance ratings (Fried and Tiegs, 1995). Given that performance ratings are often used to make important personnel decisions such as pay raises and promotions, how will employees react on perceiving such rating manipulations and the political motives behind them? The objective of the present study was to investigate the above issue. Specifically, in this study, I examined the effects of perceptions of performance appraisal politics (in appraisal ratings) on employee job satisfaction and turnover intention. Although little is known about how such perceptions are related to job satisfaction and turnover intention, several studies have documented the relationship between perceptions of organizational politics and these two job outcomes (Ferris and Kacmar, 1992; Kacmar et al., 1999; Valle and Perrewe, 2000).

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