Order Effects in Personnel Decision Making

Abstract Research on primacy versus recency effects in personnel decision making was reconsidered within the framework of the belief-adjustment model of Hogarth and Einhorn (1992) in this article. The model posits that primacylrecency is a function of the interaction of various features of the judgment task. On the basis of this model, we predicted that recency effects will predominate in a simulated work sample, regardless of whether ratings are made after each work-sample exercise or only at the end of the process. One hundred seventeen university students received rater training and observed a candidate's performance in 2 role-play exercises. The conditions differed in terms of exercise order (positive-negative performance vs. negative-posi- tive performance) and response mode (step-by-step vs. end-of-sequence). Results were consistent with predictions. In addition, evidence was found for (within-target) contrast effects in the work-sample ratings. Implications of the model for selection and performance evaluation judgments are discussed.