Age stereotyping in performance appraisal.

Thirty-two personnel specialists evaluated written performance descriptions of four secretaries. The fourth secretary was a target whose age (24 or 61 years) and job experience (S years or less than 6 months) were experimentally manipulated in a 2 X 2 factorial design. Age of participant was also measured and dichotomized at the median (33). Each secretary was evaluated on six dimensions. Evaluations of the first three secretaries were combined into a composite (mean) for each performance dimension in order to permit control for potential differences in relative leniency among participants. For each dimension, evaluations of the target were regressed on the composite, on main and interaction effects involving age and job experience of the target, and on the age of the participant. There were four significant effects due to the composite, no significant main effects due to age and job experience of target, and one significant main effect for age of participant. However, the Age of Target X Age of Participant interaction effects were significant in three instances. Participants above (below) the median age provided lower (higher) evaluations to the 61year-old target than to the 24-year-old target. Implications of these results for understanding past, and conducting future, research are discussed.