ABSTRACT
This chapter concerns what motivates the behavior involved in carrying out performance appraisal (PA) in organizations. Typically, research and theory concerns motivation have focused on how PA affects the subsequent work behavior of the appraisee; it focuses on what motivates the PA behaviors themselves. PA behaviors are simply one subset of the total set of role behaviors organizational members perform. The particular purposes of PA create contexts that give PA behaviors unique and complex meanings that are worthy of study for what they can teach us about motivation and assessment. The organization presents a context with a number of dimensions, each of which may have a distinct moderating effect on the appraisal system. The chapter provides the importance of the individual's definition of the situation as a key in the motivation, both public and private. The potential central role of performance appraisal in a larger integrated system for human-resource management is becoming more important to organizations.
