title: Social validation in competitive employment: evaluating work performance.
abstract: Social validation is a methodology utilized to evaluate the social acceptability of treatment goals, procedures, and results of applied interventions. This methodology lends itself well to assessing the work performance of mentally retarded individuals in nonsheltered employment settings, i.e., competitive employment. In this investigation, work evaluations provided by managers, shift supervisors, nonhandicapped co-workers, and mentally retarded workers (self) were analyzed. Results indicated significant differences across rater groups with regard to worker evaluation. Mentally retarded individuals rated their own work behavior most positively, followed by co-workers, shift supervisors, and managers, respectively. Rater groups disagreed particularly with respect to evaluating mentally retarded workers' job skills and interpersonal relationships in the job environment. Implications of these findings to the issues of concordance and consumer validation are discussed.
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D004650:Employee Performance Appraisal / Q000379:methods*; D004651:Employment; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008607:Intellectual Disability / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D010559:Personnel Management / Q000379:methods*; D011594:Psychometrics