Do other-reports of counterproductive work behavior provide an incremental contribution over self-reports? A meta-analytic comparison.
Much of the recent research on counterproductive work behaviors (CWBs) has used multi-item self-report measures of CWB. Because of concerns over self-report measurement, there have been recent calls to collect ratings of employees' CWB from their supervisors or coworkers (i.e., other-raters) as alternatives or supplements to self-ratings. However, little is still known about the degree to which other-ratings of CWB capture unique and valid incremental variance beyond self-report CWB. The present meta-analysis investigates a number of key issues regarding the incremental contribution of other-reports of CWB. First, self- and other-ratings of CWB were moderately to strongly correlated with each other. Second, with some notable exceptions, self- and other-report CWB exhibited very similar patterns and magnitudes of relationships with a set of common correlates. Third, self-raters reported engaging in more CWB than other-raters reported them engaging in, suggesting other-ratings capture a narrower subset of CWBs. Fourth, other-report CWB generally accounted for little incremental variance in the common correlates beyond self-report CWB. Although many have viewed self-reports of CWB with skepticism, the results of this meta-analysis support their use in most CWB research as a viable alternative to other-reports.
Department of Psychology, Texas A&M University, 4235TAMU, College Station, TX 77843-4235, USA. cmberry@tamu.edu
Christopher M
CM
Berry
Nichelle C
NC
Carpenter
Clare L
CL
Barratt
D004650:Employee Performance Appraisal / Q000592:standards*; D004651:Employment / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D057566:Self Report / Q000592:standards*