title: One (rating) from many (observations): Factors affecting the individual assessment of voice behavior in groups.
abstract: This article reports an investigation into how individuals form perceptions of overall voice behavior in group contexts. More specifically, the authors examine the effect of the proportion of group members exhibiting voice behavior in the group, the frequency of voice events in the group, and the measurement item referent (group vs. individual) on an individual's ratings of group voice behavior. In addition, the authors examine the effect that measurement item referent has on the magnitude of the relationship observed between an individual's ratings of group voice behavior and perceptions of group performance. Consistent with hypotheses, the results from 1 field study (N = 220) and 1 laboratory experiment (N = 366) indicate that: (a) When group referents were used, raters relied on the frequency of voice events (and not the proportion of group members exhibiting voice) to inform their ratings of voice behavior, whereas the opposite was true when individual-referent items were used, and (b) the magnitude of the relationship between observers' ratings of group voice behavior and their perceptions of group performance was higher when raters used group-referent, as opposed to an individual-referent, items. The authors discuss the implications of their findings for scholars interested in studying behavioral phenomena occurring in teams, groups, and work units in organizational behavior research.
authors.affiliation: Department of Management and Organizations.
authors.forename: Nathan P
authors.initials: NP
authors.lastname: Podsakoff
authors.affiliation: Department of Organization and Human Resources, School of Management, University at Buffalo, State University of New York.
authors.forename: Timothy D
authors.initials: TD
authors.lastname: Maynes
authors.affiliation: Management Department, University of Central Florida.
authors.forename: Steven W
authors.initials: SW
authors.lastname: Whiting
authors.affiliation: Department of Marketing, Warrington College of Business Administration, University of Florida.
authors.forename: Philip M
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Podsakoff
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006126:Group Processes; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012919:Social Behavior; D012938:Social Perception; D014705:Verbal Behavior; D000066477:Work Performance