Effect of rating discrepancy on turnover intention and leader-member exchange

Despite the pervasiveness of rating discrepancy in organizations, there has been little research to examine how this common phenomenon occurring in performance appraisal influences an employee’s work relationships with an organization and a leader. In a field study surveying 147 R&D workers who were evaluated under forced distribution rating system, the present research explored this question by focusing on how rating discrepancy would affect an employee’s turnover intention and perceived leader-member exchange (LMX). With polynomial regression analysis and response surface methodology in a real-time research design, it was found that there were nonlinear relationships between rating discrepancy and turnover intention and LMX, respectively, and that these non-linear relationships were not symmetrical.