Management Accounting Section Midyear Meeting

The Effect of Weather on Subjective Performance Evaluation

• In Event: Performance Measurement III

Abstract

In this study, we examine how weather influences information processing and judgement. We do so in the context of subjective performance evaluations and a specific bias documented by the prior literature: spillover effects from performance on an objective measure to the subjective evaluation of an unrelated performance dimension. Results of our experiment show that cloudy weather mitigates spillover effects in subjective evaluations, consistent with cloudiness inducing more detailed and systematic cognitive processing. Our study highlights how a factor that would be seemingly inconsequential—the weather on the day of a performance evaluation—can affect supervisors’ subjective evaluations.

Authors

• Carolyn Victoria Deller, The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania

• Jeremy Michels, Wharton School University of Pennsylvania