Perceived Anonymity Adequacy 2
Many organizations have discovered the importance of providing feedback to their
members to improve performance and, ultimately, productivity. Mechanisms for formal
feedback, such as 360-degree feedback and other multi-rater techniques, are becoming a useful
resource for information about an organizational member’s performance (Atwater, Roush, &
Fischthal, 1995; Fairhurst, 2001; Smither, Wohlers, & London., 1995, Walker & Smither, 1999).
Multi-rater techniques require employees to provide performance assessments of supervisors,
peers, as well as subordinates (Bloom & Hautaluoma, 1987; Fedor, 1997).
One key component of many multi-rater techniques for organizational feedback is
anonymity (London & Wohlers, 1991). Anonymity is “the degree to which a communicator
perceives the message source as unknown or unspecified” (Anonymous, 1998, p. 387).
Anonymity granted to those performing the evaluation “lessen[s] employee fears of the potential
costs of participation, [such as] retribution by superiors and/or coworkers for low ratings”
(Westerman & Rosse, 1997, p. 289). However, anonymity has not been thoroughly examined by
scholars studying performance feedback. Current research on anonymity in the context of
performance evaluations explores the influence of anonymity, as an independent variable, on the
content of evaluations (Antonioni, 1994; Bloom & Hautaluoma, 1987; Klimonski & Inks, 1990;
Rosen & Tesser, 1972). In essence, anonymity is assumed to produce more critical and effective
evaluations (Antonioni, 1994; London, Wohlers, & Gallagher, 1990; Westerman & Rosse).
The subjective perceptions of anonymity among those conducting performance
evaluations have been largely overlooked in feedback research. Consequently, the purpose of this
study is to investigate perceptions of anonymity during performance evaluations. In particular,
this study will examine four factors related to the adequacy of anonymity a rater may feel when
conducting a performance evaluation. Additionally, building on recent theorizing about
Convention