The Evaluation Gap in Performance Perceptions: Illusory Perceptions of Groups and Individuals

Four laboratory studies documented systematic performance illusions for individuals and group members. After completing a task, most individuals typically rank their perfor-mance below the median (a negative performance illusion) and most group members rank their group performance above the median (a positive performance illusion). This evaluation gap surfaced in all studies; group members consistently assign their group a higher ank than individuals assign themselves. This gap contradicts a number of theories assuming that group biases merely extend individual biases. Performance perceptions have long been an important topic for organizational scholars. Many researchers have studied how people evaluate the performance of others (e.g., Robbins & DeNisi, 1994). This article examines how people evaluate their own performance because these self-evaluations constitute an integral part of self-efficacy judgments and self-regulation (Bandura, 1991