Letters of recommendation: A question of value

Abstract

Examined 80 letters of recommendation on 40 candidates for admission to graduate school as naturally occurring instances of person perception. Results reveal a pattern of nondiscriminative, nonconsensual, and nondifferentiating descriptions. Internal analyses of a subsample of the letters suggested that this pattern probably did not arise as a consequence of differential acquaintance on the part of the writers. (14 ref) (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved)