Supervisor perception of work group morale

Abstract

Objectives were to determine the degree to which an "accuracy" measure of supervisory empathy is influenced by unrealistic estimation tendencies common among factory supervisors and to determine whether "group" empathy exists among supervisors. Subjects (Ss) were 38 supervisors and 190 subordinates in 3 plants. Measures were group morale (GM), predicted group morale (PGM), accuracy (ACC), typicality of prediction (TYP), and general effectiveness. ACC was negatively related to PGM (r = -.38, p < .05) and positively related to TYP (r = .43, p < .01). The correlation between GM and PGM was -.05. Conclusions are that "accuracy" measures of supervisory empathy are of questionable value and that supervisors in the 3 plants were not able to react differentially to group morale. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved)