Identify the major limitations of Behaviour Ratings from the statemen…

Identify the major limitations of Behaviour Ratings from the statements given below.

A. Raters have a tendency to place individuals in the middle of the scale called the middle category bias.
B. Raters often display certain biases that colour their judgements of different traits.
C. Rater's overall judgement of a person is influenced by a single favourable or unfavourable trait leading to 'halo effect'.
D. Raters should not be provided training to overcome such tendencies.
E. Such scales should be developed in which response bias is likely to be large.

Choose the correct answer from the options given below:

Answer & explanation

Correct answer: option 1

The correct answer is Option (1) → A, B, C only

In a behaviour rating, a rater who knows a person well places her or him in categories of behavioural qualities. The method suffers from two major limitations: the rater’s biases (such as the halo effect) and the tendency to avoid or prefer certain positions on the scale.

A. Raters have a tendency to place individuals in the middle of the scale called the middle category bias. Correct. By avoiding extreme positions, raters crowd people into the middle of the scale. The opposite tendency, placing people only at the extremes, is the extreme response bias.

B. Raters often display certain biases that colour their judgements of different traits. Correct. This is the first limitation: the rater’s own biases colour the judgement, so the rating says something about the rater as well as the person rated.

C. Rater’s overall judgement of a person is influenced by a single favourable or unfavourable trait leading to ‘halo effect’. Correct. Most of us are greatly influenced by one favourable or unfavourable trait, and it becomes the basis on which we judge the whole person. This tendency is the halo effect.

D. Raters should not be provided training to overcome such tendencies. Incorrect. It is the reverse of the remedy: these tendencies are overcome by giving raters appropriate training. A remedy is in any case not a limitation.

E. Such scales should be developed in which response bias is likely to be large. Incorrect. The remedy is to develop scales in which the response bias is likely to be small. A scale built to make the bias large would make the ratings worse.

NCERT (2025-26): “Behavioural Ratings … The method of rating suffers from the following major limitations:

(1) Raters often display certain biases that colour their judgments of different traits. For example, most of us are greatly influenced by a single favourable or unfavourable trait. This often forms the basis of a rater’s overall judgment of a person. This tendency is known as the halo effect.
(2) Raters have a tendency to place individuals either in the middle of the scale (called middle category bias) by avoiding extreme positions, or in the extreme positions (called extreme response bias) by avoiding middle categories on the scale. These tendencies can be overcome by providing raters with appropriate training or by developing such scales in which the response bias is likely to be small.…”