Being 'transparent' about pay and bonuses actually makes bosses *more* biased and less fair when they're grading your work.
While transparency is usually seen as a cure for favoritism, this study found it triggers 'centrality bias'—managers give everyone similar scores to avoid conflict or justify their decisions publicly, effectively hiding real performance differences.
<p>Internal Transparency of the System and Dependence on Creativity: Bias Effects on Performance Evaluation and Bonuses&nbsp;</p>
SSRN · 6321139
This article examines the effects of internal transparency of the performance measurement system (PMS) and the dependence on creativity on bias behaviors in performance evaluation and bonus determination. A 2x2 (4-case) between-subjects online experiment was conducted with undergraduate accounting and business students, presuming that performance evaluations can be influenced by (high vs. low) internal transparency of the PMS and (high vs. low) dependence on creativity. The results indicate that