MENTAL MODEL · M1024

Leniency Effect

BehaviorHigh supportPsychology

Included

Version 1.0.0 · Updated 2026-07-30

CORE DEFINITION

Evaluators tend to give overly positive and lenient evaluations of others, even when their performance is mediocre, often to avoid conflict or please the person being evaluated.

SCAFFOLDING EFFECT

psychology

Reduce cognitive load

Beware of false prosperity. If all employees receive an A in performance, the evaluation system is ineffective. This is a form of 'good-old-boy' corruption that ultimately leads to adverse selection.

anchor

Anchor fast decisions

Evaluators tend to give overly positive and lenient ratings to avoid conflict or please others, even when performance is mediocre. The result is rating inflation, loss of differentiation, making the evaluation system ineffective, and breeding 'bad money driving out good'.

MINIMUM ACTION

In progress 0/5

Practice this model in one real situation:

Recognize the existence of leniency tendency
Use scale anchors and behavioral evidence instead of impressions
Use forced distribution/calibration meetings to correct bias
Use anonymity and de-identification to reduce pressure to please
Review whether the rating distribution is distorted.

Check to track your progress (stored locally)

Learning progress0%

account_treeGenealogyexpand_more

menu_bookReferencesexpand_more

Source support: Explicit

link
wiki.mbalib.comhttps://wiki.mbalib.com/wiki/%E5%AE%BD%E5%A4%A7%E6%95%88%E5%BA%94ZH · Explicit
verified

RELATED MODELS