Effect of rater race on conclusions regarding differential prediction in cognitive ability tests

The possibility of predictive bias by race in employment tests is commonly examined by across-group comparisons of the slopes and intercepts of regression lines using test scores to predict performance measures. This research assumed that the criteria, primarily supervisory ratings, were unbiased. However, a concern is that the apparent lack of differential prediction in cognitive ability tests may be an artifact of the predominant use of performance ratings provided by supervisors who are members of the majority group; a criterion that is potentially biased against members of the minority group. We posited that ratings by a supervisor of the same race as the employee being rated would be less open to claims of bias. We compared ability-performance relationships in samples of Black and White employees that allowed for between-subjecls and within-subjects comparisons under 2 conditions: when all employees were rated by a White supervisor and when each employee was rated by a supervisor of the same race. Neither analysis found evidence of predictive bias against Black employees.