Title: The dynamics of judge and target gender effects on peer evaluations in global virtual teams and the role of reciprocation

Team: Denis O’Hora, Zandra Balbinot, Bob Stephens, Longzhu Dong,

In peer evaluations, the gender of the person evaluated (the target) affects the evaluation received. In global virtual teams, for example, women are often rated higher than men (Farrell et al, 2025, Tavoletti et al, 2023). The current project adds a focus on the gender of the person providing the evaluation (the judge) and investigates the dynamics of such gender effects during a project. We also investigate whether the evaluations a judge has received in the previous week affect their rating in the current week and whether such reciprocation is moderated by judge gender.

Research Question 1: How does gender affect peer evaluation ratings given and received in global virtual teams.
•     Hypothesis 1.1: Females will be rated higher than males (Target gender)
•     Hypothesis 1.2: One’s gender affects how one rates others (Judge gender)
•     Hypothesis 1.3: Judges will exhibit an own-gender effect, rating targets of their own gender higher than others. (Judge by Target gender interaction)

Research Question 2: How do peer evaluation ratings given and received in global virtual teams change over time?
•     Hypothesis 2.1: Peer evaluation ratings change across weeks of a GVT project (Week)
•     Hypothesis 2.2: Changes in Peer evaluation ratings depend on the gender of the person rated (Target gender by Week interaction)
•     Hypothesis 2.2: Changes in Peer evaluation ratings depend on the gender of the rater (Judge gender by Week interaction)

Research Question 3: Is reciprocation is observed in peer evaluation ratings given in global virtual teams, such that judges’ ratings are affected by ratings they have received?
•     Hypothesis 3.1: Judges rated higher in the previous week give higher ratings (Judge Mean PE)
•     Hypothesis 3.2: Gender moderates the effect of received ratings on judges’ ratings (Judge Mean PE by Judge gender interaction)

Research Question 4: Are there cultural differences in the ratings given and received in global virtual teams.
•     Hypothesis 4.1: Targets’ country of origin affects the ratings they receive (Target country – random effect)
•     Hypothesis 4.2: Judges’ country of origin affects the ratings they give (Judge country – random effect)

Farrell, W., Richards, M., Taras, V., Kamous, H. E., Karnadi, L., Singh, D. P., & Idelson, M. (2025). Perceptions of leadership effectiveness in global virtual teams: Gender, personality, and self- versus peer evaluations. The Leadership Quarterly, 36(3), 101859. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2024.101859

Tavoletti, E., Bernhard, T., Dong, L., & Taras, V. (2023). Peer performance evaluations in global virtual teams: A longitudinal analysis of surface- and deep-level attributes. Journal of International Management, 29(3), 101029. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.intman.2023.101029

Lead author: Denis O’Hora, denis.ohora@universityofgalway.ie
Study registered: October 10, 2025