"We revisit a long-held assumption in human resource management, organizational behavior, and industrial and organizational psychology that individual performance follows a Gaussian (normal) distribution."
Apparently the goal of the article is to challenge these beliefs in these particular sub-disciplines. I guess. I find it strange, too, but it seems to be speaking to a very specific audience and wasn't really intended to be picked up more generally, imo. I am not familiar with these specific areas, though, so can't speak to how important this assumption (that performance is normally distributed)is for them.
As a humble social scientist (although not psychologist) myself, I would hope that my colleagues do not believe that all distributions are normal, but who knows?! lol
