I agree that attitudes have been internalized that make ratings skewed. I will add, however, that the rating for “mean performance” on a scale is context-dependent. Examples off the top of my head: 80% is an okay-ish grade in most US schools, but 50% is atrocious. Contrast this with attractiveness on a 0-10 scale: an 8 is a superior specimen, whereas a 5 is average.
With customer service in particular, I can attest to feeling a lot of pressure to give a high rating (if I must rate) because I don’t want an employee punished as a result. Heck, this goes beyond ratings. I would be a dishonest juror if I thought the defendant were guilty of a minor crime but they were facing an extreme sentence.
There is a distinction people often fail to make, which is commonly seen in analyses of fictional characters’ actions but also those of real people. It is the distinction between behaving irrationally and having extreme preferences.
If we look at actions and preferences the way decision theorists do, it is clear that preferences cannot be irrational. Indeed, rationality is defined as tendency toward preference-satisfaction. To say preferences are irrational is to say that someone’s tastes can be objectively wrong.
Example: Voldemort is very stubborn in JKR’s Harry Potter. He could have easily arranged for a minion to kill Harry, but he didn’t, and this is decried as irrational. Or even more to the point, he could have been immortal if only he hid in a cave somewhere and didn’t bother anyone.
But that is ignoring Voldemort’s revealed preference relation and just treating survival as his chief end. What is the point of selling your soul to become the most powerful lich of all time so you can live as a hermit? That would be irrational, as it would neglect Voldemort’s preferences.