Effects of Feedback Sign on Group Goal Setting, Strategies, and Performance

Previous research on the effects of feedback sign on goal setting and performance at the individual level suggests that individuals who receive negative feedback perform at higher-levels and set higher goals than individuals who receive positive feedback. However, little research has been conducted to examine the effects of feedback sign on group goals and performance. The purpose of the present study was to examine the effects of feedback sign on group goal setting, strategy development, and task performance. Fifty-nine, three-person groups participated in a group word recognition task. Groups were exposed to either positive or negative feedback after completing the task. They were then asked to write down their strategies as a group and to perform the task a second time. The results suggested that, although groups that received negative feedback were less satisfied, these groups set higher goals, developed more strategies, and performed at higher levels than groups that received positive feedback Exploratory path analysis of the data also suggested that both feedback sign and performance at Tune 1 had an indirect effect on performance through group goals.