Examination of the explanatory role of self-evaluation motives when studying feedback-seeking behavior in organizations

The objectives of the studies presented in this dissertation are threefold. First, on the basis of the self-motives framework, we aimed to identify new antecedents of feedback-seeking behavior. Second, we took a closer look at unresolved issues from previous feedback research by considering the explanatory role of self-motives. Third, we aimed to investigate how self-motives research might contribute to understanding the troubling relationship between feedback and performance. The first chapter of this dissertation presents an overview of past feedback-seeking research by systematically reviewing 49 studies that examined feedback-seeking behavior. In the second chapter, I examined how feedback-seeking across performance dimensions can be influenced by changing the feedback-seeker’s lay beliefs. An experiment showed that people sought more feedback about important dimensions as opposed to unimportant dimensions and sought more feedback about non-modifiable dimensions as opposed to modifiable dimensions. In the third chapter, I took a closer look at the relationship between uncertainty and feedback-seeking. Results of two studies showed that the relationship between uncertainty and feedback-seeking is less simple than previously thought. People sought more indirect feedback at high and low levels of uncertainty as opposed to moderate levels of uncertainty. In the fourth chapter, I investigated whether employees are merely interested in hearing good news about themselves or are more interested in feedback that confirms their self-concept. Results across two studies showed that people mainly reacted favorably to positive feedback. It seems that feedback reactions are dominated by self-enhancement strivings and that self-verification strivings are less prominent. In the fifth chapter I investigated the impact of requiring individuals to elaborate on feedback messages on task performance. Results of two studies showed that mean performance on a web-based in basket improved more when participants elaborated on feedback as compared to when feedback was not elaborated upon. These findings point to the importance of effortful cognitive processing of feedback in organizations. In the final chapter, the empirical findings of this dissertation are briefly summarized. The contributions, opportunities, and limitations of this dissertation are delineated from a theoretical, methodological, and practical perspective.