The interactive effect of feedback sign and task type on motivation and performance
By: Avraham N. Kluger, Dina Van-Dijk.
Contributors: Van-Dijk, Dina.; U.S. Army Research Institute for the Behavioral and Social Sciences.
Series: Technical report -- 1158.; Technical report (U.S. Army Research Institute for the Behavioral and Social Sciences) -- 1158.
Publisher: U.S. Army Research Institute for the Behavioral and Social Sciences
Published: 2005
Place of publication: [Arlington, Va.]
Language: eng
Number of pages: 26
Subjects: Academic achievement.; Feedback (Psychology); Learning, Psychology of.
Description: "Providing personnel with feedback is like gambling in the stock exchange: on average, you gain, yet the variance is such that you have a 40% chance of a (performance) loss following feedback (Kluger & DeNisi, 1996). The obvious question is then when feedback leads to gain. A hunch is that the sign (positive or negative) of feedback matters. Yet, the vast literature has no clear specifications regarding when and how feedback sign influences motivation (e.g. Kluger & DeNisi, 1996). This research, following Van-Dijk and Kluger (2004), suggests that feedback sign effects can be explained by self-regulation theory (Higgins, 1997, 1998) which distinguishes between two regulatory foci: prevention versus promotion. They proposed that positive (negative) feedback motivates more under promotion (prevention) focus. Here, we suggest that the nature of the task determines regulatory focus. Prevention-inducing tasks are tasks that require vigilance and cautiousness (e.g. guarding duty, a safety task), while promotion-inducing tasks are tasks that require openness and creativeness (e.g. planning a battle's strategy, developing a new training program). Consistent with our prediction, the results of two experiments showed that negative feedback is most effective for prevention tasks, which positive feedback is most effective for promotion tasks"--Stinet.
Notes: Cover title.

"April 2005."

"Army project number 2O161102B74F."--P. iii.

Includes bibliographical references (p. 21-22).

Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited.

Contract or grant no.: MMS-70512.