Work Motivation by Gary P. Latham

Author:Gary P. Latham [Latham, Gary P.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: SAGE Publications, Inc.
Published: 2011-12-04T16:00:00+00:00

Feedback

As has been emphasized throughout this book, feedback and goal setting are interrelated (Latham & Locke, 2007). The effect of feedback on performance is mediated by goal setting. That is, feedback leads to an improvement in performance only to the extent that it leads to the setting of a specific high goal (e.g., Locke, Cartledge, & Koeppel, 1968). Feedback, however, is a moderator of goal setting. The increase in performance over time increases more in the presence rather than the absence of feedback regarding goal attainment. In short, goals and feedback consistently work better together than either one does alone (Locke & Latham, 2002, 2005).

Seeking feedback is important because it increases the likelihood of goal setting, which, in turn, increases quality and quantity of performance (Renn & Fedor, 2001). Ashford, Blatt, and VandeWalle (2003) stated that the processing of feedback involves monitoring the environment in an automatic preconscious fashion through visual, auditory, and relational cues. Significant changes in the environment or in the preconscious monitored cues themselves may cause a shift to the conscious seeking of feedback and the conscious evaluation of the costs and benefits of doing so. Having sought feedback, and resolving uncertainty associated with the interruption, a person returns to the automatic processing of information.

Unsolicited feedback is often discarded (Roberson, Deitch, Brief, & Block, 2003). But, as the perceived value of feedback increases, people usually seek it actively and frequently (Tuckey, Brewer, & Williamson, 2002). There are at least three primary motives for why a person seeks feedback: It is (1) instrumental to attain a goal and perform well, (2) ego based to defend or enhance one’s ego, and (3) image based to protect or enhance the impression others have of oneself (Ashford & Black, 1996). Only the first motive, instrumental feedback seeking on the part of the person, is likely to enhance future performance.

Ashford and Tsui (1991) reported that seeking negative feedback creates an image of one’s effectiveness. This is because managers who do so are viewed as attentive to and caring of the opinion of others. Showing a preference for only positive feedback hurts the image of a manager in the eyes of others.

Consistent with the literature reviewed earlier, context, personality, and self-efficacy have been shown to moderate the positive effects of feedback. With regard to context, societal culture affects the type of feedback that is sought. In individualistic cultures in which most people want to stand out, feedback regarding one’s successes is more frequently sought than feedback regarding failures. The opposite is true in collectivist societies in which the emphasis for most people is to find ways of fitting in (Bailey, Chen, & Don, 1997). Taking into account individual differences in personality, Heine, Kitayama, Lehman, Takata, Ide, Leung, and Mtsumoto (2001) found that the above finding can be explained on the basis of different motives of self with regard to self-enhancement versus self-improvement.

Individual differences in self-esteem, task versus ego focus, promotion versus prevention focus, and performance- versus learning-goal orientation have also been investigated in terms of their moderating effect on feedback.

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