A Study of the Joint Effects of Situational Cues and Interdependent Self-Construals on Feedback Receivers' Responses

Employees do not always respond to feedback as management would like. To explain different responses to feedback, we proposed that both situational cues (i.e., feedback signs and styles) and the self-construals of feedback receivers (i.e., level of interdependent self) jointly affect their sense of the value of feedback and their motivation to improve. We conducted a scenario experimental design with 119 participants. Our data partially supported our predictions, which are, the informational style and the interdependent self played a mitigating role on the relationships between feedback signs and feedback receivers' responses.