Effects of feedback format on self-efficacy and subsequent performance: a comparison of attribute-based and situation-based developmental feedback

Abstract

This study investigated changes in self-efficacy to perform in a managerial assessment center as reported by 80 undergraduate management students after receiving either attribute-based or situation-based performance feedback. Changes in subsequent performance were also studied. Explorations of the moderating influence of pre-assessment self-efficacy on the relationship between feedback format and post-feedback self-efficacy, and the mediating influence of self-efficacy in the relationship between feedback format and subsequent performance were also conducted. Self-efficacy measured just prior to the assessment exercises was found to be positively correlated with performance, r = .20 and r = .25 in the first and second assessment centers, respectively. Subjects in the situation-based and in the attribute-based feedback conditions experienced increases in performance, t (39) = -2.81 and - 2.78, p < .05; and although the situation-based feedback group performed significantly better than the attribute-based group in the second assessment center, t (78) = -2.15, p < .05), this difference was due to group differences in initial performance. When differences in initial performances were controlled for, the relationship of feedback format to performance was not mediated by post-feedback self-efficacy. Pre-assessment self-efficacy did not moderate the relationship between feedback-format and post-feedback self-efficacy. Situation-based feedback recipients showed significant changes in self-efficacy after receiving feedback while subjects in the attribute condition did not. Practical implications for employee performance evaluations are discussed, as are future research directions.