2008, Sparr, Jennifer L.

Based on the feedback intervention theory (Kluger & DeNisi, 1996) and the assumption that feedback affects human needs for belonging, self-esteem, control, and meaning, this dissertation addresses the question of how, why, and under what conditions beneficial feedback is positively related to well-being and desirable behavior at work. In this dissertation, beneficial feedback is operationalized as a good feedback environment as defined by Steelman, Levy, and Snell (2004) and as feedback that is perceived as fair (in line with organizational justice research; Colquitt, 2001). The focus lies on feedback that supervisors provide to their employees about the employees performance.
In Study 1, the relationship between the feedback environment and well-being at work was examined. Personal control and feelings of helplessness were studied as mediators of this relationship. In a field study, 345 employees from three different industries answered a questionnaire. Results from hierarchical regression analyses showed that the feedback environment is positively related to the indicator job satisfaction, and negatively related to job depression and turnover intentions. The relationships between feedback environment and job satisfaction, as well as job depression, were partially mediated by personal control and feelings of helplessness. Additionally, feelings of helplessness mediated the relationship between the feedback environment and turnover intentions.
Study 2 examined the relationships between perceived feedback fairness and well-being as well as personal control at work. Leader-member exchange quality was focused upon as a mediating mechanism. Ninety-nine employees from two different industries answered two questionnaires approximately half a year apart. Results from hierarchical regression analyses revealed that perceived feedback fairness was positively related to the indicators job satisfaction and personal control, and negatively related to job depression and turnover intentions. Leader-member exchange mediated these relationships.
In Study 3, the relationship between perceived feedback fairness and personal initiative as well as innovative behavior was studied. Based on the feedback intervention theory, task-detail focus after feedback reception was examined as moderator of these relationships. Data were gathered from 126 employees from different industries. Performance data were assessed with external-source ratings. In order to account for dependencies in the data due to the team structure, hierarchical linear models were calculated with random intercepts and fixed effects. Results of these models show that the relationship between perceived feedback fairness and personal initiative and innovative behavior was dependent on task-detail focus of the recipient. If feedback recipients think a lot about task details after feedback reception there is a positive relationship between feedback fairness and personal initiative. If they think rarely about task details after feedback reception there is a negative relationship between feedback fairness and personal initiative as well as innovative behavior.
These three studies show that beneficial feedback is positively related to well-being at work and under certain conditions also with positive behavior at work. These relationships can be explained by the resources beneficial feedback provides to feedback recipients, including control perceptions or high-quality exchange relationships. I argue beneficial feedback thus on the one side satisfies self-relevant needs and on the other side fosters the willingness of the feedback recipient to reciprocate the feedback with positive behavior, as social-exchange theory (Blau, 1964) predicts. These considerations are integrated into feedback intervention theory. Additionally, the necessity of combining feedback with goals that direct the attention to the specific task is discussed. This dissertation contributes to the feedback literature in disclosing the relevance of feedback for well-being and behavior of the employees, and in identifying mediating and moderating mechanisms. The present data indicate that a systematic combination of feedback and fairness is a promising line of research that helps to better understand the complex relationships between feedback and positive outcomes at work. As practical implication based on the present results I suggest that informing supervisors about the relevance of fairness and contextual characteristics of feedback delivery, and training their feedback delivery skills, will have positive consequences for well-being and work behavior of the employees.