The Impact of Level of Performance on Feedback Strategy

The primary purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of the level of observed performance on the feedback strategy selected by a performance evaluator. One hundred and twenty‐three actual performance evaluators from 15 different organizations and 123 college students reviewed, in groups which ranged from 2 to 20, a job description for the position of electronics shop supervisor, then viewed a video which contained four (supposed) shop supervisors describing their (respective) performances for the previous year. The subjects used a behaviorally‐based device to rate the individual performances, then selected a feedback strategy to be used when discussing that evaluation with each shop supervisor. Results indicate that the feedback strategy selected varied as a function of observed performance, that the hierarchical level of the practitioners was related to the feedback strategy selected, and that the student subjects responded (somewhat) differently than their practitioner counterparts.