Emotional responses to changing feedback: is it better to have won and lost than never to have won at all?
Two experiments investigated how self-esteem guides people's emotional responses to changing evaluative feedback. In both experiments, participants received an initial evaluation (either positive or negative) followed by a second evaluation (either positive or negative). Emotional reactions to the second evaluation were then assessed. High self-esteem participants found feedback that was consistently negative to be most distressing, whereas low self-esteem participants were most disturbed by feedback that changed from positive to negative. The theoretical and practical implications of the findings are discussed.
Brown
Jonathon D
JD
Department of Psychology, University of Washington, Seattle 98195, USA. jdb@u.washington.edu
Farnham
Shelly D
SD
Cook
Kathleen E
KE
D000124:Achievement; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D004644:Emotions; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D007721:Knowledge of Results, Psychological; D008297:Male; D012649:Self Concept; D012928:Social Desirability; D014861:Washington