title: Withholding negative feedback: is it about protecting the self or protecting others?
abstract: The reluctance to deliver negative feedback to someone's face is widely documented. This research disentangles the extent to which this reluctance is motivated by a desire to protect the self as opposed to others. Participants assessed an essay written by someone with high, medium, or low self-esteem. Assessment of the essay was most positive when the feedback was to be provided face-to-face, less positive when delivered anonymously, and least positive when it was not required to be delivered at all. This effect only emerged among participants low in self-liking (but was unrelated to self-competency). The self-esteem of the essay writer had no effect on evaluations. The data lend support for a self-protection motive and modest support for an other-protection motive.
authors.affiliation: School of Psychology, The University of Southern Queensland, Toowoomba, Australia. Carla.Jeffries@usq.edu.au
authors.forename: Carla H
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Jeffries
authors.forename: Matthew J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Hornsey
mesh_terms: D000704:Analysis of Variance; D032763:Behavior Control; D030141:Feedback, Psychological; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D009042:Motivation; D012649:Self Concept; D020377:Self Efficacy; D014342:Truth Disclosure; D055815:Young Adult