The Latest Research-Informed Insights into Providing Effective Feedback

Although feedback is critical for improving performance, potential feedback-givers sometimes choose not to provide feedback or provide it ineffectively. This symposium showcases the latest research in providing effective feedback. The first two papers demonstrate the reluctance to provide two specific types of feedback—moral feedback and unsolicited advice. Kim and Levine find that individuals are more reticent to provide moral (vs. non-moral) feedback, believing moral feedback will be more upsetting and have less instrumental value. Vani et al. suggest that people underestimate others’ appreciation of their unsolicited advice because they underestimate their legitimacy to provide advice. The next two papers suggest how to improve feedback. Krueger et al. show feedback is most effective when it is honest and benevolent (rather that prioritizing one over the other). Blunden et al. find that psychological distance increases feedback specificity, which recipients find more useful. This symposium provides new insights into effective feedback-giving.