EMPLOYEE RESPONSES TO PERFORMANCE FEEDBACK FROM THE TASK - A FIELD-STUDY OF THE MODERATING EFFECTS OF GLOBAL SELF-ESTEEM

A large body of research has examined the effects of feedback on work attitudes and behaviors. However, the role of individual differences i n feedback-response relations has not been as thoroughly examined. In this field study, the moderating effects of global self-esteem (SE) on the relationship between performance feedback from the task and sever al work attitudes and behaviors were examined. As predicted, SE intera cted with the frequency of performance feedback from the task to accou nt for significant amounts of additional variance in job performance, general job satisfaction, absenteeism, and job search intentions. Spec ifically, low SEs had lower performance, absenteeism, and job search i ntentions than high SEs in relation to frequent performance feedback f rom the task. High SEs reported greater job satisfaction than low SEs in response to frequent task-derived performance feedback. The discuss ion centers on the implications the findings have for future research and for human resource management.