THE EFFECTS OF PERFORMANCE ATTRIBUTIONS AND OUTCOME DEPENDENCE ON LEADER FEEDBACK BEHAVIOR FOLLOWING POOR SUBORDINATE PERFORMANCE

While feedback is considered to be among the most effective motivation al tools available in organizations, there is substantial evidence tha t leaders are often poor sources of feedback. Following poor subordina te performance, leaders have been shown to avoid providing feedback, d elay providing feedback, and distort feedback to make it less negative . While these findings are strong, there is evidence that this 'mum' e ffect may be limited by certain boundary conditions. A 2 x 2 experimen tal study was designed to determine the extent to which leader perform ance attributions (effort and ability) and outcome dependence (high an d low) affected the frequency, latency, and type of feedback provided to poor performers. The results suggest that the feedback offered to p oor performers by leaders is significantly affected by both performanc e attributions and outcome dependence. (C) 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd .