The Effect Of Negative Feedback On Individuals’ Creative Performance And Its Psychological Mechanism

The identification of creativity highly depends on external evaluation.To develop and screen creativity,sometimes evaluators have to give negative feedback,that is,to inform the creator a gap still exists between the current state and the external standard.While the purpose of negative feedback is mostly to help creators realize these gaps and improve creative performance,it can also dampen creators’ confidence and reduce creativity.Thus this study aims to explore the boundary conditions and psychological mechanisms of negative feedback promoting or reducing creative performance.According to self-efficacy theory and goal setting theory,it is proposed that there may be differences in the impact of long-term and immediate negative feedback on creative performance.According to feedback intervention theory and feedback enhance learning model,it is proposed that from the feedback information view,the feedback hierarchy(i.e.,which level of goals the feedback information directs the individuals’ limited attentional resources to)may determine the effect of negative feedback.According to self-efficacy theory and mindset theory,it is proposed that from the creator view,creative self-efficacy and creative mindset may influence the effect of negative feedback.Using questionnaire and experimental methods,this study attempts to answer three questions within college students:(1)Does the hierarchy of negative feedback affect an individual’s creative performance? If so,by what mechanism?(2)Is the effect of negative feedback on creative performance influenced by individual characteristics?(3)Can intervention on corresponding mediators alleviate the negative consequences of negative feedback?This study consists of three parts.Part Ⅰ examined the relationship between feedback perception,creative self-efficacy and creative performance through questionnaire design(Study 1).Study 1a developed a creativity feedback perception questionnaire for university students and tested its reliability and validity.The results shows that the daily perception of creativity feedback has a four-factor structure of 2(valence: positive,negative)× 2(hierarchy: person,task).Study 1b used this questionnaire to explore the relationship between feedback perception,creative selfefficacy,creative activity and achievement.The results showed that personal positive feedback,personal negative feedback and task negative feedback significantly predicted creative self-efficacy.Creative self-efficacy and creative activities sequentially mediates the relationship between creativity feedback perception and creative achievement.Part Ⅱ explored the psychological mechanism by which negative feedback affects creative performance in tasks.Study 2 explored the effect of negative feedback hierarchy on individuals’ divergent thinking(2a)and convergent thinking(2b)performance and the effect of affect through two experiments.Study 2a adopted a single factor three-level(personal negative feedback,task negative feedback,control group)between-subject design,and measured divergent thinking through alternative uses tasks(AUT)and realistic presented problems(RPP).Compared to participants receiving personal negative feedback,participants receiving task negative feedback had significantly lower decline in positive affect and higher gain in AUT fluency and originality.The change of positive affect partially mediated the effect of negative feedback hierarchy on divergent thinking performance.Study 2b also adopted a singlefactor three-level(personal negative feedback,task negative feedback,control group)between-subject design,and measured convergent thinking through remote associate tests and insight problems.Neither significant difference was found in change of affect nor convergent thinking performance among three groups.Since change in positive affect only partially mediates the effect of negative feedback hierarchy on divergent thinking,Study 3 further explored the mediator role of strategy adjustment and motivation.By adopting a single-factor two-level(personal negative feedback,task negative feedback)between-subject design and the same divergent thinking task as that of study 2a,this study showed that compared to personal negative feedback group,task negative feedback group had significantly higher strategy adjustment and increase in AUT fluency and originality,while no significant difference was found on motivation between two groups.Strategy adjustment completely mediated the effect of negative feedback hierarchy on divergent thinking performance.Studies 2 and 3 confirmed the positive effect of task negative feedback on divergent thinking performance.Study 4further explored if creator characteristics influence this effect.By adopting a 2(creative self-efficacy: high,low)× 2(creative mindset: high developmental,low developmental)between-subject design and the same divergent thinking task as that of study 2a and study 3,this study showed that in task negative feedback condition,creative selfefficacy and mindset had a significantly interactive effect on divergent thinking performance.For individuals with high self-efficacy,low-developmental mindset increased RPP fluency,high-developmental mindset increased RPP originality,but no such effect exists in low self-efficacy individuals.Based on the results of Study 2a and Study 3,Part Ⅲ(Study 5)attempted to intervene on the negative impact of personal negative feedback on divergent thinking.This study adopted a single-factor three-level(cognitive reappraisal,strategy adjustment,dual intervention)between-subject design,and the divergent thinking task was the same with studies 2a,3,and 4.Compared to the cognitive reappraisal group,strategy adjustment group had significantly higher RPP fluency gain,and dual intervention group had significantly higher increase in AUT fluency,RPP fluency and flexibility.To sum up,under the conditions of this research,the following conclusions can be drawn:(1)The perceived creativity feedback in life has a four-factor structure of 2(valence: positive,negative)× 2(hierarchy: person,task);(2)In the long-term daily feedback situation,personal positive feedback,personal negative feedback and task negative feedback significantly predict creative self-efficacy,and then affect creative achievement through creative activities;(3)In tasks,different hierarchies of negative feedback have different effects on divergent but not convergent thinking;(4)Compared with personal negative feedback,task negative feedback promotes divergent thinking performance thorough less positive affect decline and higher strategy adjustment;(5)In negative task feedback condition,for individuals with higher self-efficacy,lowdevelopmental mindset enables them to generate more answers,while highdevelopmental mindset enables them to generate more original answers;(6)Simultaneous use of cognitive reappraisal and strategy adjustment mitigates the negative impact of personal negative feedback on divergent thinking.These conclusions provide implications for guiding evaluators to give negative feedback appropriately,and for helping creators to cope with negative feedback effectively.