Gender Differences in Reaction to Public Achievement Feedback

In this series of studies the author examined the achievement and interest of 226 first-grade pupils (6-7 years old) in performing a task and the changes in achievement and interest interventions, including various rewards. The children's task was to put a circle round the differences on the drawings they were given. The task was the same for all the children, but they were divided into four groups in respect of reward: Group 1 = not rewarded, Group 2 = rewarded by token, Group 3 = rewarded by a 'lucky dip' (contingent, salient, tangible reward), Group 4 = rewarded by public achievement feedback. After completing the first task, the children could choose whether to go to play in the school-yard or to ask for another similar exercise. The degree of intrinsic motivation is shown by the spontaneous activities performed without any rewards. The achievement was the number of correctly identified details in the first task. The results showed that in Groups 3 and 4 the intrinsic motivation was significantly reduced, while the quantitative indices of achievement rose. The series of experiments revealed gender differences: public feedback on achievement brought about a significant increase in achievement in both boys and girls, while, if feedback was withdrawn, the boys lost interest in the task significantly more than the girls. The author interprets this as being due to the greater social inclination and empathy typical of females, in contrast with males' typically greater inclination towards facts and higher motivation to achieve.