A self‐motives perspective on feedback‐seeking behavior: Linking organizational behavior and social psychology research

Both the feedback‐seeking literature in management and the self‐motives domain in social psychology have focused on how motives affect the way in which people acquire information for self‐evaluation purposes. Despite apparent conceptual similarities, the implications of research in these domains have not been fully integrated. This paper aims to link research on feedback‐seeking behavior to recent theoretical developments in social psychology. First, the current perspective in management on feedback‐seeking motives is depicted. Second, a well‐established framework of self‐motives in social psychology is introduced. Third, similarities and differences between these two motivational perspectives are discussed and a first step towards integration is proposed. Fourth, it is demonstrated how a self‐motives perspective might guide future research on six key issues. Self‐motives might be useful in identifying new antecedents of feedback‐seeking behavior, resolving inconsistencies in the feedback‐seeking literature, understanding the interplay among feedback‐seeking motives, integrating feedback‐seeking and feedback reactions research, examining attitudinal outcomes of feedback‐seeking motives, and enhancing the feedback–performance relationship.