Psychological Science ›› 2013, Vol. 36 ›› Issue (6): 1451-1458.

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The Impact of Reward Value Orientation on Performance Feedback Effectiveness

  

  • Received:2012-12-06 Revised:2013-08-02 Online:2013-11-20 Published:2013-12-11
  • Contact: Wen-Ting DAI

奖励的价值导向对绩效反馈效果的影响

戴文婷1,时勘1,韩晓燕1,周欣悦2   

  1. 1. 中国科学院大学
    2.
  • 通讯作者: 戴文婷

Abstract: Although performance feedback has been given great importance in fostering employee self-efficacy that provide access to performance and other positive outcomes, contrasting views still exist on the effectiveness of performance feedback based on factors like the variation of individual differences, feedback characteristics, and task situation features, etc. However, the potential impact of other organizational institutions on feedback effectiveness was overlooked previously. Reward system may affect the benefit individual obtained from feedback, for the value orientation implied in reward changes individual cognition and behavior pattern in task, and it also influences the effectiveness of those feedback messages. Recent studies have provided evidence suggesting that specific incentive style subliminally activates particular awareness of the inherent value in task situation. In this view, merely reminders of the concept of money or honor – two kinds of typical incentive styles - could change personal cognition and interpersonal behavior. On the one hand, money is linked to a focus on personal inputs and outputs in a transactional term, which may manifest behaviorally as an emphasis on personal performance. In terms of that, individuals reminded of money are more interested in self-achievement, and possess a market-pricing orientation toward the interactions with others. They trade resources on the basis of equity, which underlies cost/benefit analyses, in which a person consider what he or she will receive in return before enacting a given behavior. On the other hand, honor represents affirmation and praise to individuals who comply with the rules of the common society. As it is the most typical form of social approval, sense of honor makes individuals obliged to follow and protect the social norms. Besides, interpersonal harmony is the core element of traditional system of social values in China. As a result, the emphasis on credit and reputation could arouse desire to satisfy the collective needs of sustaining cohesiveness and shaping solidarity. Accompany with this value orientation difference produced by incentive styles, individual self-concept tend to vary in accordance with the inner state of the incentive styles. Specifically, the market-pricing mode stresses the concept of private self, while social norms emphasize the concept of collective self. Since it is demonstrated that people prefer, more rapidly respond to , and are more sensitive to information that is in consistent with their self-concept, it seems reasonable that feedback message will be accepted and utilized more efficaciously by individual when the feedback adjusts its target according to the individual self-concept. As a consequence, the performance feedback designed based on reward system will effectively increase individual self-efficacy, and further promote the performance efforts, and lead to preferred outcomes eventually. In this study we discussed the interaction of performance feedback and incentive style in the process of promoting task performance and cooperation. We conducted a field study among undergraduate students to test our hypothesis. Data were collected in 2 rounds of surveys during 20 days in a large-scale urban event. All participants were volunteers in this event. 231 useable responses were available in total after matching data from two rounds of surveys with a response rate of 57.8%. We measured the independent variables (task performance, back-up behavior, knowledge sharing, and self-efficacy) in the 2 rounds of surveys. The first round survey was conducted approximately 1 week after the event starts (Time 1).The second round was conducted immediately when 2 weeks’ work ended (Time 2). While we manipulated incentive style (money/honor) and performance feedback (personal/collective) right after the first survey conducted. The results of this study show that incentive style and performance feedback have an interaction effect on task performance(F(1,226) = 4.35, p = .038))and cooperation behavior (back-up behavior:(F(1,226) = 12.52, p < .001), knowledge sharing(F(1,226) = 16.66, p < .001)).While self-efficacy has an mediated moderation effect in this process. Specifically, when monetary incentives were adopted, personal feedback improved task performance and increased cooperation more than collective feedback. In contrast, collective feedback produced higher task performance and cooperation when honor incentives were adopted. Meanwhile, self-efficacy moderated this process. Based on this result, we suggest administrators be cautious of the value message underlying the reward system. And it is recommended that organization should implement management styles that are in accordance with its culture background in order to facilitate sustainability of the organization.

Key words: money, honor, performance feedback, cooperation behavior, task performance

摘要: 本研究探讨了奖励形式启动的价值框架效应在调节绩效反馈对绩效提升与行为塑造的效果中发挥的作用。对231名大学生的问卷调查结果表明,采用金钱奖励时,接受个人绩效反馈的个体效能感更高,也有更好的绩效和合作行为表现;采用荣誉奖励时,集体绩效反馈的效果更好。即奖励形式与绩效反馈的匹配会提高组织成员绩效,增加其合作行为。基于该结果,建议管理者关注奖励体系中的价值信息与组织的管理方式相匹配,以推进组织的可持续发展。

关键词: 金钱, 荣誉, 绩效反馈, 合作行为, 任务绩效