Employees’ feedback-seeking behavior is an important way to develop and maintain self-awareness and interpersonal acuity, reduce uncertainty, boost creativity and improve innovative behavior and performance. Especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, working from home has become the new normal, supervisor feedback and employees feedback-seeking has an increasingly important impact on team creativity and team innovation performance.In the practice of organizational management, there is frequently a “feedback vacuum” between managers and employees. There is increasing research on feedback-seeking behavior in the field of OBHRM. This paper is the first to evaluate the impact of work meaning and positive attributions on workers’ feedback-seeking behavior, and the cross-level effects of supervisor development feedback including variable valence. The paper analyzes supervisor-employee paired data from 158 supervisors and 659 employees using multi-source, multi-temporal data to draw the following conclusions: (1) Positive supervisor development feedback has a significant cross-level positive effect on employee feedback-seeking behavior, whereas negative supervisor development feedback does not affect employee feedback-seeking behavior; (2) Work meaningfulness mediates the cross-level relationship between positive supervisor development feedback and employees’ feedback-seeking behaviors, whereas negative supervisor development feedback and employees’ feedback-seeking behaviors do not; (3) Positive attributions positively moderate the relationship between positive supervisor development feedback and work meaningfulness; while positively moderating the relationship between negative supervisor development feedback and work meaningfulness; (4) Positive attributions have a moderating effect on supervisor development feedback that influences the indirect relationship to feedback-seeking behavior by work meaningfulness.
AhmedU.MajidA. H. A.ZinM. L. M. (2016). Meaningful work and work engagement: A relationship demanding urgent attention. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 6(8), 116–122. https://doi.org/10.6007/ijarbss/v6-i8/2264
2.
AnseelF.BeattyA. S.ShenW.LievensF.SackettP. R. (2015). How are we doing after 30 years? A meta-analytic review of the antecedents and outcomes of feedback-seeking behavior. Journal of Management, 41(1), 318–348. https://doi.org/10.1177/0149206313484521
3.
AppuhamiR.Ranjith (2023). Linking performance measures and feedback: Self-regulation for creativity. European Accounting Review, 1–28. https://doi.org/10.1080/09638180.2023.2217858
4.
AshfordS. J. (1986). Feedback-seeking in individual adaptation: A resource perspective. Academy of Management Journal, 29(3), 465–487. https://doi.org/10.5465/256219
5.
AshfordS. J.BlackJ. S. (1996). Proactivity during organizational entry: The role of desire for control. Journal of Applied psychology, 81(2), 199.
6.
AshfordS. J.CummingsL. L. (1983). Feedback as an individual resource: Personal strategies of creating information. Organizational behavior and human performance, 32(3), 370–398.
7.
AshfordS. J.CummingsL. L. (1985). Proactive feedback seeking: The instrumental use of the information environment. Journal of occupational psychology, 58(1), 67–79.
8.
AshfordS. J.TsuiA. S. (1991). Self-regulation for managerial effectiveness: The role of active feedback seeking. Academy of Management Journal, 34(2), 251–280. https://doi.org/10.2307/256442
9.
AshforthB. E.SlussD. M.SaksA. M. (2007). Socialization tactics, proactive behavior, and newcomer learning: Integrating socialization models. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 70(3), 447–462. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2007.02.001
10.
BaiJ.WangM. (2020). The impact of empowering leadership on creativity: A perspective of job meaning. East China Economic Management, 34(7), 109–117. (in Chinese). https://doi.org/10.19629/j.cnki.34-1014/F.200211009
11.
BaileyC.MaddenA. (2016). What makes work meaningful—or meaningless. MIT Sloan Management Review, 57(4), 1–9.
12.
BaumeisterR. F.BratslavskyE.FinkenauerC.VohsK. D. (2001). Bad is stronger than good. Review of General Psychology, 5(4), 323–370. https://doi.org/10.1037//1089-2680.5.4.323
13.
BlauP. M. (1964). Exchange and power in social life. New York: John Wiley.
14.
BundersonJ. S.ThompsonJ. A. (2009). The call of the wild: Zookeepers, callings, and the double-edged sword of deeply meaningful work. Administrative Science Quarterly, 54(1), 32–57. https://doi.org/10.2189/asqu.2009.54.1.32
15.
CallisterR. R.KramerM. W.TurbanD. B. (1999). Feedback seeking following career transitions. Academy of Management Journal, 42(4), 429–438. https://doi.org/10.2307/257013
16.
ChenQLiaoS.LinL.ZhangL. (2023). Beat people but not face: The role of perceived face threat in the influence of abusive supervision on employee feedback seeking. Behavioral Sciences, 13(6), 462. https://doi.org/10.3390/bs13060462
DeciE. L.RyanR. M. (1985). The general causality orientations scale: Self-determination in personality. Journal of Research in Personality, 19(2), 109–134. https://doi.org/10.1016/0092-6566(85)90023-6
19.
De StobbeleirK. E.AshfordS. J.BuyensD. (2011). Self-regulation of creativity at work: The role of feedback-seeking behavior in creative performance. Academy of Management Journal, 54(4), 811–831. https://doi.org/10.5465/amj.2011.64870144
20.
FengM. (1999). Feedback-seeking behavior of individuals in organizations. Advances in Psychological Science(4), 44–49. (in Chinese).
21.
FiskeS. T.TaylorS. E. (2013). Social cognition: From brains to culture. Sage.
22.
GagnéM.SenecalC. B.KoestnerR. (1997). Proximal job characteristics, feelings of empowerment, and intrinsic motivation: A multidimensional model 1. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 27(14), 1222–1240. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1559-1816.1997.tb01803.x
23.
GeorgeJ. M.ZhouJ. (2000). When Openness to Experience and Conscientiousness Are Related to Creative Behavior: An Interactional Approach. Journal of Applied Psychology, 86(3), 513–524.
24.
GilbertD. T. (1998). Ordinary personology. In GilbertD. T.FiskeS. T.LindzeyG. (Eds.), The handbook of social psychology (4th ed., Vol. 2, pp. 89–150). McGraw-Hill.
25.
GilletN.GagnéM.SauvagèreS.FouquereauE. (2013). The role of supervisor autonomy support, organizational support, and autonomous and controlled motivation in predicting employees’ satisfaction and turnover intentions. European Journal of Work & Organizational Psychology, 22(4), 450–460. https://doi.org/10.1080/1359432x.2012.665228
26.
GrantA. M.BerryJ. W. (2011). The necessity of others is the mother of invention: Intrinsic and prosocial motivations, perspective taking, and creativity. Academy of Management Journal, 54(1), 73–96. https://doi.org/10.5465/amj.2011.59215085
27.
GriffinM. A.NealA.ParkerS. K. (2007). A new model of work role performance: Positive behavior in uncertain and interdependent contexts. Academy of Management Journal, 50(2), 327–347. https://doi.org/10.5465/amj.2007.24634438
28.
GuoY.LiaoJ. (2014). Research on the mechanism of supervisory developmental feedback on employee performance. Management Science, 27(1), 99–108. (in Chinese).
29.
HackmanJ. R.OldhamG. R. (1976). Motivation through the design of work: Test of a theory. Organizational Behavior & Human Performance, 16(2), 250–279. https://doi.org/10.1016/0030-5073(76)90016-7
30.
HarrisonS. H.DossingerK. (2017). Pliable guidance: A multilevel model of curiosity, feedback seeking, and feedback giving in creative work. Academy of Management Journal, 60(6), 2051–2072. https://doi.org/10.5465/amj.2015.0247
31.
HaysJ. C.WilliamsJ. R. (2011). Testing multiple motives in feedback seeking: The interaction of instrumentality and self protection motives. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 79(2), 496–504. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2011.01.007
32.
HeiderF . (1958). Request and command.
33.
HuJ.SunS.GuoM.SongH. (2014). Use of antagonists and morpholinos in loss-of-function analyses: Estrogen receptor ESR2a mediates the effects of 17alpha-ethinylestradiol on primordial germ cell distribution in zebrafish. Reproductive Biology and Endocrinology: RB Elektronica, 12(21), 40–49. (in Chinese). https://doi.org/10.1186/1477-7827-12-40
34.
JooB. K. B.ParkS. (2010). Career satisfaction, organizational commitment, and turnover intention. The Leadership & Organization Development Journal, 31(6), 482–500. https://doi.org/10.1108/01437731011069999
35.
Kammeyer-MuellerJ. D.LivingstonB. A.LiaoH. (2011). Perceived similarity, proactive adjustment, and organizational socialization. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 78(2), 225–236. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2010.09.012
36.
KilH.ProppL.De LucaA.AndradeB. F. (2020). Balanced, positive, and negative attributions: A preliminary investigation of a novel attribution coding system and associated affect and social behavior in children with disruptive behavior. Social Development, 29(4), 1176–1193. https://doi.org/10.1111/sode.12452
37.
KimY. J.KimJ. (2020). Does negative feedback benefit (or harm) recipient creativity? The role of the direction of feedback flow. Academy of Management Journal, 63(2), 584–612. https://doi.org/10.5465/amj.2016.1196
38.
KrasmanJ. (2010). The feedback-seeking personality: Big five and feedback-seeking behavior. Journal of Leadership & Organizational Studies, 17(1), 18–32. https://doi.org/10.1177/1548051809350895
39.
KrasmanJ. (2011). Taking feedback-seeking to the next “level”: Organizational structure and feedback-seeking behavior. Journal of Managerial Issues, 9–30.
LinY.LiY. (2016). The influence mechanism of high commitment human resource management on employees’ forward-looking behavior: Based on the theory of planned behavior. Nankai Management Review, 19(2), 114–123. (in Chinese).
42.
Lips-WiersmaM.WrightS. (2012). Measuring the meaning of meaningful work. Group & Organization Management, 37(5), 655–685. https://doi.org/10.1177/1059601112461578
43.
LiuD.LiaoH.LoiR. (2012). The dark side of leadership: A three-level investigation of the cascading effect of abusive supervision on employee creativity. Academy of Management Journal, 55(5), 1187–1212. https://doi.org/10.5465/amj.2010.0400
44.
LysovaE. I.AllanB. A.DikB. J.DuffyR. D.StegerM. F. (2019). Fostering meaningful work in organizations: A multi-level review and integration. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 110, 374–389. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2018.07.004
45.
MaL.XieP.WeiY.QiaoX. (2021). Does negative feedback from leaders really harm employee innovation: The role of positive attribution and job remodeling. Progress in Science and Technology, 38(12), 144–150. (in Chinese).
46.
MaierS.SeligmanM. E. (1976). Learned helplessness: Theory and evidence. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 105(1), 3–46. https://doi.org/10.1037/0096-3445.105.1.3
47.
MartinkoM. J.DouglasS. C.FordR. C.GundlachM. J. (2004). Dues-paying: A theoretical explication and conceptual model. Journal of Management, 30(1), 49–69. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jm.2002.12.002
48.
MartinkoM. J.HarveyP.DouglasS. C. (2007). The role, function, and contribution of attribution theory to leadership: A review. The Leadership Quarterly, 18(6), 561–585. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2007.09.004
49.
MichaelsonC.PrattM. G.GrantA. M.DunnC. P. (2014). Meaningful work: Connecting business ethics and organization studies. Journal of Business Ethics, 121(1), 77–90. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-013-1675-5
50.
MontaniF.VandenbergheC.KhedhaouriaA.CourcyF. (2020). Examining the inverted U-shaped relationship between workload and innovative work behavior: The role of work engagement and mindfulness. Human Relations, 73(1), 59–93. https://doi.org/10.1177/0018726718819055
51.
NishiiL. H.LepakD. P.SchneiderB. (2008). Employee attributions of the “why” of HR practices: Their effects on employee attitudes and behaviors, and customer satisfaction. Personnel Psychology, 61(3), 503–545. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1744-6570.2008.00121.x
52.
ParkerS. K.CollinsC. G. (2010). Taking stock: Integrating and differentiating multiple proactive behaviors. Journal of Management, 36(3), 633–662. https://doi.org/10.1177/0149206308321554
53.
RennR. W.FedorD. B. (2001). Development and field test of a feedback seeking, self-efficacy, and goal setting model of work performance. Journal of Management, 27(5), 563–583. https://doi.org/10.1177/014920630102700504
54.
RiouxS. M.PennerL. A. (2001). The causes of organizational citizenship behavior: A motivational analysis. Journal of Applied Psychology, 86(6), 1306–1314. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.86.6.1306
55.
RossoB. D.DekasK. H.WrzesniewskiA. (2010). On the meaning of work: A theoretical integration and review. Research in Organizational Behavior, 30, 91–127. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.riob.2010.09.001
56.
ShenC.MaH.YangJ.LiuT. (2013). Abusive supervision and employee’ performance: Mechanisms of FSB and learning goral orientation: Abusive supervision and employee’ performance: Mechanisms of FSB and learning goral orientation. Acta Psychology Sinica, 44(12), 1677–1686. (in Chinese). https://doi.org/10.3724/sp.J.1041.2012.01677
SongM.WangZ. (2015). The effect of developmental feedback on Subordinate feedback avoidance behavior. Journal of Management, 12(12), 1773–1779. (in Chinese).
59.
StegerM. F.DikB. J.DuffyR. D. (2012). Measuring meaningful work: The work and meaning inventory (WAMI). Journal of Career Assessment, 20(3), 322–337. https://doi.org/10.1177/1069072711436160
60.
VandeWalleD.CummingsL. L. (1997). A test of the influence of goal orientation on the feedback-seeking process. Journal of Applied Psychology, 82(3), 390–400. https://doi.org/10.1037//0021-9010.82.3.390
61.
VandeWalleD.GanesanS.ChallagallaG. N.BrownS. P. (2000). An integrated model of feedback-seeking behavior: Disposition, context, and cognition. Journal of Applied Psychology, 85(6), 996–1003. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.85.6.996
62.
WangC. H.DuanY. F. (2021). Research on the two-way feedback mechanism between supervisor developmental feedback and employee voice behavior: The moderating effect of workplace stress. Journal of Economics and Management, (4), 105–118. (in Chinese).
63.
WangZ.SongM.WangC. F.XuH. (2015). The effect of moral leadership on subordinate feedback avoidance behavior and its mechanism. Journal of Management, 12(1), 96–102. (in Chinese).
64.
WhitakerB. G.LevyP. (2012). Linking feedback quality and goal orientation to feedback seeking and job performance. Human Performance, 25(2), 159–178. https://doi.org/10.1080/08959285.2012.658927
65.
WoodJ. V. (1989). Theory and research concerning social comparisons of personal attributes. Psychological Bulletin, 106(2), 231–248. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.106.2.231
66.
XiaoY.LiuS.DaiT. (2021). Positive and negative supervisor development feedback, team harmonious innovation passion and team creativity. Frontiers in Psychology, 12, 681910. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.681910
67.
XieB.GuoY.XiaD. (2018). How is job involvement transmitted from superior to subordinate? A test of the trickle-down model. Management Review, 30(11), 141–151. (in Chinese). https://doi.org/10.14120/j.cnki.cn11-5057/F.2018.11.014
68.
XieY.LiuJ.XieH. (2020). The impact mechanism and differential effect of internal and external corporate social responsibility on employees’ sense of work significance. Journal of Management, 17(9), 1336–1346. (in Chinese).
69.
YanA.LinL. (2019). Covert monitoring or direct inquiry? The influence of a high commitment work system on feedback seeking behavior, Chinese Human Resources Development. 6–20. (in Chinese). https://doi.org/10.16471/j.cnki.11-2822/C.2019.06.001
70.
YaoY.YANQ.DuM. (2014). The effect of superior developmental feedback on Subordinates’ Innovation Behavior: an Employee Trait Perspective. Science and Technology Progress and Countermeasures, 31, 149–155.
71.
YinJ.ZhengX. (2011). The Effect of superior feedback on employee creativity and organizational citizenship behavior: The mediating role of leader-member exchange. Science of Science and Management of Science and Technology, 32(12), 153–159. (in Chinese).
72.
ZhangJ.LiuY. (2011). Work-family conflict and withdrawal behavior: The moderating role of family-friendly practices and work meaning. Prediction, 30(1), 1–9. (in Chinese).
73.
ZhangJ.QinC.LiuS. S. (2020). Can seeking feedback improve performance? -- A meta-analysis of the relationship between feedback-seeking behavior and individual performance. Advances in Psychological Science, 28(4), 549–565. (in Chinese). https://doi.org/10.3724/sp.J.1042.2020.00549
74.
ZhangY.LiaoJ. (2014). Review and prospect of feedback-seeking behavior research in organizations. Foreign Economic and Management, 36(4), 47–56. (in Chinese). https://doi.org/10.16538/j.cnki.fem.2014.04.007
75.
ZhangY.YangF. (2018). Influencing factors and localization development of feedback seeking behavior. Advances in Psychological Science, 26(6), 1121–1130.
76.
ZhaoY. (2016). Job relevance, friend network scope, network status, and job meaning: A moderated mediation model. Science of Science and Technology Management, 37(12), 111–124. (in Chinese).
77.
ZhengX.DiazI.JingY.ChiaburuD. S. (2015). Positive and negative supervisor developmental feedback and task performance. The Leadership & Organization Development Journal, 36(2), 212–232. https://doi.org/10.1108/lodj-04-2013-0039
78.
ZhouJ. (1998). Feedback valence, feedback style, task autonomy, and achievement orientation: Interactive effects on creative performance. Journal of Applied Psychology, 83(2), 261–276. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.83.2.261
79.
ZhouJ. (2003). When the presence of creative coworkers is related to creativity: Role of supervisor close monitoring, developmental feedback, and creative personality. The Journal of Applied Psychology, 88(3), 413–422. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.88.3.413
80.
ZhouJ.LiaoJ. (2012). Why Chinese employees prefer silence -- the negative impact of authoritarian leadership on employee voice behavior. Commercial Economics and Management, (11), 71–81. (in Chinese). https://doi.org/10.14134/j.cnki.cn33-1336/F.2012.11.005
