Titel
Afraid to Know? – Exploring the Roles of Feedback Expectations and Individual Differences in Feedback Avoidance following Intelligence Testing
AutorInnen
Hutzel, N., Michel, C.
Abstract
Individuals sometimes avoid performance feedback to escape negative emo- tions or protect their self-view. This study examined feedback avoidance in the domain of intelligence testing, exploring the roles of situational variables (feed- back expectations) and individual differences (subjective importance of intelli- gence, neuroticism). In a between- subjects design, 100 participants (M = 22.7 years, SD = 6.5) were randomly assigned to a control group (CG) or an experi- mental group (EG). All participants first completed individual difference measures, then took the HeiQ intelligence test. CG participants received only solvable HeiQ items, whereas EG participants received both solvable and un- solvable items to induce expectations of negative feedback. Afterward, partici- pants rated their performance and chose, whether to receive feedback on their HeiQ performance. EG participants were significantly more likely to avoid feed- back (χ²(1) = 4.12, p = .042). In logistic regression analyses, feedback expecta- tions emerged as the strongest predictor of feedback avoidance. Neither neu- roticism nor subjective importance of intelligence independently predicted feedback avoidance. Exploratory analyses indicated a Neuroticism × Im- portance interaction: participants high in both traits showed greater feedback avoidance. No associations emerged for other Big Five traits. Taken together, our findings indicate that negative feedback expectations are the primary driver of feedback avoidance following intelligence testing. Interventions that reduce such expectations may foster greater openness to feedback. Interac- tions between personality and self-concept variables may represent additional risk constellations, warranting replication in larger samples
Schlagworte
expectations, feedback avoidance, individual differences, intelligence testing