Contextual Feedback Seeking: Conditional Effects of Individual Power Distance & Feedback Orientation

Abstract

Employee feedback seeking may be limited by supervisor–employee relationships that feature an inherent status differential, and these effects could be magnified by higher power distance cultural values. Among the extensive research into feedback-seeking behavior, few studies offer empirical examinations of the role of cultural values or considerations of employee reactions to the feedback environment (i.e., perceptions of fit, fairness, and satisfaction with the environment). Therefore, the present study develops and tests a framework for understanding the feedback-seeking process, focusing specifically on the contextual effects of individual-level power distance values, feedback environment reactions, and feedback orientation. With data obtained from 438 employees in the finance sector in Peru, this article details a conditional, mediated relationship in which the supportiveness of the feedback environment influences feedback-seeking behavior, through employee reactions to the environment. Two conditional effects inform these relationships: the interaction of the employee’s feedback orientation with the feedback environment in predicting reactions and the interaction of individual-level power distance with reactions to the feedback environment. Together, they influence subsequent feedback-seeking behavior.