Emotional responses to changing feedback: is it better to have won and lost than never to have won at all?

Full Abstract

Two experiments investigated how self-esteem guides people's emotional responses to changing evaluative feedback. In both experiments, participants received an initial evaluation (either positive or negative) followed by a second evaluation (either positive or negative). Emotional reactions to the second evaluation were then assessed. High self-esteem participants found feedback that was consistently negative to be most distressing, whereas low self-esteem participants were most disturbed by feedback that changed from positive to negative. The theoretical and practical implications of the findings are discussed.

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Author information

Author/s: Brown, Jonathon D (JD); Farnham, Shelly D (SD); Cook, Kathleen E (KE);

Affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Washington, Seattle 98195, USA. jdb(-atsign-)u.washington.edu

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Clinical Trial; Journal Article; Randomized Controlled Trial; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't; Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

Journal: Journal of personality (J Pers), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2002-Feb; vol 70 (issue 1) : pp 127-41

Dates: Created 2002/03/22; Completed 2002/09/20; Revised 2006/11/15;

PMID: 11908533, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 11/6/2008)

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

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