The Effects of Affiliation Motivation on Feedback Seeking and Self-regulation

Abstract

The present research investigates how motivation to affiliate with others shapes the way people search for feedback from others for their goal pursuits and its general implications on self-regulation. I hypothesize that affiliation motivation will influence how much people seek feedback from others and to whom they turn for feedback. People with high affiliation motivation will view feedback-seeking as a potential tool for strengthening their existing social ties and forming additional ones, whereas people with low affiliation motivation will perceive great costs in feedback seeking. As such, people with high affiliation motivation will seek feedback from a broad range of sources. People with low affiliation motivation, on the other hand, will seek feedback from those most willing and able to provide it, which may often be those with whom they are already close. Four studies support these predictions by showing how affiliation motivation is associated with feedback seeking from a broad range of sources (Study 1), how affiliation motivation moderates the effect of feedback source on goal performance (Studies 2 – 3), and how affiliation motivation influences goal progress indirectly through affecting the preference for feedback source in everyday goal pursuits (Study 4).