The functional and dysfunctional consequences of supervisor negative feedback: the roles of affective rumination, metacognition, and regulatory focus
研究主管负面反馈如何通过情感反刍和元认知两种机制，分别导致员工的人际偏差和个人主动性，并发现调节定向（预防焦点vs促进焦点）起关键调节作用。
The extant literature on supervisor negative feedback has shown equivocal findings: negative feedback evokes subordinates’ interpersonal deviance and motivates subordinates’ personal initiative. To reconcile these disparate views regarding the consequences of supervisor negative feedback, we conducted a field study to map two distinct mechanisms that drive subordinates’ differential behavioural responses: dysfunctional (i.e. affective rumination) and functional cognitive processing (i.e. metacognition). We identified employee regulatory focus as a critical boundary condition to explain why supervisor negative feedback evokes interpersonal deviance through the mechanism of affective rumination, whereas it motivates others to engage in personal initiative via metacognition. To test these propositions, we implemented a rigorous three-wave, multisource research design involving 254 matched employee-supervisor dyads, combining employee self-reports with the external assessment of the immediate supervisor. Our results indicate that for subordinates with a higher prevention focus, supervisor negative feedback is positively associated with affective rumination, which increases interpersonal deviance. For subordinates with a higher promotion focus, supervisor negative feedback is positively associated with metacognition, further facilitating personal initiative. This study clarifies how and when supervisor negative feedback leads to disparate employee behavioural outcomes from motivated information processing theory, providing unique theoretical implications and practical recommendations for organizations and managers.