Factors Mediating the Effects of Others' Responses on the Self*

Either positive or negative feedback was given to seventy-two college students about performance on an ability test. As is usually found, feedback was highly related to students' subsequent self-assessments. Positive and negative feedback were of roughly equal importance when the source of feedback is ignored. However, considering source, negative feedback had greater impact when coming from peers; positive feedback was stronger when coming from a person of higher status.