Plan Early, Revise More: Effects of Goal Setting and Perceived Role of the Feedback Provider on Feedback Seeking Behavior

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Receiving feedback on preliminary work allows content creators to gain insight and improve outcomes. However, evaluation apprehension can delay feedback seeking. In this paper, we operationalize goal setting theory for planning feedback goals. In an online experiment, participants (N=245) wrote an initial story after planning feedback goals (or not), submitted the story for feedback when desired, and revised the story based on the feedback received. Participants perceived the feedback came from a supervisor or peer to induce different levels of evaluation apprehension. We found that participants who wrote proximal feedback goals sought feedback when their stories were less developed and revised the stories more after receiving feedback compared to when they wrote distant goals. Participants who anticipated feedback from a supervisor in addition to planning a feedback goal revised their work more than participants in the other conditions. Planning feedback goals did not affect evaluation apprehension. These results indicate that instructors and tools should guide content creators to plan proximal feedback goals to encourage sharing early drafts of creative work and provide feedback from someone in a position of higher perceived power (e.g., supervisor) to foster revision.