Egalitarian Motives and the Positive Feedback Bias

Performance feedback, which is essential to learning, may be compromised in interracial contexts by a positive bias. Previous work by the PI shows that Whites provide less criticism and more praise to Blacks than to Whites for work of equal merit. The current research program is designed to determine the cause of this positive feedback bias. Specifically, it tests whether the bias is motivated by Whites' efforts to protect their own egalitarian self-images. These egalitarian motives have been implicated as a cause of out-group deference in other contexts, and the PI's earlier studies strongly hinted that these motives might affect interracial feedback. However, the influence of egalitarian motives on interracial feedback has not yet been directly tested.

The funded research includes two experiments that test whether egalitarian self-image concerns contribute to the positive feedback bias. Study 1 will test whether the feedback bias is decreased when feedback suppliers' egalitarianism has been validated. Study 2 will test whether the feedback bias is increased when feedback supplier's egalitarianism has been challenged, especially by the race-related content of the work being evaluated.

In addition to testing the egalitarian motive hypothesis, these studies will explore whether the positive feedback bias applies to minorities other than Blacks (specifically Latinos). The studies will also test whether teacher trainees, who will regularly deliver academic feedback upon assumption of their teaching duties, demonstrate the positive bias. This research may help us understand the positive feedback bias and why minority students are chronically under-challenged. This bias may erode minority students' faith in praise they legitimately earn.