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

Receiving feedback on preliminary work allows content creators to gain insight and improve outcomes. However, a lack of commitment for gathering feedback and experiencing evaluation apprehension can delay feedback seeking. In this paper, we operationalize goal setting theory for planning feedback goals and test the effects on feedback seeking and revision. In an online experiment, participants (N=245) wrote an initial story after planning feedback goals (or not), submitted the story for feedback at a time of their choice, and revised the story based on feedback received. Participants anticipated feedback from a supervisor or peer to induce different levels of evaluation apprehension. We found that participants who planned proximal feedback goals sought feedback when their stories were less developed and revised the stories more after receiving feedback compared to when participants planned distant goals. Additionally, participants who anticipated feedback from a supervisor, regardless of goal planning, improved the quality of their stories the most. We did not find that goal setting or the provider's role affected evaluation apprehension. Our findings indicate that content creators should be guided to plan proximal feedback goals to encourage sharing of early drafts of creative work and receive feedback from someone in a position of higher perceived power to foster the most revision and improvement on those drafts.