Poor performers: Supervisors' and subordinates' responses

Forty-one groups with appointed supervisors and either two or three subordinates worked on a clerical task for three 10-min sessions and received feedback on their performance. Supervisors evaluated subordinate performance and provided feedback for the subordinates. Four variables were manipulated in a two-phase study. These were: the supervisor's power over subordinate pay (high power and low power), the degree of interdependence between supervisors and their subordinates (high and low), the nature of feedback to subordinates (general, specific with a focus upon quantity, and specific with a focus upon quality), and the level of subordinate performance reported to the supervisor (high and low). It was found that the responses of supervisors toward subordinates were influenced by both the level of subordinate performance and by the degree of interdependence. Subordinates, on the other hand, were influenced by the leader's power as it interacted with the nature of the feedback and by the nature of the feedback. These feedback influences were entirely upon attitudes and beliefs; they did not influence performance on the task after feedback.