Feedback and Social Comparison: The Effects of Comparing One's Performance to the Group

Abstract

Although feedback has been shown to improve performance, few studies have examined the effect of feedback containing information on peer performance. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of feedback on individual performance and feedback containing information on peer performance. Three participants were exposed to a no-feedback baseline condition, a standard individual feedback condition, and an individual feedback condition with information on the group’s average performance. The dependent variable was the rate of correct responses on a computer-based simulated work task. Withdrawal designs were used to evaluate the effect of the two types of feedback on performance. Mixed results were obtained across three participants. For one participant, no systemic difference between any condition was observed. For the other two participants, both feedback alone and feedback with group performance information increased performance above baseline rates. However, no differences were apparent between the feedback conditions for either participant. The results of this study provide further support for feedback as an effective intervention; however, social comparison feedback did not produce a greater increase in performance relative to non-social comparison feedback.