Self-Construals, Motivation, and Feedback-Seeking Behaviors Ste ´ phane Brutus* and Gary J. Greguras** *John Molson School of Business, Concordia University, 1455 DeMaisonneuve W. (GM 503-43), Montreal, QC, Canada H3G 1M8 **Singapore Management University, Lee Kong Chian School of Business, 50 Stamford Road, Singapore 178899. garygreguras@smu.edu.sg The current study explores the relations between individualism, motivation, and feed- back-seeking behaviors. Specifically, we examined how three motivational factors (i.e., status-striving, achievement-striving, and affiliation-striving) mediated or moderated the relations between individualism and feedback-seeking behaviors. Data were collected from 154 Singaporean undergraduate students across two time periods. Results indi- cated that only status motivation mediates the individualism–feedback-seeking relation. Affiliation was found to moderate that same relation but only for a specific subset of feedback-seeking behaviors. The implications of these findings for performance manage- ment and development are discussed. 1. Introduction F eedback is recognized as a key determinant of individual performance in organizations because it provides employees with information regarding the effectiveness of their behaviors (Fedor, 1991; London, 1997). Given the importance of feedback for individual and organizational performance, there has been an increased emphasis on feedback processes in current management practices. For example, feedback is a central feature of assessment centers (Jones & Whit- more, 1995), multi-source feedback systems (Brutus & Derayeh, 2002; Leslie & Fleenor, 1998), executive coaching (Hall, Otazo, & Hollenbeck, 1999), and men- toring programs (Kram, 1985). In recent years, feed- back processes also have been the subject of major research efforts (e.g., Kluger & DeNisi, 1996). Informal feedback processes in organizations, a specific area of feedback research, is also gaining momentum (see Ashford, Blatt, & VandeWalle, 2003 for a review). This area of research stems from the realization that feedback information obtained from formal conduits represents only a small proportion of feedback available to and used by employees (Ashford & Cummings, 1983). The reality is that individuals do not wait for their yearly performance review to assess how they are doing, rather, they seek feedback both directly and indirectly from various organizational sources (e.g., ask questions to peers, observe the behavior of their supervisors, and compare their work with that of others). Despite the importance of understanding feedback- seeking processes, surprisingly little research has fo- cused on this topic and, even less research has explored the underpinnings of those behaviors. One of the major influences of culture is in the way people exchange information. Triandis (1989) proposed a ‘sampling- probability’ of culture in which individuals’ cultural backgrounds direct the type of information that they attend to and the frequency by which it is sampled. Thus, feedback seeking, a process rooted in commu- nication, must be understood within a cultural context. Some earlier work has investigated the influence of culture on feedback processes (Earley, 1986; Earley, Gibson, & Chen, 1999; Earley & Stubblebine, 1989). Although this line of research has yielded interesting connections between cultural variables such as indivi- dualism/collectivism and the receptivity to feedback & 2008 The Authors. Journal compilation & 2008 Blackwell Publishing Ltd, 9600 Garsington Road, Oxford, OX4 2DQ, UK and 350 Main St., Malden, MA, 02148, USA International Journal of Selection and Assessment Volume 16 Number 3 September 2008