Is honesty always the best policy? Children's perceptions of negative performance feedback

Abstract

Children tend to discount negative feedback about their performance even when the feedback is delivered by an expert. This indifference toward feedback could hinder self-improvement. We examined whether children would be receptive to negative feedback from an expert when provided with an explicit reason why it was given. One-hundred twenty-one 4 to 8 year olds heard about a target peer whose work product was evaluated negatively by an expert peer and positively by either a single layperson or a consensus of laypersons (also peers). Children were assigned to one of the three conditions in which the reason for the negative feedback varied: the expert promised to tell the truth about the work, the expert was a designated "helper," or no explanation was provided. Children judged whether feedback from the expert and layperson(s) should be shared with the teacher and the target. Across ages, children indicated that the expert should share negative feedback with the teacher when the expert promised to tell the truth. Only 6 to 8 year olds reported that an expert who promised to tell the truth should convey this feedback to the target. Implications for children's interpretation of evaluative content in social learning situations are discussed.