“Mum effect”: principals' reluctance to submit negative feedback

Journal of Managerial Psychology - Tập 21 Số 6 - Trang 533-546 - 2006
EliezerYariv1
1Gordon College for Education, Haifa, Israel

Tóm tắt

PurposeSubmitting negative feedback is a stressful experience which both superiors and subordinates try to avoid. Do principals adapt to the mum effect and hide their (negative) thoughts and feelings, or do they confirm Weeninget al.hypothesis about the existence of facilitating conditions.Design/methodology/approachAbout 40 elementary school principals described in semi‐structured interviews cases of poor performing teachers whom they had to inform about their shortcomings.FindingsFour consecutive stages, which escalated in directedness and criticism were found. Each stage depended on the outcomes of the previous one. Initially, half of the principals preferred first to ignore, but later 88 percent held a soft negative feedback and problem‐solving oriented discussions. When these discussions did not bring the expected results, about 80 percent criticized the worker orally. Only 30 percent criticized in writing. That process was accompanied with mixed feelings, mainly those of anger and compassion.Research limitations/implicationsThe results emphasize the need for individual guidance as how to overcome their hesitattions and give effective feedback to their poor‐performing teachers. As an exploraty study, its major weakness was the reliance on one side of the equation – the principals.Originality/valueMost earlier studies on mum effect were conducted in experimental setting. This study provides a uniquely realistic evidence of the interpersonal processes within the workplace. The worker appraisal and the transmission of (negative) feedback are explored through emotional lens.

Từ khóa


Tài liệu tham khảo

Anderson, J. (1997), “Content and text analysis”, in Keeves, J.P. (Ed.), Educational Research, Methodology and Measurement, 2nd ed., Oxford, Pergamon, pp. 340‐4.

Ashford, S.J. and Cummings, L.L. (1983), “Feedback as an individual resource: personal strategies of creating information”, Organizational Behavior and Human Performance, Vol. 32, pp. 370‐98.

Batson, C.D. (1998), “Altruism and pro‐social behavior”, in Gilbert, D.T., Fiske, S.T. and Lindzey, G. (Eds), Handbook of Social Psychology, 4th ed., Vol. 2, McGraw‐Hill, New York, NY, pp. 28‐316.

Berry, L.M. (1998), Psychology at Work, 2nd ed., McGraw Hill, Boston, MA.

Bond, C.F. and Anderson, E.L. (1987), “The reluctance to transmit bad news: private discomfort or public display?”, Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, Vol. 23, pp. 176‐87.

Bridges, E.M. (1986), The Incompetent Teacher: The Challenge and the Response, (rev.), The Falmer Press, London.

Bridges, E.M. (1992), The Incompetent Teacher: Managerial Response (rev.), The Falmer Press, London.

Brown, P. and Levinson, S. (1987), Politeness: Some Universals in Language Usage, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.

Cacioppo, J.T., Gardner, W.l. and Bernston, G.G. (1997), “Beyond bipolar conceptualizations and measures: the case of attitudes and evaluative space”, Personality and Social Psychology Review, Vol. 1, pp. 3‐25.

Cardno, C. (2001), “Managing dilemmas in appraising performance: an approach for school leaders”, in Middlewood, D. and Cardno, C. (Eds), Managing Teacher Appraisal and Performance, Routledge Falmer, London, pp. 143‐59.

Cohen, L. and Manion, L. (1994), Research Methods in Education, 4th ed., Routledge, London.

Dillard, J.P., Hunter, J.E. and Burgoon, M. (1984), “Sequential‐requested persuasive strategies: meta‐analysis of foot‐in‐the‐door and door‐in‐the‐face”, Human Communication Research, Vol. 19, pp. 461‐88.

Dorfman, P.W., Howell, J.P., Hibino, S., Lee, J.K., Tate, U. and Bautista, A. (1997), “Leadership in western and Asian countries: commonalities and differences in effective leadership processes across cultures”, Leadership Quarterly, Vol. 8, pp. 233‐74.

Eden, D. (1998), “Who supervise the teachers' work? Hidden inspection in school”, Iunim Bachinuch, Vol. 24, (Hebrew), pp. 34‐52.

Ellis, D.G. (1994), “Codes and pragmatic comprehension”, in Deetz, S.A. (Ed.), Communication Yearbook 17, Sage, Thousand Oaks, CA.

Fisher, C.D. (1979), “Transmission of positive and negative feedback to subordinates: a laboratory investigation”, Journal of Applied Psychology, Vol. 64, pp. 533‐40.

Fitness, J. (2000), “Anger in the workplaces: an emotion script approach to anger episodes between workers and their superiors, co‐workers and subordinates”, Journal of Organizational Behavior, Vol. 21, pp. 147‐62.

Flanagan, J.C. (1954), “The critical incident technique”, Psychological Bulletin, Vol. 31 No. 4, pp. 123‐54.

Friedman, I. (1990), “Normative behavior of the teacher and the principal”, in Friedman, I. (Ed.), Autonomy in Education, Szald Institute, Jerusalem, (Hebrew).

Hofstede, G. (2001), Culture's Consequences, 2nd ed., Sage, Thousand Oaks, CA.

Katriel, T. (1986), Talking Straight: Dugri Speech in Israeli Sabra Culture, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.

Katriel, T. (1999), Key Words – Patterns of Culture and Communication in Israel, University of Haifa Press, Haifa.

Kimball, S.M. (2002), “Analysis of feedback, enabling conditions and fairness perceptions of teachers in three school districts with new standards‐based evaluation of systems”, Journal of Personnel Evaluation in Education, Vol. 16 No. 4, pp. 241‐68.

Kremer‐Hayon, L. (1993), “Teacher self‐evaluation: a tool for professional development”, in Kremer‐Hayon, L., Vonk, H.C. and Fessler, R. (Eds), Teacher Professional Development: A Multiple Perspective Approach, pp. 217‐40.

Larsen, J.T., McGraw, A.P. and Cacioppo, J.T. (2001), “Can people feel happy and sad at the same time?”, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Vol. 81 No. 4, pp. 684‐96.

Larson, J.R. (1986), “Supervisors' performance feedback to subordinates: the impact of subordinate performance valence and outcome dependence”, Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Process, Vol. 37, pp. 391‐408.

Larson, J.R. (1989), “The dynamic interplay between employees' feedback‐seeking strategies and supervisors delivery of performance feedback”, Academy of Management Review, Vol. 14, pp. 408‐22.

Lavely, C. et al., (1992), “Actual incidence of incompetent teachers”, Educational Research Quarterly, Vol. 15 No. 2, pp. 4‐11.

Lazarus, R.S. and Lazarus, B.N. (1994), Passion and Reason: Making Sense of Our Emotions, New York, Oxford.

Lee, F. (1993), “Being polite and keeping MUM: how bad news is communicated in organizational hierarchies”, Journal of Applied Social Psychology, Vol. 23, pp. 1124‐49.

Lerner, J.S. and Keltner, D. (2000), “Beyond valence: toward a model of emotion‐specific influences on judgment and choice”, Cognition and Emotion, Vol. 14, pp. 473‐93.

Longencker, C.O., Jaccoud, A.J., Sims, H.P. and Gioia, D.A. (1992), “Quantitative and qualitative investigations of affect in executive judgment”, Applied Psychology: An international Review, Vol. 41, pp. 21‐41.

Manzoni, J.F. (2002), “The better way to deliver bad news”, Harvard Business Review, September, pp. 114‐9.

MoE (2001), The General Director Circular, Ministry of Education, 64/4 (2), December, (in Hebrew).

Morand, D.A. (2001), “Language and power: an empirical analysis of linguistic strategies used in superior‐subordinate communication”, Journal of Organizational Behavior, Vol. 21, pp. 235‐48.

Moss, S.E. and Martinko, M.J. (1998), “The effects of performance attributions and outcome dependence on leader feedback behavior following poor subordinate performance”, Journal of Organizational Behavior, Vol. 19, pp. 259‐74.

Napier, N.K. and Latham, G.P. (1986), “Outcomes experiences of people who conduct performance appraisals”, Personnel Psychology, Vol. 39, pp. 827‐37.

Nevo, D. (1997), “School‐based evaluation: advantages and shortcomings of internal evaluation”, in Paldi, E. (Ed.), Education and the Challenges of Time, Tel Aviv University Press, Ramot, pp. 274‐83.

Philipsen, G. (1997), “A theory of speech codes”, in Philipsen, G. and Albrecht, T.L. (Eds), Developing Communication Theories, State University of New York Press, Albany, NY, pp. 119‐56.

Podaskoff, P.M. and Farh, J.L. (1989), “Effects of feedback sign and credibility on goal setting and task performance”, Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Vol. 44, pp. 45‐67.

Roseman, I.J., Wiest, C. and Swartz, T.S. (1994), “Phenomenology, behaviors, and goals differentiate discrete emotions”, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Vol. 67, pp. 206‐11.

Rosen, S. and Tesser, A. (1970), “On reluctance to communicate undesirable information: the MUM‐effect”, Sociometry, Vol. 33, pp. 253‐63.

Russell, J.A. and Carroll, J.M. (1999), “On the bipolarity of positive and negative affect”, Psychological Bulletin, Vol. 125, pp. 3‐30.

Schiffrin, D. (1984), “Jewish argument as sociability”, Language in Society, Vol. 13, pp. 311‐35.

Smith, W.J., Harrington, K.V. and Houghton, J.D. (2000), “Predictors of performance appraisal discomfort: a preliminary examination”, Public Personnel Management, Vol. 29 No. 1, pp. 21‐31.

Tesser, A. and Rosen, S. (1975), “The reluctance to transmit bad news”, in Berkowitz, L. (Ed.), Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, Vol. 8, Academic Press, New York, NY, pp. 193‐232.

Travers, C.J. and Cooper, C.L. (1996), Teachers Under Pressure: Stress in the Teaching Profession, Routledge, London.

Tucker, P. (1997), “Lake Wobegon: where all teachers are competent (or have we come to terms with the problem of incompetent teachers?)”, Journal of Personnel Evaluation in Education, Vol. 11, pp. 103‐26.

Watson, D. and Tellegen, A. (1985), “Toward a consensual structure of mood”, Psychological Bulletin, Vol. 98, pp. 219‐35.

Weening, M.W.H., Groenenboom, A.W.J. and Wilke, H.A.M. (2001), “Bad new transmission as a function of the definitiveness of consequences and the relationships between communicator and recipient”, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Vol. 80 No. 3, pp. 449‐61.

Wragg, E.C., Haynes, G.S., Wragg, C.M. and Chamberlin, R.P. (1999), “Managing Incompetent Teachers”, available at: www.leeds.ac.uk/educol/documents/00001235.htm.

Wragg, E.C., Haynes, G.S., Wragg, C.M. and Chamberlin, R.P. (2000), Failing Teachers?, Routledge, London.

Yariv, E. (2004), “Challenging teachers: what difficulties do they pose to their principals”, Educational Management Administration & Leadership, Vol. 32, pp. 149‐70.