The Effects of Different Amounts of Feedback on Individual and Group Decision-Making

Abstract

Recent theories of individual decision-making have emphasized the role of environmental feedback on decision performance and confidence. However, in relation to group decision-making, the notion of feedback has received only minor attention. This study compared individual and group decision performance and confidence on a multi-cue personnel decision task under three different amounts of decision outcome feedback. Individuals and five-person groups decided whether to promote 48 different job candidates, and rated how confident they were in each of their promotion decisions. Feeback as to the correctness of their decisions was provided: (a) after every decision (Total Feedback), (b) only after decisions to promote the candidate (Partial Feedback), and (c) after none of the decisions (No Feedback). Results indicated that amount of feedback affected decision performance and confidence differently for individuals and groups. Groups performed best under total feedback, while individuals performed best under partial feedback. In addition, greater amounts of feedback reduced confidence in individuals but had little effect on group member confidence. These results have implications both for current theory in decision-making and group processes in general.