Date of Award

8-2020

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Behavioral Analysis

First Advisor

David A. Wilder

Second Advisor

Nicholas L. Weatherly

Third Advisor

Gary Burns

Fourth Advisor

Lisa Steelman

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of exaggerated social comparison feedback on work performance in an analogue setting. Following their first 15-minute session working on a simulated money transfer task, participants in the two experimental conditions received objective feedback, but one group received rank feedback understating their performance, while the other group received overstated rank feedback. Participants then performed the task again to evaluate potential changes in performance based on this feedback. One-way analyses of variance (ANOVAs) were conducted to measure differences in the number of correctly completed money transfers, percent of correctly completed money transfers, and number of errors. No significant differences were found between the groups in the second session. A discussion of limitations and suggestions for future research on social comparison feedback are provided.

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