Gender Differences in Reaction to Public Aachievement Feedback

Németh, Erzsébet (1999) Gender Differences in Reaction to Public Aachievement Feedback. EDUCATIONAL STUDIES, 25 (3). pp. 297-309. ISSN 0305-5698

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Abstract

In this series of studies the author examined achivement and interest of 226 first - grade pupils /6 - 7 - years - olds/ in performing task and the changes in achievement and interest interventions including various rewards. The children’s task was to put a circle round t he differences on the drawings they were given. The task was the same for all the children, but they were divided into four groups in respect of reward: Group 1= not rewarded, Group 2= rewarded by token, Group 3= rewarded by a "lucky dip" (contingent, sali ent, tangible reward), Group 4= rewarded by public achievement feedback. After completing the first task the children could choose whether to go to play in the school - yard or to ask for another similar exercise. The degree of intrinsic motivation is shown by the spontaneous activities performed without any rewards. The achievement was the number of correctly identified details in the first task. The results showed that in the Group 3 and Group 4 the intrinsic motivation was significantly reduced while the q uantitative indices of achievement rose. The series of experiments revealed gender differences: public feedback on achievement brought about a significant increase in achievement of both boys and girls, while if feedback was withdrawn the boys lost interes t in the task to significantly more than the girls. The author interprets this as being due to the greater social inclination and empathy typical of females, in contrast with males' typically greater inclination towards facts and higher motivation to achie ve.

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