Exploring students’ feedback-seeking behavior
The roles of self-esteem, self-doubt, and achievement goals from a variable- and person-centered approach
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 21516742 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Qiang Guo (0000-0001-8123-2636, Changsha University, corresponding author), Yueting Xu (0000-0002-3300-5938, South China Normal University) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Pages | 1-18 |
| Publication date | 2026-01-06 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Studies in Higher Education (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0307-5079 • E-ISSN: 1470-174X |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/03075079.2025.2612104 |
| OpenAlex | W7118372181 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 55 |
Feedback-seeking behavior is a vital component of the broader feedback engagement process. However, its motivational underpinnings, particularly the roles of self-esteem, self-doubt, and achievement goals, remain underexplored. This study explored the effects of self-esteem and self-doubt on university students’ feedback-seeking behavior, as well as the mediating roles of achievement goals, with a sample of 1,232 undergraduates. To complement the variable-centered results, this study also identified profiles of students’ self-esteem, self-doubt, and achievement goals and examined the association between the identified profiles and feedback-seeking behavior. The results revealed that self-esteem positively predicted both monitoring and inquiry, whereas self-doubt was positively associated with monitoring but negatively associated with inquiry. Furthermore, mastery goals mediated the relationships between self-esteem and self-doubt with both monitoring and inquiry. In contrast, performance goals (approach and avoidance) only mediated the relationship between self-esteem, self-doubt, and inquiry. The person-centered approach further revealed that more than half of the participants showed low levels of self-esteem and mastery goals, combined with high levels of self-doubt. These results offer valuable insights into enhancing students’ feedback-seeking behavior and encouraging their proactive engagement with feedback
Academic achievement · Accountability · Goal Orientation · Higher education · Qualitative research · Education, Achievement, and Giftedness · Grit, Self-Efficacy, and Motivation · Psychometric Methodologies and Testing
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| Citations per year | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2026 - 2026 (1) |
| Highly cited | No |