Feedback Culture and Personality: Does the Same Message Have the Same Impact on Everyone?

Baltas Group

Feedback culture, which covers all the processes of giving and receiving feedback in an organisation, is one of the key building blocks of individual and organisational development.¹ It encourages continuous learning, accelerates learning processes, supports performance development, increases employee engagement and creates a healthier communication environment.¹ Psychological safety is very important at this point: employees being able to both receive and give feedback without fear of being judged supports the sustainability of this culture.

Does every employee perceive feedback in the same way?

Feedback can be defined as guiding information provided by an external source with the aim of improving task performance.² Although feedback culture may look like a standard practice at the organisational level, research shows that its effect is not the same for everyone. According to a meta-analysis, although feedback interventions generally increase employee performance, one in three feedback interventions has a negative outcome.²

So why do some people perceive feedback as an opportunity for development while others see it as a threat? How employees perceive, interpret and turn feedback into behaviour can differ according to their personality traits.

Feedback culture through the lens of personality science

Emotional stability

Research shows that individuals with low emotional stability more often express feelings such as disappointment, hopelessness, unhappiness and discouragement when faced with negative feedback. For these individuals, negative feedback can often be perceived as a threat to their self.³ This does not mean they do not care about feedback; on the contrary, it is related to their being more sensitive to feedback, being able to criticise themselves and processing negative messages in particular more intensely. However, the intense emotional reaction that feedback creates can make it harder for them to benefit fully from its learning potential. In contrast, individuals with higher emotional stability may be less affected by the emotional pressure created by negative feedback and can therefore evaluate it more calmly. At the same time, because they tend to be less self-critical, they may find it harder to notice the areas that require development or may show a more resistant attitude towards feedback. Benefiting from feedback is therefore shaped not only by emotional stability but also by the individual’s learning goal orientation, development motivation and other personality traits.

Conscientiousness

The literature points to the importance of feedback turning into behaviour.³ From this perspective, conscientiousness in the Five Factor Personality Model, which covers characteristics such as planned work, self-control and a sense of duty, can contribute to the role of feedback in regulating behaviour. In the Personova personality model, these characteristics are addressed under Prudence. Prudence is related to acting in a planned way, structuring the workflow and producing work to a high standard. In this framework, feedback does not bring about behaviour change on its own; it functions as a source of information that helps the individual reassess their performance standards and create a development plan.

Openness

The personality trait of openness is related to being open to different approaches and alternative practices. Individuals high in this trait tend to see feedback as a development opportunity that allows them to reconsider their current behaviours and assumptions, and they may be more willing to try new approaches.³ However, being open to different ideas does not mean that every piece of feedback will be applied effectively. The tendency to consider many alternatives can, in some cases, lead to indecision about which suggestion to focus on or to turning to new approaches before sustaining a practice long enough. In contrast, individuals low in openness may be more attached to existing methods and habits. They may therefore approach the change suggestions in feedback more cautiously, prefer to continue their current practices or question whether the proposed new methods are necessary. This does not mean they reject feedback, but it can make them more selective about trying the alternative practices it contains.

Extraversion

Extraverted people can be said to be more open to receiving feedback and to communicating with those who give it. These individuals also often ask for additional feedback after receiving it.³ Extraverted individuals may therefore take part in the feedback process more visibly and talk about and discuss feedback more. However, this active interaction does not necessarily mean that feedback will be put into practice. Introverted individuals, on the other hand, may be more reserved about asking for additional feedback even when they receive it. This does not mean they attach less importance to feedback. Introverted individuals may be more inclined to evaluate feedback internally, reflect on it and analyse its implications on their own. The main difference between extraversion and introversion is therefore less about how much feedback contributes to development and more about how people take part in the feedback process.

Agreeableness

According to the findings, as agreeableness increases, individuals attach more importance to the evaluations of those giving them feedback.³ Individuals high in this trait tend to take into account the satisfaction and views of the person giving feedback. However, giving too much weight to the other person’s evaluations can, in some cases, lead them to accept feedback without evaluating it critically enough or to put their own perspective in the background. When agreeableness is low, more negative attitudes towards using feedback may be seen.³ At the same time, it should not be overlooked that a tendency to evaluate feedback more critically can also lead to examining its accuracy and applicability more thoroughly.

Achievement orientation

As the sixth personality dimension that stands out in Personova, Achievement Orientation brings together an individual’s tendencies to get ahead, pursue challenging goals, take the initiative when necessary and give direction to others. Individuals high in achievement orientation may see feedback that helps them improve their performance as an important source of information that supports them in reaching their goals. However, they may become defensive when they do not reach the level of success they expect. Individuals low in achievement orientation may show lower motivation to use feedback to improve their performance, but this does not mean they ignore it completely. Whether feedback turns into behaviour is influenced not only by the desire to succeed but also by the individual’s development goals, role expectations and context.

Conclusion

Feedback culture is a critical building block that supports learning and development in organisations. However, feedback does not have the same effect on everyone; individuals’ personality traits significantly influence how they perceive the processes of receiving and giving feedback. Rather than a standard feedback mechanism, adopting an inclusive approach that supports psychological safety and takes into account employees’ individual differences, communication styles and personality structures is therefore becoming an important requirement for the sustainable development of organisations.

Building an effective feedback culture is possible not only by setting up the right system but by being able to understand employees’ individual differences. This is because the same feedback can have completely different effects on different personality structures. The Personova Personality Inventory helps make these differences visible.

Sources:

1. QuestionPro. What is feedback culture? How to build it and its challenges [Internet]. [cited 2026 Apr 27]. Turkish.
2. Kluger AN, DeNisi A. The effects of feedback interventions on performance: A historical review, a meta-analysis, and a preliminary feedback intervention theory. Psychological Bulletin. 1996;119(2):254–284. doi:10.1037/0033-2909.119.2.254
3. Walker AG, Smither JW, Atwater LE, Dominick PG, Brett JF, Reilly RR. Personality and multisource feedback improvement: A longitudinal investigation. Journal of Behavioral and Applied Management. 2010;11(2):175–200.