The interplay of feedback literacy, attachment anxiety, and supervisory working alliance in influencing supervisees’ emotional response and likelihood of using supervisory feedback

UNCG Author/Contributor (non-UNCG co-authors, if there are any, appear on document)
Yu Pan (Creator)
Institution
The University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG )
Web Site: http://library.uncg.edu/
Advisor
Kelly Wester

Abstract: Feedback as an important education intervention is extensively used in clinical supervision (Bernard & Goodyear, 2019). Constructive feedback receives the most attention from researchers (e.g., Borders et al., 2017; Burkard et al., 2014; Rogers et al., 2019) for its functions and related difficulties for supervisees. The dominant focus of existing research is on feedback contents (e.g., Avent et al., 2015; Coleman et al., 2009; McKibben et al., 2019), supervisor’s experiences of providing feedback (e.g., Borders et al., 2017; Burkard et al., 2014), or factors that hinder supervisees’ receptivity of corrective feedback (e.g., Alexander & Hulse-Killacky, 2005; McKibben et al., 2019). Although the existing literature offers insights, most research tends to portray supervisees as recipients of feedback information and simplify their reactions to feedback (e.g., Borders et al., 2017; Hoffman et al., 2005). Recently, there has been a new research trend of focusing more on supervisees’ experiences of dealing with corrective feedback. Researchers developed instruments for examining supervisees’ emotional reactions (Rogers et al., 2020) and the likelihood of using supervisory feedback (Goodyear et al., 2021). Similarly, scholars in higher education have also developed the concept of student feedback literacy (Sutton, 2012), arguing the importance of preparing students with feedback literacy to make the most of feedback. Currently, there is a lack of research that centers on supervisees’ active role in the feedback process, explores the connections between supervisees’ feedback literacy and their responses (e.g., emotional reactions, utilization of feedback) to corrective feedback, and considers other related important variables (e.g., supervisees’ attachment anxiety, supervisory working alliance) in the feedback process. The study aimed to address the gap by assessing relationships among six dimensions of feedback literacy, other factors (i.e., supervisory working alliance, attachment anxiety) that have been evidenced to be important in supervision, and supervisees’ responses to feedback (i.e., emotional response, likelihood of using feedback). The results highlighted the significant role of attachment anxiety in the supervisees’ feedback engagement process, with higher levels of attachment anxiety associated with a lower likelihood of using feedback and more intense negative emotional responses to corrective feedback. Furthermore, the study revealed the moderating effects of supervisees’ appreciation of feedback and attachment anxiety, and readiness to engage with feedback and attachment anxiety on supervisees’ negative emotional responses after receiving feedback. Among the feedback literacy dimensions, commitment to change emerged as a significant predictor of negative emotional responses to corrective feedback. The study provided empirical evidence to better understand supervisees’ experiences of dealing with supervisory corrective feedback. Implications for supervisors, supervisees, and researchers are discussed based on the results of the study.

Additional Information

Publication
Dissertation
Language: English
Date: 2024
Keywords
Clinical supervision, Counselor education, Supervisee, Supervisory feedback
Subjects
Counselors $x Supervision of
Counselors $x Training of
Feedback (Psychology)

Email this document to