Is positive feedback always positive? In women with high social physique anxiety, positive physical appearance feedback decreases self-presentational efficacy

Social physique anxiety (SPA) is the anxiety experienced in response to others' real or perceived evaluations of one's physique. In physical activity contexts, SPA can exacerbate performance anxiety concerns and diminish self-efficacy. In the present experiment, we examined the effects of positive and neutral performance feedback on self-presentational efficacy and whether SPA moderates those effects. Forty women (Mage = 20.93±2.77) were randomly assigned to receive either positive or neutral performance feedback after performing a strength and endurance task. They then completed a measure of self-presentational efficacy and the Social Physique Anxiety Scale. The performance feedback manipulation did not have a main effect on self-presentational efficacy. However, results of a hierarchical multiple regression analysis revealed that SPA did indeed moderate the effects of feedback on self-presentational efficacy. Women with higher SPA had lower self-presentational efficacy after receiving positive feedback than after receiving neutral feedback. Among women with lower SPA, there were no differential effects of feedback condition on self-presentational efficacy. These results are interpreted taken as indication that SPA can influence how women interpret feedback regarding their performance on physical tasks. In particular, for women with high SPA, it cannot be assumed that positive feedback will always have positive effects on self-presentational efficacy. © 2011 by Nova Science Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved.