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Almost every day, we receive evaluations from our family, friends, teachers and coworkers. This is called feedback. By listening to feedback, we can learn about our abilities and our limitations.
Feedback can be positive or negative. For example, Japanese teachers tend to give negative feedback to their students. By pointing out a student's mistake, they try to correct it. In America, teachers tend to give positive feedback. They try to correct a student's mistake by praising the student's other abilities.
Both of these two evaluation styles have advantages and disadvantages. It is hard to say which is better. Negative feedback can make the person feel like they only make mistakes. This can lead to a lack of self-confidence. On the other hand, positive feedback can lead to overconfidence. If a mistake goes uncorrected, it can cause another bigger problem later.
Some research shows that giving both positive and negative feedback is the best way in most cases. In this way, people can be told about their mistakes without losing self-confidence.
We can learn a lot about ourselves by listening to feedback from others. Compared with our own opinions, good-quality evaluations can help us make decisions and deal with challenges in life.