A supervisor praises subordinates for satisfactory aspects of their work only when he or she is about to criticize them for unsatisfactory aspects. Such a practice is undesirable primarily because:

• A. Subordinates may come to disregard praise and wait for criticism to be given
• B. Subordinates may expect to be praised for their work even if it is unsatisfactory
• C. Subordinates would be more receptive to criticism if it were followed by praise
• D. Praising some aspects while criticizing other aspects will weaken the effects of the criticisms

Answer: (A)

The situation tests how credible and motivating feedback is when praise is used only as a prelude to criticism. When praise accompanies an upcoming negative evaluation, it loses its genuine, reinforcing value. Subordinates learn to view praise as a tactic tied to forthcoming criticism, so they may start disregarding praise and waiting for the punishment to come. This erodes trust in the supervisor and diminishes motivation, making positive feedback useless as a motivator.

Other ideas might describe potential side effects, like expecting praise for poor work or feeling that praise could soften criticisms, but the core problem is that praise becomes unreliable and is likely to be ignored.