Abstract
The purpose of the present study was to examine whether information gathering behavior differed depending on the characteristics of the ability to be evaluated. Independent variables were controllability and perceived importance and utility of the ability. Subjects chose one of the four forms of tasks in which the diagnosticity of success and the diagnosticity of failure were manipulated. They also judged task preference for each of them. As might have been expected, those who perceived the importance and usefulness of ability preferred to perform tasks more as either the diagnosticity of success or that of failure increased. When the ability was uncontrollable, it was found that task preference of the subjects who perceived the ability to be less important and useful was negatively related to the diagnosticity of failure, but it was not the case when the ability was controllable. These results were discussed in terms of self-assessment motivation and self-enhancement motivation.
