ABSTRACT

Errors can be a source of learning. However, little is known to what extent learning from errors depends on error characteristics and the context in which the error was made. We tested the assumption that more learning occurs from errors with severe consequences and when the error was made by oneself. We further investigated if and how learning from errors and organizational error culture differs between countries. In two vignette studies (Study 1, N = 118 from the United States; Study 2, N = 588 from the United States, Hungary, and Germany), participants responded to error scenarios that happened to employees at work. As expected, people learned more from errors in terms of affective error learning (Studies 1 and 2) and cognitive error learning (Study 1) if consequences were severe and if the error was made by themselves. Furthermore, we found differences between countries (Study 2) in that participants from the United States learned more from errors and reported more error management culture than participants from Hungary or Germany. Furthermore, the relationship of country and learning was mediated by error management culture. With our studies, we aim to contribute to a better exploitation of the learning potential inherent in errors.

摘要

错误可能是学习的来源。但是，从错误中学习到什么程度取决于错误特征和错误发生的背景，人们所知甚少。我们测试了这样的假设：更多的学习是从具有严重后果的错误以及错误是由自己造成的时候发生的。我们进一步调查了各国之间从错误和组织错误文化中学习的内容以及是否存在差异。在两项小插图研究中（研究1，来自美国的N = 118；研究2，N=来自美国，匈牙利和德国的588），参与者对工作中发生的错误情况做出了回应。正如预期的那样，如果后果很严重并且错误是由自己造成的，人们可以从情感错误学习（研究1和2）和认知错误学习（研究1）方面从错误中学到更多。此外，我们发现国家之间存在差异（研究2），与匈牙利或德国的参与者相比，美国的参与者从错误中学到了更多，并且报告了更多的错误管理文化。此外，国家与学习之间的关系是由错误管理文化所调解的。通过我们的研究，我们旨在为更好地利用错误中固有的学习潜能做出贡献。