The effect of self-efficacy on feedback seeking among undergraduate students: the role of perceived risk cost and student-LMX.

Drawing on social cognitive theory and the cost-value framework, this study examines the mediating roles of perceived benefit and perceived risk in the relationship between self-efficacy and feedback seeking, and the moderating roles of student-LMX and gender, among 502 Chinese undergraduates. Results from structural equation modeling and multi-group analysis revealed that self-efficacy positively predicted perceived benefit and negatively predicted perceived risk, which in turn influenced both direct and indirect feedback seeking. LMX moderated the risk pathway, making it significant only under high-LMX conditions, whereas the benefit pathway remained stable across LMX levels; gender showed no moderating effect. These findings clarify the dual mechanisms through which self-efficacy translates into feedback seeking, advance LMX theory by demonstrating its differential moderation, and extend feedback seeking research to educational settings with a culturally grounded interpretation accounting for face concerns in Chinese higher education. Practically, educators should not only build high-quality relationships with students but also cultivate a feedback culture that normalizes seeking feedback as a growth-oriented practice rather than a sign of inadequacy.