["Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, EarlyView. ", "\nABSTRACT\nThe relationship between performance feedback and risk‐taking has been widely examined within the behavioral theory of the firm. However, how performance feedback influences firms' R&D manipulation remains unclear. This study argues that negative performance feedback plays a critical role in shaping R&D manipulation behavior. Using panel data from Chinese A‐share listed manufacturing firms from 2009 to 2019, we find that the scope of negative performance feedback is positively associated with R&D manipulation, while the duration of negative performance feedback is negatively associated with R&D manipulation. Furthermore, CEO tenure weakens both the positive effect of feedback scope and the negative effect of feedback duration on R&D manipulation. In contrast, CEO career horizon amplifies the positive effect of feedback scope on R&D manipulation. These findings enrich the performance feedback literature by introducing a new behavioral outcome and offer theoretical insights for firms aiming to curb such opportunistic behavior.\n"]