Contribution of Student and Instructor Relationships and Attachment Style to School Completion

Abstract

The authors investigated how student-student friendships, student-teacher relationships, and attachment styles link to General Educational Development program completion among 127 women and 117 men. Students' relationships with students and instructors, as well as secure attachment style were positively associated with earning a GED. After statistical control for demographic variables, hierarchical logistic regression analyses demonstrated that both student-student friendships and student-instructor relationships positively predicted attachment and subsequent General Educational Development program completion. The overall model, which correctly classified 85.7% of the cases, was statistically reliable in distinguishing between those people who earned GEDs and those who did not. In addition, 2-way analyses of variance revealed that those who had secure attachment styles had better relationships with their fellow students and instructors. The results extend J. Bowlby's (1969, 1973, 1988), M. D. S. Ainsworth's (1989), and T. Hirschi's (1969) theoretical notions that attachment positively influences learning-related outcomes. Educational professionals can use these results to inform instructional efforts and promote optimal learning environments.

Formal Mentoring Relationships and Attachment Theory: Implications for Human Resource Development

“…Ainsworth (1989) perceived the nature of the relationship between mother and infant as generalizing to the child's later relationships with other individuals, including friends and intimates (Reio, Marcus, & Sanders-Reio, 2009). …”

Classroom relationships, sense of community, perceptions of justice, and collective efficacy for students’ social well‐being

“…Research on student-teacher relationship has shown that when students have positive interactions with their teachers, there is a greater likelihood that they will relate to others within the classroom and continue to engage in the learning process (Reio, Marcus, & Sanders-Reio, 2009). Furthermore, studies suggested that adolescents who reported higher levels of social connectedness subsequently reported higher well-being (Jose, Ryan, & Pryor, 2012).…”

Work and family life: parental work schedules and child academic achievement

“…Some studies have found attachment quality to affect achievement through its influence on school attitudes (Chang & Le, 2005) and relationships with peers and teachers (DuChesne & Larose, 2007;Reio, Marcus, & Reio, 2009), while other studies have implicated motivational orientation and academic self-concept as mediating variables (Craik, 1997;Larose, Bernier, & Tarabulsy, 2005). Still others have suggested that a secure parentÁchild attachment facilitates achievement by promoting mastery-based goals rather than performance-based goals (Blankenship, 2001;Elliot & Reis, 2003;Moss & St-Laurent, 2001).…”