Psychology teachers’ attitudes about students: A comparison of teachers based on history of intense dislike of students.

Abstract

About half of college teachers have intensely disliked a student. Teachers report that the primary causes of intense dislike are students' difficult personalities and behaviors. However, differences in teachers' perceptions of students may also be a factor. To investigate this possibility, the current research compared psychology teachers (N = 150) with and without the experience of having intensely disliked a student. Following the methods of stereotype content model research, teachers evaluated the warmth and competence of their most disliked students, best students, and typical students. In addition, they reported their emotional reactions and behavioral intentions toward the students. Although teachers with the experience of intensely disliking a student were more likely to have negative attitudes about their most disliked students, their ratings of best and typical students were similar to teachers who had never intensely disliked a student. Irrespective of the experience of having an intense level of dislike for a student, teachers' ratings of their most disliked students' warmth and competence were significantly lower than the ratings of their best students and typical students. Teachers' most disliked students elicited significantly more contempt and pity, as well as less admiration and envy. Teachers also reported being less likely to help and more likely to harm their most disliked students. Overall, the results suggest that intense dislike of students results from extreme situations rather than teachers' general attitudes about students and that disliked students elicit negative emotions and behavioral intentions.

Methods of engaging with psychology’s best students: A survey of teachers at 4-year colleges and universities.

“…Once again, responses of yes led to open-ended questions asking them to describe the methods. The survey did not ask for descriptions of teachers' worst students because previous research has documented the characteristics of disliked students (Boysen et al, 2021(Boysen et al, , 2022(Boysen et al, , 2023.…”

“…To increase job satisfaction, teachers should alter their pedagogy to reduce troublesome student behaviors, but they might also increase the time and effort spent on their best students. Teachers report that their best students prompt them to have more positive emotions and fewer negative emotions than other students (Boysen et al, 2022). In addition, teachers are motivated to help their best students more than other students.…”

“…Good teachers develop and maintain a positive rapport with students, but teachers have difficulty liking all of their students. In fact, about 50% of college teachers report having intensely disliked one of their students (Boysen et al, 2021(Boysen et al, , 2022(Boysen et al, , 2023. Although the experience of dislike is common, teachers dislike relatively few students, typically one or fewer every 2-3 years.…”

“…In terms of the effects on instruction, teachers report that dislike harms their ability to interact professionally with students, grade fairly, and focus on instruction during class. In addition, teachers are more likely to feel contempt toward their disliked students than their typical students, and this reaction is negatively correlated with their intention to help the student and positively correlated with their intention to harm the student through actions such as exclusion or neglect (Boysen et al, 2022). Overall, working with disliked students can be emotionally difficult and time-consuming (Boysen et al, 2021(Boysen et al, , 2023.…”