Testing a Self-Determination Theory Model of High School Teacher-Student Relationships Across Student Gender and Race

• In Event: 72.050 - Poster Session 17
  In Poster Session: 72.050-1 - Adolescent Adjustment: Peer, Family, and School Contexts

Abstract

Although Self-Determination Theory (SDT; Deci & Ryan, 2002) provides a useful framework for understanding the psychological impact of teacher-relationships on students, few SDT studies incorporate analysis of student demographic variables. This study tested a SDT-based model of students’ perceived interactions with teachers across student gender and race at a focal high school (N=657). The hypothesized SDT factor structure was not confirmed; instead, a multidimensional three-factor structure of Perceived Caring, Perceived Academic Support, and Perceived Negativity emerged. Findings suggest that students may perceive competence and autonomy fulfillment in classrooms as concurrent processes, while experiencing negativity as a distinct relational construct that could help to explain observed differences across student demographics, particularly differences in mean and covariance structure across student gender.

Authors

• Pei Pei Liu, Harvard University

• Mandy Savitz-Romer, Harvard University

• John Perella

• Nancy E. Hill, Harvard University

• Belle Liang, Boston College