Student Perceptions of Teacher Power as a Function of Perceived Teacher Confirmation

This study explored the associations among perceived teacher confirmation behaviors (i.e., demonstrating interest, responding to questions, and teaching style) and student perceptions of teacher power use (i.e., coercive, reward, expert, legitimate, and referent power). Participants included 656 students from two Midwestern universities. Results revealed that perceived teacher confirmation accounts for 20% of the variance in student perceptions of teacher power. Further, perceived teacher confirmation behaviors were more closely associated with student perceptions of teacher pro-social power use than with anti-social power use. Specifically, post hoc analyses revealed that perceived confirmation behaviors are more closely associated with student ratings of expert and reward power than ratings of referent and coercive power.