The Effect of Teacher Likability on Student Compliance

What motivates people? Is it money, good grades, peer approval, or the satisfaction of doing their best? Whatever it is, motivation helps us to be more productive. Many people find themselves extending a hand to someone just because that person was nice to them. Cottringer (2002) theorized that the more likable a person is the more positive influence he/she will have on others. Cottringer noted a number of characteristics that influence a person’s perception of likability.The most effective traits were h o n e s t y, empathy, humor, politeness, positive thinking, and supportiveness (Cottringer, 2002). These traits were most effective when they were possessed by people who had the power to influence particular others the most, such as in the case of teachers and students. Previous research has investigated likability as a variable in student ratings of teacher ability and students’perceptions of learning. In their study, Delucchi and Pelowski (2000) reviewed 1,145 student evaluations of teachers (SETS). Their results showed a statistically significant positive effect of instructor likability on students’overall rating of teaching ability.Their results did not find a significant effect of instructor likability on students’perception of learning. Students gave higher ratings to likable teachers but did not perceive that they would learn more if the teacher was likable or less if the teacher was unlikable. In a similar study,Wilson (2006) surveyed 1,572 students who rated 44 consenting instructors in a southern university. Students rated their instructor’s attitude as a variable in student motivation, student outcome, and student attitude toward instruction. At the end of the course, students reported their grades and responded to questions about how much the instructor motivated them and if the instructor showed genuine concern for the students. The results confirmed Wi l s o n ’s hypothesis that the instructor’s attitude had a significant positive effect on predicted attitudes of students, student motivation toward course studies, and student grades. Kelley (1950) examined a central trait that influenced student's impressions of a teacher. Fifty-five male college students taking 3 different sections of an economics class participated in the study.The students were told that there would be a substitute instructor for the day. One confederate acted as the stimulus person in two of the sections. Another confederate took this role in the third section of the course. The students were introduced to this teacher by a biographical note said to be written by someone who knew him. They were asked to read the note to themselves and instructed not to discuss its contents with each other.Two kinds of notes were distributed. Both were identical except that in one, the person was described as being "rather cold". In the other form, the substitution phrase "very warm" was printed. After the lecture was over, the students were asked to write their impression of and to rate this substitute instructor on a set of 15 scales. The students who read the "warm" description rated the substitute professor as more sociable, more considerate, and better natured as compared to those who read the "cold" description.