THE EFFECT OF PERCEIVED ATTITUDE SIMILARITY UPON STUDENT-INSTRUCTOR ATTRACTION: A TEST OF NEWCOMB'S THEORY.
Contributors: Indiana University School of Nursing.
Published: 1992
Number of pages: 126
Subjects: Health Sciences, Nursing.
Description: This study examined the contribution of attitudes to the development of face-to-face, female-to-female, student-instructor interactions in a natural classroom setting. At the end of the orientation for a one-hour issues course, 54 female Associate Degree nursing students were asked to express their opinions regarding the course as a program requirement. In response to student-verbalized opinions, the course instructor intentionally expressed agreement in one class section and disagreement in the other. In addition to the demographics of gender and age, the nature of any previous interaction between student and instructor (acquaintance) and the number of nursing credit hours completed by the student (socialization) were assessed. Three investigator-developed semantic differential instruments measured the student's: (a) attitude toward the required course, (b) estimation of the instructor's attitude toward the same course, and (c) level of attraction toward the course instructor.

Hypothesis one (a positive relationship between student attitude and perceived instructor attitude) and hypothesis two (greater attraction for similar than for dissimilar others) were statistically supported. When attitude similarity was defined in terms of three attitude similarity and two attitude dissimilarity groups, one contradiction to the similarity hypothesis was identified. Hypothesis three (greater attraction for agreeable than for disagreeable others) was not statistically supported. In addition to the main effects of similarity and acquaintance, the two-way interaction effects, Acquaintance x Treatment, were statistically significant.

Thus, this study provided stronger support for Newcomb's theory and the extension of its gender and relationship boundaries than previous tests. Although the function of the acquaintance variable requires further clarification, Newcomb's theory is a viable tool for future exploration of student-instructor relationships. Finally, if the study responses were achieved with the relatively weak treatment used in this study, the implication is that the behavior of the classroom instructor is a powerful influence that can be directed toward reinforcing positive student attitudes. The major recommendation is to strengthen the treatment, then replicate the study.
Notes: Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 53-09, Section: B, page: 4589.

Thesis (D.N.S.)--INDIANA UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF NURSING, 1992.

School code: 0815.