Teaching and Teacher Education 18 (2002) 1007–1021

Causes and effects of teacher conflict-inducing attitudes

towards pupils: a path analysis model
Florin A. Sava*
Center for Psychological Studies and Research, West University of Timisoara, 1 Paris Street, 1900 Timisoara, Romania

Received 1 May 2001; received in revised form 10 October 2001; accepted 12 December 2001

Abstract

A model explaining several causes and consequences of negative teacher–pupil relationships was developed. Data
from 109 teachers and 946 high school pupils was analyzed using path analysis. The results suggest that teachers who
prefer a custodial approach of controlling pupils, who have lower morale due to school climate conditions and who are
less likely to burn out, tend to adopt conflict-inducing attitudes towards pupils. The results also demonstrate a high
incidence of educational, psychological and somatic complaints in students whose characterized teachers are perceived
as more hostile in their attitude towards pupils. Implications of these findings are discussed.
r 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Teacher–student relationship; Teacher behavior; Teacher attitude; Teacher effectiveness; Path analysis; Conflict

Most of us can remember one or more class- curriculum and curricular aspects, neglecting the
room episodes when teachers’ acts determined importance of an effective teacher–student inter-
some lasting negative effects on pupils. Unfortu- action. This paper challenges this perspective and
nately, on a scientific level, many writings are focuses on negative teacher–pupil relationships,
encapsulated in recalling these intense emotional particularly identifying a model that would explain
experiences only. Yet, their message is clear, the main causes and effects of such interactions
underlining that the pedagogical relationship is due to teacher characteristics.
the heart of effective teaching. Unfortunately, Most previous studies have focused more on
researchers often tend to overlook teachers as a analyzing individual influences of various negative
potential source of problems in the classroom aspects on teaching. However, the literature review
(Kearney, Plax, Hays, & Ivey, 1991). Compared to reported here helped me to develop a model that
the large body of literature that focuses on positive encompasses causes and effects of teachers’ hostile
teacher communication behaviors, fewer studies attitudes. The model aims to establish the direction
have been done on negative teacher communica- and strength of the relationships among several
tion behaviors (Wanzer & McCroskey, 1998). teacher-related variables that lead to teachers’
Educational reform also tends to focus on conflict-inducing attitudes. A secondary aim is
to assess the consequences on pupils due to
*Tel.: +40-256-191821; fax: +40-256-190770. such teacher attitudes. The validation of the
E-mail address: [email protected] (F.A. Sava). proposed model provides insights for educational

0742-051X/02/$ - see front matter r 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
PII: S 0 7 4 2 - 0 5 1 X ( 0 2 ) 0 0 0 5 6 - 2
1008 F.A. Sava / Teaching and Teacher Education 18 (2002) 1007–1021

policy-makers about the impact of a negative misbehaviors, didactogeny, teacher maltreatment,

teacher–student interaction and clarifies the role of and lack of teacher support.
several teacher-related factors that lead to these Kearney et al. (1991) defined teacher misbeha-
undesirable attitudes. viors as those behaviors that interfere with student
The literature review section contains two main learning. The concept includes activities that range
aspects: teacher-related factors that negatively from an unsatisfactory teacher training (e.g.,
affect teacher–pupil interaction (TPI), and the boring lectures) to aggressive actions that involve
respective educational and psychological conse- teachers who use sarcasm or unfair testing in
quences of a negative teacher–student relationship. relating to their pupils. Van Morrow (1991)
Yet, for a better understanding of this topic, established a hierarchy of the most common types
I will first address some difficulties encountered in of misbehaviors. Negative criticism, embarrass-
this area due to ethical aspects and confusing ment and humiliation constitute the most fre-
terminology. quently reported negative experiences of
significant impact in schools due to teachers. In
addition, Orange (2000) and Thweatt and
1. Difficulties in studying negative McCroskey (1996) consider misbehaviors to be
teacher–pupil interactions unintentional, occurring when using inappropriate
educational strategies and techniques.
Researching negative teacher–pupil interactions These negative behaviors can affect the
is often considered a taboo, which can make study children, who may become afraid of their teacher
in this area difficult (Poenaru & Sava, 1998). There or start disliking the subject he or she teaches.
are some ethical considerations to be made here. When this occurs we use the term of did-
First, the selection of a sample of teachers who actogeny. This concept is quite wide-spread
misbehave based on paper and pencil measures is throughout non-English literature (French, Ro-
questionable from an ethical point of view. manian, Russian, Spanish) and has a similar
However, several authors found that pupils can meaning: a faulty education that harms children.
be used as the final judges of good teaching The negative effects of teacher misbehavior may
(Bhasin, 1987). Their ratings are valid enough to have a medical, psychological or educational
be considered reliable ways of measuring interac- nature (Cukier, 1990; Poenaru & Sava, 1998;
tions between the two parties (Elmore & LaPointe, Sillamy, 1996).
1975; Perkins, Guerin, & Schlech, 1990; Worrall, A more harsh term, teacher maltreatment,
Worrall, & Meldrum, 1988). Secondly, it is ironic focuses on psychological maltreatment that occurs
to study teacher mistakes or faulty education when in school settings due to teachers. It involves any
their primary aim is to be educational agents. acts of omission and commission that are judged
Unfortunately, studying the characteristics of by professional experts to be psychologically
effective teachers will not give us all the elements damaging (Hart, Germain, & Brassard, cited in
necessary to understand teacher misbehavior. As Neese, 1989). An example of maltreatment in
an analogy, it is not enough to study the schools is using fear and intimidation to install
characteristics of non-abused children when deal- discipline in the classroom.
ing with the abused ones. More importantly, the Finally, teacher support can be conceptualized
tone of such articles should not criticize teachers similarly to social support in schools, strongly
for making mistakes, but rather provide a discus- related to one’s psychological well-being. For
sion frame of such problems in order to im- example, acceptance, care, encouragement and
prove the subject knowledge and teacher training approval from significant others (e.g., teachers in
programs. school settings) may enhance self-esteem and self-
Another barrier to research consists in the lack evaluation of the pupil. In contrast to this, Bru,
of conceptual agreement among researchers on Boyesen, Munthe, and Roland (1998) asserted that
this topic. Several terms are used, such as teacher lack of teacher support would negatively influence
 F.A. Sava / Teaching and Teacher Education 18 (2002) 1007–1021 1009

the development of a positive self-concept among 2.3. Educational beliefs system and cultural factors
pupils.
In some countries the use of sanctions and
corporal punishment in school is still accepted by
2. Factors that affect TPI teachers and parents. This reflects cultural norms
that tolerate the use of physical and psychological
2.1. Organizational climate in schools punishment as means of control. For example,
there are cultural variations between the Arabs
The organizational climate may be expressed by from the north and the Bedouins from the south of
the description of desired school conditions and Israel, the latter being more patriarchal and using
the level of satisfaction about those conditions more aggressive methods when educating children
(Kremer-Hayon & Kurtz, 1985). It includes (Elbedour, Center, Maruyama, & Assor, 1997).
aspects such as principal style, school services Similarly, Australian pupils find authoritarian
and resources, work pressure, teacher relationships teachers less offensive than do pupils in Norway
with other colleagues, professional prestige or and the USA (Lovegrove, Lewis, Fall, & Love-
autonomy (Zak, 1981). grove, 1985). Parents from Spain often consider
Several sources may affect TPI from an organi- authoritarian teachers to be necessary in their
zational perspective. Byrne (1998) ascertains that children’s education. Thus, pathogenic teachers
low salaries, extreme workload or a general are still accepted and considered legitimate by
negative school environment contribute to low society (Cukier, 1990).
teacher morale. In addition, difficulties with the The differences in teacher ideology can also
school administration could raise the level of occur in the same cultural background. Willoer,
stress, thus leading to further problems. Eidell, and Hoy (1967) developed the construct of
pupil control ideology, conceptualized as a con-
2.2. Burnout tinuum from a highly custodial approach to a
highly humanistic pupil control ideology. The
Burnout is a devastating deterrent to a success- custodial approach is the traditional school model
ful performance of the pedagogue’s duties (Byrne, that provides a rigid and controlled setting by
1998). It is a negative psychological phenomenon emphasizing the maintenance of order. Pupils are
that affects human service workers through three considered to be irresponsible and undisciplined,
dimensions: emotional exhaustion, depersonaliza- teacher–pupil relationships are impersonal and
tion, and reduced personal accomplishment (Ma- pessimism and mistrust prevails. The humanistic
slach, cited in Starnaman & Miller, 1992). approach stresses the importance of pupils and the
According to Huberman (1993) up to 20% of creation of an atmosphere that meets students’
teachers go through a phase of burnout at some needs and leads to a democratic orientation
point in time mainly due to the discrepancy between pupils and teachers. In this model,
between expectations and the perceived reality of relationships with students are personal, teachers
the job, or between investments and rewards. are optimistic and maintain open channels for
Burnout was found to correlate directly with communication.
organizational stressors such as workload and role
stress. Conversely, other factors such as perceived
social support and participation in decision mak- 3. Effects of teacher misbehavior on pupils
ing reduce the level of burnout (Starnaman &
Miller, 1992). Teachers are pivotal to student perceptions of
Due to consequences of burnout, such as learning (West, 1994), facilitating or inhibiting
teachers’ irritability, exhaustion, and criticism, it student learning. Several studies focused on
is expected that burnout will negatively influence identifying those interactions between teachers
TPI. and pupils that most influence the quality of their
1010 F.A. Sava / Teaching and Teacher Education 18 (2002) 1007–1021

relationships. Some of the qualities that lead to teachers: ‘‘it is like throwing a stone in a lake.
effective relationships are positive affection (Cou- For a couple of moments the water ripples which
dray, 1995; Poenaru & Sava, 1998), warm attitude affects the initial calm, but after a few moments
(Elmore & LaPointe, 1975), tact of teaching (Van everything returns to normal. Yet, at the bottom
Manen, 1991), teacher immediacy and teacher of the lake something has changed, a stone
power (Thweatt & McCroskey, 1996; West, 1994), appeared and it will remain there forever’’. The
teacher assertiveness and responsiveness (Wanzer lasting effects occur especially when teachers
& McCroskey, 1998), and low differential treat- misbehave in front of primary and secondary
ment (Brattesani, Weinstein, & Marshall, 1984). school children who are more emotionally vulner-
Lack of any of these traits may negatively able than older students. Several authors such as
influence TPI. When students perceive their Mikula and Schlamberger (1985) or Van Manen
teachers as misbehaving, several negative out- (1991) have accurately described this negative
comes can occur. Mainly, there are three cate- emotional state called ‘‘hurt feelings’’. Some
gories of negative effects: educational, authors such as Hyman and Snook (1999) went
psychological, and somatic outcomes. even further and considered that 1% to 2% of
pupils develop educator-induced PTSD (posttrau-
3.1. Educational outcomes due to matic stress disorder) and propose an instrument
teacher misbehavior to measure this in the school setting.
Additionally, several somatic complaints appear
Teacher misbehavior is a demotivating factor to be related to lack of teacher social support. Bru
perceived by the pupils as central to their lack of et al. (1998) findings confirm the assumption that
motivation (Gorham & Christophel, 1992). Stu- there is a link between lack of teacher support and
dents whose teachers were perceived as misbehav- musculoskeletal complaints. Also, the anxiety of
ing reported a higher level of negative affect some children when confronted with school stress
toward course material (Wanzer & McCroskey, due to teacher misbehaviors leads to anxiety-
1998) and had fewer learning opportunities (West, related physiological manifestations.
1994). In addition, highly discriminating teachers
negatively influence the educational development
of low achieving pupils (Brattesani et al., 1984). 4. Toward a causal model of teacher misbehavior
and its possible consequences
3.2. Psychosomatic outcomes of
teacher misbehavior The idea behind the forthcoming model divides
the causes of misbehaving into external and
Hyman and Snook (1999) defined emotional internal factors. In the first category we considered
maltreatment in schools as ‘‘any disciplinary or aspects of negative school organizational climate
motivational practice that psychologically hurts (lack of or unsatisfactory school resources and
children’’ (p. 71). These include humiliation, conditions, low salaries, lack of perceived principal
rejection, excessive authority, sarcasm, and other support and a negative interaction with other
disciplinary techniques based on fear and intimi- colleagues and pupils) that affect teachers’ morale.
dation. All these misbehaviors can develop (in the Teachers’ low morale is expected to negatively
child) a cluster of symptoms, such as neurotic influence teacher–pupil relationships due to tea-
traits, habit disorders, behavior extremes (Neese, chers’ decreased involvement and satisfaction in
1989), shyness, withdrawal (Bhasin, 1987), intimi- teaching. There will also be an indirect effect on
dation, anxiety or impulsive behavior (Chandler & perceived TPI due to burnout, which is influenced
Shermis, 1985). These manifestations may be by organizational stressors (Byrne, 1998; Kremer-
temporary or may last the child’s entire life. One Hayon & Kurtz, 1985; Schwab, Jackson, &
of my students provided an insightful description Schuler, 1986; Starnaman & Miller, 1992; Zak,
for a traumatic event caused by one of her 1981).
 F.A. Sava / Teaching and Teacher Education 18 (2002) 1007–1021 1011

Teacher burnout is also likely to influence the actions to be tested. The design consists in six
quality of TPI. Several authors, such as Byrne variables, of which two are exogenous (teacher
(1998) and Huberman (1993), have discussed the ideology and school climate) and two are exclu-
repercussions of burnout on classroom work. sively endogenous (educational and psychosomatic
Teachers’ irritability and exhaustion will deter outcomes), influenced by the quality of TPI. The
them from performing pedagogical duties. remaining variables, teacher burnout and teacher
As an internal factor I considered teacher’s conflict-inducing attitude, are both independent
ideology regarding pupil control as a cognitive and dependent. The former is influenced by
explanation for a personal approach in teaching. teacher ideology and school climate and in turn
The behaviors teachers adopt depend on their may affect the teacher’s attitude that will influence
thinking (Packer & Winne, 1995) and on their the quality of TPI. The latter will determine some
ideology of teaching (Elbedour et al., 1997; Fried- detrimental effects on pupils, and is influenced by
man, 1995), as well as on other factors. The results teacher burnout, teacher ideology of pupil control
lead to the conclusion that a custodial approach and school climate.
that supports an autocratic education is more The purpose of this study was to determine the
likely to be linked to teacher misbehaviors validity of this model as well as the strength of
(Elbedour et al., 1997). Furthermore, teacher influence of each factor involved. Secondarily, I
ideology seems to relate to teacher burnout, with aimed to reveal the concept links between several
humanistic teachers being affected mostly by terms such as teacher misbehavior, negative TPI
pupils’ disrespect, whilst custodial teachers are and lack of teacher support as measured by
affected mostly by pupils’ inattentiveness (Fried- different assessment scales.
man, 1995).
All three factors, the organizational climate in
schools, teacher’s ideology, and level of burnout, 5. Method
will affect TPI, as measured by pupil perceptions.
Dysfunctional interactions may negatively influ- 5.1. Participants
ence pupils psychologically and somatically as well
as educationally. Some possible consequences are The sample included 119 teachers and 946 pupils
lack of self-esteem, anxiety, asthenia, school from 15 different high schools located in two
phobia, conduct disorders, and learning difficul- Romanian cities: Timisoara and Arad. There were
ties. 99 women and 20 men, with a mean age of 39.5
The model presented in Fig. 1 illustrates the years (10 years standard deviation, range from 23
causes and effects of negative teacher–pupil inter- to 62 years). Their number of years of teaching

School climate Educational

outcomes
Teacher
Burnout conflict-inducing
attitudes

Control ideology
Psychosomatic
outcomes

Fig. 1. Hypothesized model of teacher conflict-inducing attitudes causes and consequences.

1012 F.A. Sava / Teaching and Teacher Education 18 (2002) 1007–1021

experience ranged from 1 to 39 with a median of ranging from Never to Always. Higher scores
16.5 and a SD of 10 years. The sample was selected indicate a higher level of burnout.
using a two-stage cluster approach determining the 3. A 36-item school climate questionnaire (CQ)
high schools and classes that would be evaluated. was designed in order to assess school climate in
For each selected high school two classes were four areas: principal and colleagues’ support
chosen by asking the principal to nominate two (social support), school resources, job accomplish-
classes available to be tested. The criteria for ment and prestige, and financial security (Sava,
selecting the teachers were that they taught at least 2001). The overall score was computed as an
one of the nominated classes and that they were indirect but general measure of teacher morale due
available for consultation. Of those who met these to organizational climate in a particular school.
criteria, 82% agreed to participate. Eight teachers The teachers were asked to respond on a 5-point
from each school were selected as the available Likert scale (5 ¼ strongly agree; 1 ¼ strongly
sample group. disagree). A higher score indicates a higher level of
All the pupils from the classes selected were teacher satisfaction, Table 1.
included in the study. Their responses were used to High school pupils involved in the study were
evaluate teacher misbehavior, teacher support, the asked to evaluate their relationships with the
quality of TPI, and educational and psychoso- selected teachers by completing four scales and
matic outcomes of such behaviors. The pupil checklists. The first three instruments were used to
sample included 91 first year pupils, 156 sopho- assess teacher misbehaviors, teacher–pupil nega-
mores, 639 juniors, and 60 seniors. tive relationship, teacher lack of support, and to
determine the communality of these terms. The
last scale was used to evaluate the consequences of
5.2. Instruments such undesirable behaviors and attitudes.
4. An adapted short-form of (Teacher Treat-
Teachers received an extensive questionnaire ment Inventory Scale (TTI)—Weinstein, Marshall,
consisting of the following scales: Brattesani, & Middlestadt, 1982) is an other-
1. Willoer et al. (cited in Lester & Bishop, 2000) reporting questionnaire that involves pupils’ per-
developed the Pupil Control Ideology Scale (PCI) ceptions on two aspects: type of teacher feedback
as an instrument with 20 items designed to assess (3 items), and teacher supportive help (4 items).
teachers’ ideology of pupil control. Participants Even though the TTI scale was designed for use
were asked to respond on a 5-point Likert scale (5 with children in elementary grades one to six, it is
¼ strongly agree; 1 ¼ strongly disagree). High also suitable for high school children. The students
scores indicate a custodial approach to education responded to each item by marking one of the four
that supports autocratic education based on order, alternatives ranging from ‘‘always’’ to ‘‘never’’.
discipline and a clear hierarchy between teacher The scale can be used in several ways. I chose to
and student. Low scores indicate a humanistic assess how each child perceives his or her own
approach based on co-operation between students treatment by a particular teacher.
and teachers and a more permissive educational 5. The TPI rating scale developed by Poenaru
setting. and Sava (1998) rates the quality of TPI as
2. Friedman (1993) developed an adapted form perceived by pupils. It is a 20-item scale that
of Maslach’s Burnout Inventory (MBI) that concerns teacher positive support and lack of
evaluates two burnout symptoms: emotional discrimination. Each item is ranked on a 5-point
exhaustion (10 items), and job non-accomplish- scale. Higher scores reflect positive interactions,
ment (7 items). One item was removed since it was while lower scores mean a negative, problematic
not suitable for the Romanian educational con- interaction between teacher and students.
text. Respondents were asked to scale their 6. Teacher misbehaviors checklist (TMC) as-
answers according to 7 frequency ranks each sesses three types of misbehaviors: teacher incom-
expressing different levels of burnout severity petence, teacher offensiveness (hostility), and
 F.A. Sava / Teaching and Teacher Education 18 (2002) 1007–1021 1013

Table 1
Cronbach’s alpha internal consistency and sample items for the used scales

Scales and variables Sample item a

PCI (pupil control ideology) Being friendly with pupils often leads them to become too 0.74
familiar.

MBI (burnout index) 0.82

Emotional exhaustion I have felt frustrated by teaching. 0.72
Job non-accomplishment I have been thinking of quitting teaching. 0.84

CQ (school climate index) 0.83

Social support The principal supports my activities. 0.80
School resources Working conditions in my school are good. 0.73
Job accomplishment and Teaching gives me my desired social status within the 0.67
prestige local community.
Financial security The teacher income is less than I deserve. 0.78

TTI (teacher treatment)

Style of feedback The teacher scolds me for not trying. 0.78
Supportive help The teacher calls on me to explain things to the class. 0.81

TPI (teacher–pupil The teacher understands me each time I have a problem. 0.97
interaction)

TMC (teacher misbehaviors)

Teacher incompetence The teacher does not encourage students to ask questions. 0.81
Teacher offensiveness The teacher makes fun of us and humiliates us. 0.87
Teacher indolence The teacher is late in returning papers. 0.74

ES (consequences of teacher
conflict-inducing attitude)
Educational effects I get easily bored during X class. 0.88
Psychosomatic effects During X class my palms sweat more than usual. 0.88

teacher indolence (Kearney et al, 1991). Teacher follows: educational negative effects (6 items),
incompetence refers to inappropriate teaching psychological and somatic complaints (6 items),
techniques, teacher hostility comprises sarcasm, and three filler items, which can be referred to as a
prejudice and verbally abusive behavior, while the third dimension. This addresses general somatic
teacher indolence profile includes lack of motiva- complaints, which gives a broader view of how a
tion perceived in teachers. The 28-item scale has particular pupil responds to the school setting. A
five answer alternatives ranging from ‘‘almost higher result means positive educational and
never’’ to ‘‘always’’. psychosomatic effects, while a lower score indi-
7. The last instrument used was the effects scale cates negative effects on pupils. The scale items
(ES), specially designed to assess the effects on along with their factor loading resulting from
pupils of negative teacher–pupil interactions. SPSS 9.0 release are presented in the appendix.
Three kinds of effects were taken into considera-
tion: educational, psychological and somatic. The 5.3. Procedure
15-item scale factor analysis showed that we can
rely on two dimensions only: educational effects Prior to the beginning of the study, the 16 high
and a combination of psychological and somatic schools were selected randomly from a telephone
effects. The scale contains 15 items distributed as directory. A letter of introduction was sent to the
1014 F.A. Sava / Teaching and Teacher Education 18 (2002) 1007–1021

schools asking for their participation in the study. scale), teacher negative feedback subscale from the
One principal chose not to participate, saying he TTI, and TPI rating scale. The selection of these
did not have time for research. As a result, 15 indices was based on their direct implication in
schools were included in the study. Selected teacher–pupil relationships. The teacher suppor-
teachers were given the questionnaires and asked tive help subscale from the TTI was not included
to complete them privately and return them within since it deals mainly with academic support rather
one week. Return times ranged from 2 days to 1 than emotional support. Additionally, some items
week. It took the teachers an average of 45 min to had different meanings for pupils. For example,
complete the questionnaires. Of the 120 teachers the question ‘‘The teacher calls on me to answer
who initially agreed to participate in the study, 119 the question’’ was positively perceived by high
returned the questionnaires. achieving pupils, while low achieving pupils tended
After receiving teacher responses, the pupils to consider this act as a revenge from the teacher
from the nominated classes were assessed using the which was meant to stress their lack of knowledge.
instruments outlined above. The pupils were asked In order to perform a principal component
to complete the rating scales in the classroom. The analysis I used a maximum likelihood technique
scales were completed anonymously and partici- that is provided in PRELIS 2.30 from LISREL
pants were assured that teachers would not have 8:30: Data screening resulting from skewness and
access to their responses. Each pupil was asked to kurtosis indices revealed that the five subscales
assess a specific teacher who was randomly required a transformation in order to achieve a
assigned to him or her. Each selected teacher was normal distribution. Thus, the three teacher
evaluated by a different number of children misbehavior subscales were inversed ð1=xÞ; while
ranging from 5 to 20 pupils. A mean score was TPI scale and TTI negative feedback were cubed
then computed for each teacher included in the and squared respectively ðX 3 ; X 2 Þ: All the trans-
study. formed variables achieved normality, where low
scores indicated a negative evaluation of teachers
and higher scores showed a positive teacher
6. Data analysis perception from pupils. However, due to different
ranges of variable metrics I standardized the
This section contains the results of a principal observations before conducting the principal
component analysis of different concepts related component analysis. This measure is necessary in
to negative TPI as well as a path analysis of the order to obtain more reliable estimates of factor
proposed causal model. Both analyses retained 109 loading (Klem, 1998).
complete valid cases since the other 10 cases had The matrix correlation among all five variables
large portions of missing data. is presented in Table 2. Data revealed only one
principal component that accounts for 74.3% of
6.1. Principal component analysis all the variation in the five variables with an
eigenvalue of 3.71, while the second eigenvalue
This analysis aimed to provide a principal was only 0.82. Both, Kaiser’s stopping rule and
component, which encompasses the communality Allen and Hubbard’s regression equation show
of several discussed concepts such as teacher that the one principal component solution is
misbehaviors, teacher–student negative interac- appropriate (Johnson & Wichern, 1998). Table 2
tion, and teacher support. The results of this also gives the correlation between each variable
approach will be included in further analyses and the selected eigenvector.
required to test the proposed causal model. The result indicates that a substantial amount of
Five indices were selected for the data analysis variance is explained by a single component. Thus,
process. They include the three teacher misbeha- there is a core emotional aspect that influences
vior indicators (indolent teacher subscale, hostile TPI, which could be named as a co-operative vs.
teacher subscale, and incompetent teacher sub- conflict-inducing attitude towards pupils in the
 F.A. Sava / Teaching and Teacher Education 18 (2002) 1007–1021 1015

Table 2
Correlation matrix among variables included in the principal component analysis. Correlation between variables and the resulted
eigenvector

1 2 3 4 5 PC1

TMC—teacher misbehavior
1. TMC—hostility — 0.97
2. TMC—indolence 0.99 — 0.97
3. TMC—incompetence 0.67 0.66 — 0.73
4. TTI—feedback style 0.60 0.60 0.18 — 0.67
5. TPI—teacher–pupil interaction 0.84 0.85 0.63 0.58 — 0.92
Eigenvalue 3.72
Variance explained (total) 74.32%

N = 109
Educational
School climate outcomes
0.20
-0.41 Teacher 0.65 0.76
0.28 conflict-inducing
Burnout
attitudes
0.25 0.84 -0.45 0.73
Control ideology 0.88
Psychosomatic
outcomes

0.69

Fig. 2. Tested model of teacher conflict-inducing attitudes causes and consequences with standardized path coefficients provided.

classroom. A negative, conflict-inducing attitude that have proven different links among variables
(lack of teacher emotional support, teacher mis- considered in the study. I chose to use a manifest
behavior or hostility) leads to defensive and variables model due to the relatively small sample
negative responses from the pupils, a win–lose size ðN ¼ 109Þ; which is unsatisfactory for a latent
approach in education. However, it is not very variables structural equation model with four
clear if there is a real empirical link between the latent indicators and 12 manifest variables. When
discussed concepts or if I am just dealing with a the sample size for maximum likelihood estimation
tautology that implies a semantic relationship due is relatively small, as the number of parameters
to the many similar attributes which these terms increases, it loses the precision of estimating
encompass. complex models (Hair, Anderson, Tatham, &
Black, 1998; MacCallum & Austin, 2000).
6.2. Path analysis The manifest variables scores included in the
model originate from the PCI scale, Friedman’s
In order to test our hypothesized model, a version of the MBI, the CQ scale, the retained
second data analysis required the use of structural principal component that expresses the commun-
equation modeling (SEM) for a manifest variables ality of several TPI indices, and the ES. The
model. A recursive path analysis model was relationships between variables are presented in
developed according to previous research results Fig. 2.
1016 F.A. Sava / Teaching and Teacher Education 18 (2002) 1007–1021

Table 3
Input covariance and correlation matrices for path analysis

1 2 3 4 5 6

1. PCI 69.009
Pupil control ideology —
2. MBI 28.867 95.446
Burnout (0.36***) —
3. CQ 22:427 49:074 110.695
School climate ð0:26 * * Þ ð0:48 * * * Þ —
4. PC-1 3:361 0.202 1.961 1.000
Conflict-inducing attitude ð0:40 * * * Þ (0.02) (0.19*) —
5. EDUC 4:988 3.408 2.810 2.432 13.822
Educational outcomes ð0:16Þ (0.09) (0.07) (0.65***) —
6. PSI 15:269 0:687 8.709 3.836 9.728 27.788
Psychosomatic outcomes ð0:35 * * * Þ ð0:01Þ (0.16) (0.73***) (0.50***) —

The correlations are presented within parenthesis.

* po0:05; * * po0:01; * * * po0:001 (two-tailed).

Table 3 presents both covariance and correla- It is also important to pay attention to para-
tion matrices used to determine whether or not the meter estimates since it is entirely possible for
data fit the model. relationships among variables to be weak even
The proposed model proves to fit with the data. though it is a good fitting model. In observing the
All path coefficients were significant, and several input correlation matrix for SEM we can notice a
overall model fit indicators show there is a good fit wide variety of relationship strengths with a good
of the model. Thus, we obtained a w2 ð7; N ¼ reproduction of model paths. However, it seems
.
109Þ ¼ 3:894; p > 0:79; the Joreskog–S .
orebrom that burnout does not correlate with teacher
GFI was 0.989, its adjusted form AGFI 0.966 attitude towards pupils. In an attempt of model-
and the standardized root mean square residual trimming I eliminated the corresponding path and
(SRMSR) was 0.034. In addition, the Bentler– obtained: w2 ð8; N ¼ 109Þ ¼ 11; 354; p > 0:18; the
Bonnett normed fit index (NFI) was 0.982, while .
Joreskog–S .
orebrom GFI 0.967; its adjusted form
the Bentler–Bonnett non-normed fit index (NNFI) AGFI 0.913; the standardized root mean square
was 1.032. Of particular interest according to Hu residual (SRMSR) was 0.074, while RMSEA
and Bentler (1998) is root mean square error of became 0.014. The chi-square difference statistic
approximation (RMSEA) which appears to be between the two models was w2 ð1; N ¼ 109Þ ¼
sensitive to model misspecification. It provides a 7; 46; po0:01 and the relative chi-square changed
confidence interval and yields appropriate conclu- from 0.55 to 1.42. In addition, due to this change,
sions about the model quality. In our model, we another parameter, teacher morale, lost its sig-
obtained a RMSEA ¼ 0:005 within a confidence nificance. These results prove the superiority of the
interval range from 0 to 0.072. The accepted first model and help me conclude that the
standard for the above-presented indicators of fit modification of the initial model is not a good
varies from above 0.90 for GFI, AGFI, NFI and solution, even though the second also provides a
NNFI indicators to below 0.05 in case of RMSEA. good fit of data.
Similarly, a SRMSR close to zero and a chi-square Looking at the standardized parameters from
not significant also indicates a good model fit the first model, significant relationships can be
(Kelloway, 1998). All these procedures indicate a seen in all seven specified paths. These findings
good fit of the model, which is a plausible come once again in favor of the proposed model
explanation, even though this does not imply that and its plausibility. All the parameter estimates,
is the only possible model. the standard errors, as well as the associated
 F.A. Sava / Teaching and Teacher Education 18 (2002) 1007–1021 1017

Table 4
Path analysis parameter estimates, their standard errors and their significance

Parameters Unstandardized Standardized

Value SE t p Value SE t p

(PCI-MBI) 0.294 0.099 2,967 0.003 0.250 0.081 3.092 0.002

(CQ-MBI) 0:384 0.078 4:914 0.001 0:413 0.074 5:552 0.001
(PCI-PC 1) 0:054 0.011 4:956 0.001 0:451 0.079 5:690 0.001
(MBI-PC 1) 0.028 0.010 2.778 0.005 0.278 0.098 2.837 0.005
(CQ-PC 1) 0.019 0.009 2.100 0.036 0.203 0.095 2.147 0.032
(PC 1-EDUC) 2.432 0.271 8.988 0.001 0.654 0.055 11.920 0.001
(PC 1-PSI) 3.836 0.348 11.024 0.001 0.728 0.045 16.133 0.001
Epsilon-MBI 8.254 0.562 14.697 0.001 0.845 0.040 20.987 0.001
Epsilon-PC1 0.880 0.060 14.697 0.001 0.880 0.039 22.590 0.001
Epsilon-EDUC 2.812 0.191 14.697 0.001 0.756 0.047 15.937 0.001
Epsilon-PSI 3.616 0.246 14.697 0.001 0.686 0.048 14.338 0.001

confidence intervals and t values are presented in sely, a custodial approach implies a strict control
Table 4. on classroom settings and a lower level of
flexibility towards others, which facilitates the
occurrence of burnout. The custodial approach
7. Discussion in education creates the communication barrier of
adultism, with its core message ‘‘since you don’t
Finding evidence regarding the psychosomatic see what I see, you are at fault’’ (Nelsen, Lott, &
and educational outcomes due to conflict-inducing Glenn, 1997). This kind of approach to educa-
attitudes of teachers proved to be solid in the tional problems leads to burnout, which may be
model presented in this paper. In order to gain the consequence of a perceived discrepancy be-
more clarity in explaining the model I divided it in tween investments and the expected rewards
two main sections: factors that influence students’ (Huberman, 1993).
perceptions of TPI, as well as the psychological, An interesting link is the positive relationship
somatic and educational effects of teacher conflict- between burnout and the perceived teacher atti-
inducing attitudes. tude towards children. While there is not a direct
A link between pupil control ideology and the correlation between the two measures ðr ¼ 0:02Þ;
perceived quality of TPI was found, a result that when computing a partial correlation I obtained a
underlines other findings provided by Elbedour significant association ðpr ¼ 0:28Þ: This apparently
et al. (1997) and Friedman (1995). It is difficult to strange correlation implies that pupils have a more
distinguish if a teacher’s attitude towards punish- positive perception of teachers with a higher level
ment reflects cultural norms or if it is a personal of burnout when comparing teachers with similar
attribute. Additionally, pupil control ideology school conditions and similar ideology of pupil
appears to have an indirect influence towards the control. This may be seen as an indirect proof of
pupils’ perceptions of their teachers using the level burnout as related to idealism and dedication
of burnout as mediator. Thus, more humanistic (Gold, 1985), traits that are appreciated by
teachers tend to have a lower level of burnout, adolescents in providing a qualitative education.
while teachers using a custodial approach have an However, this result conflicts with those reported
increased level of burnout. This result is under- by Tatar and Yahav (1999), who consider that
standable since the former category stresses an burnout leads teachers to fight against pupils.
effective communication and higher level of As expected, teachers’ work conditions, assessed
tolerance between teachers and students. Conver- by their level of job satisfaction, affect TPI. Hence,
1018 F.A. Sava / Teaching and Teacher Education 18 (2002) 1007–1021

a higher level of job satisfaction leads to a better I should highlight the fact that TPI is not the
teacher morale, an aspect that is positively only dimension of teacher effectiveness. This
perceived by pupils. Also, the school climate concept is multidimensional and also involves
indirectly affects the TPI due to teachers’ level of organization, workload/difficulty, expected/fair-
burnout. It has been proven that a higher level of ness of grading, instructor knowledge, and per-
job satisfaction will lead to a decrease in burnout ceived learning. However, the quality of TPI
and vice versa. This result converges with similar (teacher liking) has a very strong influence on the
findings that work conditions affect the level of overall score when students evaluate their teachers
burnout. This is due to factors such as principal (Marks, 2000).
style, school services and resources, work pressure, Teacher effectiveness can be obtained both by
teacher relationships with other colleagues, profes- positive and negative control. The latter will
sional prestige or autonomy (Kremer-Hayon & negatively effect the student and will lead to
Kurtz, 1985), teacher alienation (Thomson & school inactivity, apathy, lack of interest towards
Wendt, 1995), or low salaries, extreme workload school matters, and behavior disorders (Skinner,
and general negative school environment (Byrne, 1971 (1968)). The use of fear as a motivator
1998). promotes either defensive behaviors or danger
The model suggests that teacher ideology of control processes. Both force students to become
controlling pupils has the most important influence motivated to learn in order to control the danger
ðpr ¼ 0:45Þ on pupils’ characterizations of their or to control their fear (Witte, 1998). Neither way
teachers. This value is almost double when represents the best approach when compared to
compared to teacher level of burnout ðpr ¼ 0:28Þ positive control and co-operative attitudes to-
or teacher morale due to school climate ðpr ¼ 0:20Þ: wards children.
In the second part of the model, I suggest that
negative perceptions of teachers by pupils lead to 7.1. Implications for teaching
psychological, somatic and educational repercus-
sions on some pupils. The pupils saw negatively It is probably unrealistic to think that negative
perceived teachers as a source of their own control can be totally avoided. In fact, everybody
demotivation and reported developing negative engages in these kinds of behaviors occasionally.
attitudes towards the particular subject taught by However we should limit such control since its use
the teacher ðr ¼ 0:65Þ: Additionally, psychoso- often teaches aggression, causes more physical
matic complaints due to a particular teacher are responses (e.g. crying, muscle tension), produces
strongly related to pupils’ perceptions of their only temporary effects, and determines negative
teachers ðr ¼ 0:73Þ: emotional conditioning (Baldwin & Baldwin,
The above data bring us to the conclusion that 1981).
approximately 44–50% of the total explained The use of negative control interferes with
variances of educational and psychosomatic out- student learning most of the time, thus it may be
comes depend on co-operative vs. conflict-indu- considered as an act of misbehavior. This leads to
cing attitudes of teachers. Hence, conflict-inducing negative repercussions for TPI, causing students to
attitudes from teachers will lead to educational consider teachers as a legitimate cause for some of
and psychosomatic complaints in pupils, while co- their school problems. Unfortunately, these beha-
operative attitudes constitute an educational mo- viors are culturally acceptable and determine a
tivating factor and contribute to pupils’ state of negative teacher evaluation as well as poor
well-being in the classroom. The results are some- attendance, boredom or lower level of perceived
what similar to those of Gorham and Christophel academic self-efficacy. The discourse of educa-
(1992) who found that 43% of demotivating tional reform must acknowledge the role of
factors were related to teacher behaviors. They emotions in the process of teaching and learning
also found that teachers demotivate more than (Hargreaves, 1998). Recognizing these potential
they motivate. consequences, educational reform should pay
 F.A. Sava / Teaching and Teacher Education 18 (2002) 1007–1021 1019

more attention to teacher–student rapport since sons, the present research is subject to some
the present research as well as previous studies limitations. However, bearing these limitations
show that teachers are responsible for the way in mind, it should be noted that the results
pupils perceive and like different school subjects. confirm the presumptions expressed in the pro-
Moreover, since teacher ideology of pupil control posed model. This supports the branch of
was the most important aspect in determining researchers and educators that sustain the impor-
pupil perceptions of their teachers, educational tance of good pedagogical relations, in order to
policy makers should urge the development of achieve a higher common aim: a better school for
programs that deal with this issue. These programs better pupils.
should create and maintain educational settings
that protect pupils and provide a positive psycho-
logical and educational climate to enable children
to strive for their positive development. Acknowledgements
Future studies should especially take into
account an additional variable, the behavioral This research was entirely supported by grant
patterns of pupil respondents as seen by the no. 501/2000 from Research Support Scheme of
evaluated teachers. It is assumed that this measure the Open Society Support Foundation, Prague,
will provide further insights into the factors that Czech Republic.
influence the way teachers interact with their
pupils. Furthermore, a bigger sample size would
give the opportunity of using a structural eq- Appendix A. The effects scale
uation modeling with latent variables in order to
assess this complex model with more accuracy, Principal components factor analysis—rotated
reducing the measurement error. For these rea- component matrix using varimax (see Table 5).

Table 5

Item I II III

Educational effects
I like X classes. (1) 0.82 0.35 0.04
If I could, I would miss X class. (2)* 0.74 0.22 0.19
I would like to take my final exam in this subject. (3) 0.83 0.07 0.10
I get easily bored during X class. (4)* 0.79 0.17 0.03
I like learning this subject. (5) 0.80 0.11 0.04
The teacher shows trust in me. (7). 0.59 0.28 0.02
Psychosomatic effects
I have felt humiliated by the teacher. (6)* 0.34 0.76 0.01
I have thought of ways of revenging my sufferance caused by teacher
misbehaviors. (8)* 0.38 0.70 0.03
When I think of X classes, my stomach gets upset. (9)* 0.31 0.81 0.04
Sometimes I have the impression that I am not good at anything. (10)* 0.06 0.72 0.26
During X classes my palms sweat more than usual. (12)* 0.04 0.82 0.09
After X classes I feel tired. (15)* 0.35 0.73 0.18
General somatic effects (used as filler items only)
In general, I feel full of energy during the school hours. (11) 0.08 0.02 0.70
After a school day my neck becomes tense. (13)* 0.03 0.03 0.73
I have been sick at school. (14)* 0.05 0.10 0.76

Note: X is the subject that is taught by the evaluated teacher.

The item order is presented within parenthesis. * The reversed score items are marked.
1020 F.A. Sava / Teaching and Teacher Education 18 (2002) 1007–1021

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