Further Support for the Developmental Significance of the Quality of the Teacher–Student Relationship

Abstract

Sociometric nominations and ratings assessed peers' perceptions of supportive and conflicted teacher–student relationships, evaluations of children's positive and negative attributes, and peer-rated liking. Participants were 993 third- and fourth-grade children. Girls obtained higher Teacher Support and lower Teacher Conflict scores compared with boys. The pattern of correlations between teacher–student relationship scores and other peer evaluations was comparable across genders. Both Teacher Support and Teacher Conflict made independent contributions to peer evaluations of children's competencies and acceptance of children. Teacher Support contributes to the prediction of social preference scores beyond that predicted by peer nominations of aggression. Teacher ratings of aggression were available for a subsample of 71 behaviorally at-risk children. For this subsample, Teacher Support predicted social preference scores after controlling for both peer nominations of aggression and teacher ratings of aggression. Peers' perceptions of Teacher Support may function as an “affective bias,” influencing both perceptions of child competencies and liking for the child. Implications of these findings for classroom-based interventions with peer-rejected children are discussed.