Vengeful Dissent Research Articles

Adding Insult to Injustice

Demand for online higher education has grown considerably in recent years but comes with a unique set of challenges. Online students often experience lower sense of connection, which may give impetus to join student-led social media groups. Use of these groups may exacerbate another challenge: the reportedly greater levels of vengeful dissent towards staff from online students, which, in on-campus students, has been linked to low procedural justice perceptions. This study explored the association between procedural justice perceptions and vengeful dissent in online and on-campus education, examining the moderating effect of student-led social media groups. A total of 127 adults (M age = 25.46, SD = 7.82; 73.22% female) who were either studying or had recently completed a degree at an Australian university in either fully online or on-campus mode (64 online; 63 on-campus) completed an online self-report survey. As hypothesised, low procedural justice perceptions were more strongly associated with greater vengeful dissent in online students and use of student-led social media groups strengthened the association in online students only. The findings represent the first to empirically explore the justice perception-dissent relationship in online learning and have several implications for policy and practice in navigating online education.

“You can get clarity that other students may feel the same way you do”: exploring students’ decision-making around and motivations for engaging in evaluative talk about instructors

ABSTRACT This multimethod study was conducted to explore students’ decision-making to approach or avoid interactions with peers about instructors and investigate motivations for instructional dissent. Participants (N = 124 college students) responded to measures of instructional dissent behavior and motivations for social gossip, then responded to an open-ended question about the risks and benefits of talking about instructors with other students. Quantitative results indicated that expressive and vengeful dissent were related to the following motives for gossiping about instructors: information gathering and validation, group protection, negative influence and social enjoyment. Regression analyses revealed negative influence and group protection account for unique variance in expressive dissent, while social enjoyment and negative influence account for unique variance in vengeful dissent. Qualitative results suggest students’ decision-making to engage in interactions with other students about instructors is informed by concerns for self and others, and reflects social motivations for gossip. The implications of these findings on instructor and student communication are discussed.

Profiles of achievement motivation and instructional dissent

ABSTRACT We integrated perspectives from achievement goal theory and expectancy-value theory to investigate how undergraduate students’ (N = 475) achievement motivation might influence their instructional dissent. A latent profile analysis of students’ achievement goals, performance self-efficacy, task value, and perceived cost revealed four distinct subgroups of students characterized by differences in their achievement motivation. Students between these latent profiles differed to some degree in their use of expressive and vengeful dissent but not rhetorical dissent. When examining instructor clarity as a triggering agent of dissent, lack of clarity was positively associated with all three types of instructional dissent; however, auxiliary moderation models revealed that latent profile membership did not moderate these effects. Our results suggest that although instructor clarity has similar effects on students’ instructional dissent—regardless of their latent profile membership—students still experience some differences in instructional dissent which can be explained by their achievement motivation profiles.

Profiles of doctoral students’ self-determination: susceptibilities to burnout and dissent

ABSTRACT Using a person-centered approach and guided by four mini-theories within self-determination theory, we investigated students’ motivation for pursuing their doctorate. Specifically, we examined students’ (N = 205) intrinsic and extrinsic motivation to persevere in their doctoral studies to ascertain if differences in the quality of their motivation would influence burnout symptoms and, in turn, tendencies to enact instructional dissent in their doctoral program. Results of a latent profile analysis indicated the presence of three profiles characterized by distinct combinations of autonomous and controlled forms of motivation. Doctoral students who indicated satisfaction with their autonomy and competence needs were more likely to be categorized into a highly motivated profile characterized by high autonomous motivation and moderate controlled motivation. Tests of mediation from latent motivation profiles on (a) expressive dissent through exhaustion, (b) vengeful dissent through cynicism, and (c) rhetorical dissent through professional efficacy revealed that highly motivated doctoral students were less susceptible to burnout symptoms and, subsequently, engaged in less expressive and vengeful dissent but greater rhetorical dissent.

Classroom Culture When Students are Reluctant to Learn Online: Student Dissent Behaviors Explained by Their Self-Efficacy, Control of Learning, and Intrinsic Motivation

Student beliefs about classroom culture, instructor behaviors, and their own abilities to learn significantly influence their academic engagement. COVID-19 has drastically altered the classroom environment, forcing many students into a virtual learning platform they may not have preferred or felt comfortable with. Whether it is the fault of the instructor or the environment, students who are dissatisfied engage in instructional dissent. This study examined the influence of instructor clarity, instructor relevance, self-efficacy, intrinsic motivation, distributive justice, procedural justice, and interactional justice on student dissent. The data supported six modified models, indicating a significant difference between students’ expressive, rhetorical, and vengeful dissent behaviors based on whether or not they were enrolled in their preferred learning platform.

Instructional dissent over the course of the semester

ABSTRACT The purpose of this longitudinal study was to model student trajectories of instructional dissent over the course of a semester. Participants were 312 undergraduate students who completed panel surveys on their worst course of the semester at three time points: during the beginning, middle, and end of a college course. Latent growth curve modeling revealed that, on average, expressive dissent slightly decreased, rhetorical dissent remained unchanged, and vengeful dissent slightly increased each month during the semester. Above and beyond the dissent growth process, student anger and hopelessness were independent and contemporaneous predictors of expressive and vengeful dissent at each time point.

Student Predispositions as Predictors of Dissent Behaviors in Supply Chain Courses*

ABSTRACTThis study investigates how student dissent behaviors are affected by student predispositions (i.e., math anxiety and self‐efficacy) in supply chain related courses. The data support a model in which students’ vengeful dissent behaviors are indirectly induced by these predispositions through the mediation of perceived immediacy. It is critical for instructors to understand the relationship between these variables to help improve the classroom environment for students, which this study helps to accomplish. Instructors of quantitative courses may need to engage students with predispositions in communication outside of the classroom to foster effective relationship building away from an environment that triggers students’ anxiety.

Instructional dissent as an expression of students’ class-related achievement emotions

This study examined how college students’ class-related achievement emotions are related to their tendencies to dissent about a college course. Student participants (N = 383) completed a survey about their worst course of the semester by reporting on their class-related achievement emotions and how they dissented about their class. Results from ordinary least squares regression analyses revealed that achievement emotions were uniquely associated with instructional dissent: (a) hope, pride, anger, and anxiety predicted expressive dissent scores, (b) anger, hopelessness, and boredom predicted rhetorical dissent scores, (c) and enjoyment, anger, anxiety, shame, and hopelessness predicted vengeful dissent scores. This study provides initial evidence suggesting that students’ feelings about a class are tied to their types of complaining.

Instructor Humor as a Moderator of Instructors’ Inappropriate Conversations and Instructional Dissent

This study (N = 326) was conducted to examine the associations among instructor humor, inappropriate conversations, and instructional dissent. First, results showed students are more likely to employ rhetorical dissent when they perceive their instructors as humorous in the classroom. Second, using expectancy violations theory as a guide, results also indicated that students’ perceptions of instructor-relevant humor moderated the relationships between enactment of inappropriate conversations and students’ expressive and vengeful dissent. These findings support the importance of employing relevant humor in course instruction, especially when instructors engage in inappropriate conversations in the college classroom.

When Professors Bully Graduate Students: Effects on Student Interest, Instructional Dissent, and Intentions to Leave Graduate Education

Academia can be a hostile place when faculty members and departments mistreat their graduate students. This study used a survey of 272 graduate students enrolled in a variety of programs and investigated bullying from the graduate student perspective. Our results indicated when graduate students viewed that they had been bullied by professors in their department (via belittlement, punishment, managerial misconduct, exclusion), they reported lower levels of student interest (meaningfulness, competence, impact) and a greater intention to leave the program. Students also reported they were more likely to communicate expressive and vengeful dissent in response. In the discussion, we outlined the ways departments can improve the quality of their graduate education culture.

Feeling Valued Matters: An Examination of Instructor Confirmation and Instructional Dissent

This study explored the relationship between effective instructor behavior—instructor confirmation—and a potentially negative student behavior—instructional dissent. Previous studies demonstrate that student characteristics provide a limited explanation for how students express dissent (e.g., Goodboy & Myers, 2012). Thus, scholars have begun to investigate the influence of instructor behaviors along with student characteristics to understand why students express dissent (LaBelle, Martin, & Weber, 2013). This study revealed that instructor confirmation negatively related to expressive and vengeful dissent, but not rhetorical dissent. Further, the three dimensions of instructor confirmation functioned differently in accounting for variance in expressive and vengeful dissent. Future research should build towards a model of instructional dissent model that reflects the unique characteristics of the instructional context and modifiable instructor behaviors.

Examining the Role of Self-Disclosure and Connectedness in the Process of Instructional Dissent: A Test of the Instructional Beliefs Model

The current study examined the relationship between student-to-student communicative behaviors and communication outcomes in the college classroom. The instructional beliefs model was used to examine student self-disclosures, student perceptions of connectedness, and student enactment of instructional dissent. Students (N = 351) completed questionnaires assessing their perceptions of other students' self-disclosures, classroom connectedness, and their own enactment of expressive, rhetorical, and vengeful dissent. Results of path analyses indicate that students' perceptions of classroom connectedness mediate the relationship between student self-disclosure and enactment of instructional dissent, particularly in the case of vengeful dissent. These results offer increased understanding of the ways in which student-to-student communication affects perceptual and communicative outcomes in the college classroom.

Students' Instructional Dissent and Relationships with Faculty Members' Burnout, Commitment, Satisfaction, and Efficacy

Extending research on instructional dissent beyond student reports, this study examined the potential for students' expressed dissent to have deleterious effects on faculty members. Instructors (N = 113) completed surveys about students' instructional dissent regarding their classes and reported their own burnout, commitment, satisfaction, and efficacy. Results indicated that (a) expressive dissent was positively related to emotional exhaustion and negatively related to teaching satisfaction and classroom management efficacy; (b) rhetorical dissent was positively related to instructional strategy efficacy; and (c) vengeful dissent was negatively related to affective organizational commitment and teaching satisfaction. Thus, the types of instructional dissent differentially impact instructors' professional outcomes, providing insight into stressors for faculty members.

Student temperament and motives as predictors of instructional dissent

The purpose of this study was to examine if students' Big Five personality traits (i.e., neuroticism, extraversion, openness, agreeableness, conscientiousness) and their motives for communicating with an instructor (i.e., relational, functional, participatory, excuse-making, sycophancy) were significant predictors of instructional dissent (i.e., expressive, rhetorical, vengeful) in the college classroom. Student participants (N=240) completed a questionnaire using self-reports of their own personality traits, motives, and frequency of communicating instructional dissent in reference to a target course. Results of hierarchical regression analyses revealed that (a) expressive dissent was predicted by students' neuroticism, extraversion, and agreeableness, (b) rhetorical dissent was predicted by students' extraversion and agreeableness, and (c) vengeful dissent was predicted by students' openness, agreeableness, and conscientiousness. After controlling for the Big 5 traits, (d) the excuse-making, sycophancy, and functional motives predicted additional variance in instructional dissent.

Attribution Theory in the College Classroom: Examining the Relationship of Student Attributions and Instructional Dissent

This study sought to expand knowledge on instructional dissent by establishing the relationship between student attributions of instructor behavior (attribution theory) and their own communicative behavior following a difference of opinion with an instructor. Student participants (N = 244) completed survey questionnaires regarding their perceptions of instructor's internality for a perceived disagreement and their own communicative behavior following the incident (i.e., expressive, rhetorical, or vengeful dissent). Results indicate that students’ attributions of internality are positively related to all three forms of dissent.

Instructional Dissent as an Expression of Students' Academic Orientations and Beliefs about Education

This purpose of this study was to examine how students' academic orientations toward learning and general beliefs about education (i.e., academic entitlement, learning orientation, grade orientation, academic locus of control, academic self-efficacy) predict the use of instructional dissent (i.e., expressive dissent, rhetorical dissent, vengeful dissent) in a college class. Participants were 222 students who reported on their perceived academic orientations and educational beliefs in tandem with their dissent behavior in a current college class. Results of a canonical correlation revealed that (a) when students were academically entitled, grade orientated, and lacked academic self-efficacy, they communicated more expressive and vengeful dissent, but (b) when students were learning oriented, they communicated more rhetorical dissent.

Academic Locus of Control as an Individual Factor Influencing Student Dissent

Recently, instructional scholars have identified instructional dissent as a student’s expression of disagreement with a classroom policy or procedure (Goodboy, 2011a, 20011b; Horan, Chory, & Goodboy, 2010). To that end, this project uses Kassing's (1997, 1998) model of organizational dissent to explore the relationship between academic locus of control (i.e., an individual factor) and instructional dissent. Participants included 380 undergraduate students. Results indicated that students who perceive a greater locus of control over their learning environment (i.e., high academic locus of control) are somewhat more likely to express vengeful dissent (i.e., seek revenge or retaliation on their teacher). Further research investigating relational and organizational factors is needed.

Instructional Dissent as an Expression of Students' Verbal Aggressiveness and Argumentativeness Traits

The purpose of this study was to investigate if college students' verbal aggressiveness and argumentativeness traits promote their tendencies to engage in instructional dissent (i.e., expressive, rhetorical, vengeful). Participants were 172 undergraduate students who completed a self-report survey measuring these traits and their dissent practices in reference to a particular class. Results indicated that (a) students' trait verbal aggressiveness was associated positively with communicating rhetorical and vengeful dissent, (b) students' trait argumentativeness was associated positively with communicating rhetorical dissent only, and (c) both verbal aggressiveness and argumentativeness were not associated with communicating expressive dissent. These results imply that instructional dissent is not a student reaction completely dependent upon perceived instructor wrongdoings in the classroom; it is also influenced by distal personality factors.

Sex Differences in Instructional Dissent

This study examined sex differences in students' expression of instructional dissent and the role that an instructor's sex plays in spurring this dissent. Participants were 446 undergraduate students (M age = 20.1 yr., SD = 2.8; 148 men, 290 women, 8 unreported) who completed the Instructional Dissent Scale (IDS) and provided demographic information. Results indicated small effects for student sex and instructor sex on IDS scores. Female students reported communicating more expressive dissent than male students, whereas male students reported communicating more rhetorical dissent and vengeful dissent than female students. Students also directed vengeful dissent more towards male instructors than female instructors.