Abstract

This study attempted to determine whether students who were similar to their teachers in (a) preference for task-motivated or relationship-motivated instruction and b) degree of authoritarianism perceived their teachers to be more effective than students who were less similar. The subjects were twenty-one teachers and 351 students from two colleges in the San Francisco Bay Area. Preference for task- or relationship-motivated instruction was measured by a slightly modified version of Fiedlers Least Perferred Co-Worker Scale, degree of authoritarianism was measured by the California f-scale, and perceived teacher effectiveness was measured by twelve items from the Instructor Evaluation Questionnaire. On six of twelve questions, students who were similar to their teachers in preference for task- or relationship-motivated instruction perceived their teachers to be significantly more effective (p>.05) than students who were similar to their teachers in degree of authoritarianism did not perceive their teachers to be significantly more effective than students who were less similar. Verf.-Referat