Regulatory mode preferences for autonomy supporting versus controlling instructional styles
Authors: Pierro, Antonio1; Presaghi, Fabio1; Higgins, Tory E.2; Kruglanski, Arie W.3
Source: British Journal of Educational Psychology, Volume 79, Number 4, December 2009 , pp. 599-615(17)
Publisher: British Psychological Society
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Abstract:
Background: Three studies carried out in educational settings examined determinants of teacher's instructional styles and students' degree of satisfaction with the learning climates created by such styles. Aims: Based upon regulatory mode theory, Studies 1 and 2 tested the hypotheses that teachers' locomotion orientation will be positively related, and their assessment orientation will be negatively related, to autonomy supportive (vs. controlling) instructional styles. Study 3 tested the hypothesis that students' regulatory mode will exhibit a fit effect with the prevalent learning climate in their school. Samples: Participants for Study 1 were 378 teachers (278 females); for Study 2 were 96 teachers (65 females); and for Study 3 were 190 students (all males). Method: Participants completed questionnaires that included measures of teaching styles (Studies 1 and 2), perceived learning climate and satisfaction (Study 3), and regulatory mode orientations (Studies 1 and 3). In Study 2 regulatory mode orientations were experimentally induced. Results: Results confirmed that teachers' autonomy supportive versus controlling styles were positively related to their locomotion orientations and negatively related to their assessment orientation, and that students with a stronger locomotion (vs. assessment) orientation reported a higher level of satisfaction when the learning climate was perceived as autonomy supportive (vs. controlling). Conclusions: The present studies show that teachers' preference for adopting an instructional style is influenced by their regulatory mode orientations, and that the effects of a learning climate on students' satisfaction are contingent on a fit between type of learning climate and students' regulatory mode orientations.Document Type: Research article
DOI: 10.1348/978185409X412444
Affiliations: 1: University of Rome `La Sapienza', Rome, Italy 2: Columbia University, New York, USA 3: University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland, USA
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