Students' relationships with their teachers and their trust in teachers: Junior high school students

Abstract

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the relationship between students' relationships with their teachers and their trust in teachers, in order to examine factors contributing to students' trust in teachers. Junior high school students (N~374) completed a questionnaire. The results were as follows: (a) "Experience of being accepted by teachers" and "experience of close relationships with teachers" were positively correlated with "sense of security" and "role expectations", (b) "Experience of being hurt by teachers" was positively correlated with "distrust", and "experience of being accepted by teachers", negatively correlated with "distrust", (c) The students who had had positive experiences with their teachers had much trust in teachers, (d) Both the students who had had negative experiences with their teachers and those who had had little relationship ol any kind (either positive or negative) with their teachers had less trust in teachers. The results suggest that not only factors on the teachers' side but also students' individual psychological factors contribute to students' trust in teachers.