The effects of student verbal and nonverbal responsiveness on teachers' liking of students and willingness to comply with student requests

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of student verbal and nonverbal responsiveness on teachers' liking of students and willingness to comply with student requests. Rather than students' verbal and nonverbal responsiveness interacting, only students' nonverbal responsiveness significantly affected teachers' liking of students and willingness to comply with student requests. Students' nonverbal responsiveness accounted for 66% of the variance in teachers' liking of students and 31% of the variance in teachers' willingness to comply with student requests. It was also hypothesized that teachers' liking of students would moderate the effect of student responsiveness on teacher compliance. This hypothesis was not supported.