PERCEIVED TEACHER AFFINITY-SEEKING IN RELATION TO PERCEIVED TEACHER CREDIBILITY

This study investigated the relationship between teachers' use of Bell and Daly's affinity-seeking strategies and students' perceptions of teacher credibility (competence and character) in the classroom. The associations among students' motivation to study, teachers' perceived credibility, and teachers' perceived use of affinity-seeking strategies also were investigated. Results indicated that several affinity-seeking strategies were positively and significantly associated with competence and character, indicating that use of affinity-seeking in the classroom may assist in the development of teacher credibility. Perceptions of teacher credibility and teachers' use of affinity-seeking strategies also were found to be positively and significantly associated with students' motivation to study.