https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2330-8545
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ABSTRACT
While the quality and nature of a PhD students’ relationship with their supervisors is widely regarded as pivotal for successfully completing their studies, the increasing use of multiple supervisors may challenge this relationship. This is the first study to use interviews with students and supervisors to explore students’ motivation in such supervisory arrangements. Our study is framed by Self-Determination Theory (SDT) as a means for understanding factors that enable (or inhibit) individuals’ motivation to learn, and Social Penetration Theory (SPT) for its perspectives on the development of relationships. Findings show that students’ self-disclosure fosters relatedness and enhances autonomy and competence, with motivation and well-being as a function of their relational needs being satisfied. As such, complementarities between SDT and SPT provide more nuanced insights into the influence of relatedness on student motivation and well-being.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Notes
1 We use ‘closeness’ to reflect a characteristic in the student–supervisor relationship that some earlier studies term ‘intimacy’. Closeness refers to an extent beyond a professional relationship that includes an interpersonal relationship wherein the student perceives the supervisor as a friend. Its features include self-disclosure, sharing of interests, clear support and clearly valuing the relationship rather than a romantic facet associated with intimacy (i.e. Cozby, Citation1972; Jiang et al., Citation2011; Joinson & Paine, Citation2007; Parks & Floyd, Citation1996).
2 Attributions are more fully explained in the section Contributory behavioral influences.
3 Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand (AFAANZ) conference.
4 Students and supervisors were not required to be part of the same supervision panel to participate in the study.
5 Informal norms regarding the number of interviews in leading accounting journals indicate that 25–30 interviews are adequate (Dai et al., Citation2019).