Verbal aggression in the college classroom: Perceived instructor use and student affective learning

The purpose of this investigation was threefold: (1) to examine the extent to which instructors were perceived to use verbally aggressive messages; (2) to explore whether perceived instructor use of verbally aggressive messages was negatively correlated with student affect toward the instructor, student affect toward course content, and student affect toward recommended course behaviors; and (3) to determine whether male and female instructors differed in their perceived use of verbally aggressive messages. Results indicated that (a) instructors are perceived to use verbally aggressive messages infrequently; (b) perceived instructor use of verbally aggressive messages is negatively correlated with student affect toward the instructor, student affect toward course content, and student affect toward recommended course behaviors; and (c) male instructors are perceived to use only the “swearing,”; “teasing,”; and “ridicule”; verbally aggressive messages at a higher rate than female instructors. Future research should consider exploring the content and composition of instructor verbally aggressive messages.

Key concepts:

• verbal aggression
• affective learning
• sex differenvces
• swearing
• humor