An attributional analysis of college students' resistance decisions

Abstract

This investigation examined college students’ resistance decisions in the classroom. Initial validational tests of the resistance typology developed by Burroughs, Kearney, and Plax (1989) confirmed the existence of all 19 categories. Further analyses indicated that the categories could be meaningfully reduced to two dimensions of techniques: Teacher‐Owned (teacher is at fault) and Student‐Owned (student assumes responsibility). Relying on attribution theory and problem ownership, we tested the centrality of teacher immediacy as the primary attribute for students’ resistance decisions. Results from analyses of quantitative and qualitative data indicated that students reported a greater likelihood of using teacher‐owned techniques with nonimmediate teachers and student‐owned strategies with immediate teachers. Neither teachers’ compliance‐gaining strategy type (prosocial/ antisocial) nor students’ gender contributed to students’ resistance decisions. Implications for the classroom are discussed.