Syllabus Sanctions: Controlling Language and Fairness as Antecedents to Students’ Psychological Reactance and Intent to Comply

ABSTRACT

Psychological reactance theory (PRT) has helped explain students’ resistant behavior. Additionally, several studies have explored resistant student behaviors as a product of an instructor’s syllabus policies. To build upon this line of research, a 2 × 2 experiment was conducted manipulating controlling language (low, high) and fairness (fair, unfair) within a syllabus policy. To increase external validity, the page on which the policy was located was drawn from an actual communication course. Controlling language and fairness had an interactive effect on perceived threat to freedom, reactance, and intent to comply. Specifically, freedom threat and reactance were lower and intent to comply was greater when the policy was fair and used low controlling language than when the policy was unfair and/or used high controlling language. The effect of freedom threat on intent to comply was mediated by reactance.

KEYWORDS:

• Syllabus
• psychological reactance
• fairness
• resistance
• controlling language
• compliance

Additional information

Notes on contributors

T. Kody Frey

T. Kody Frey is an Assistant Professor in the School of Information Science at the University of Kentucky.

Kelsey Moore

Kelsey Moore is an Instructor in the Department of Professional Communication at Texas Tech University.

Marko Dragojevic

Marko Dragojevic is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Communication at the University of Kentucky.