Development and Validation of the Teacher and Motivation (TEMO) Scale: A Self-Report Measure Assessing Students’ Perceptions of Liked and Disliked Teachers as Motivators

Abstract

The current study presents a newly developed measurement: the TEMO (Teacher and Motivation) scale, which assesses adolescent students’ perception of liked and disliked teachers and the resulting impact on their academic motivation. A total of 1,088 students from secondary schools in Germany participated in this study. To explore the underlying factor structure of the 16 TEMO items, a two-stage approach was used with structural equation modeling: (a) exploratory factor analyses (EFA) and (b) confirmatory factor analyses (CFA). Factor analyses supported a four-factor solution with acceptable internal consistency for the 16 items: (a) student's motivation based on liking the teacher (SML), (b) student's motivation based on teacher's commitment (SMC), (c) student's motivation based on disliking the teacher (SMD), and (d) student's motivation based on teacher's lack of commitment (SMLC). Students’ scores on the TEMO were significantly associated with different aspects of academic motivation. Results indicate that the TEMO scale is a robust instrument that directly assesses the association between students’ liking/disliking of a teacher and their motivation in class, based on understanding emotions as a driving force of motivation. Teacher and school psychologists can use this instrument to foster student's motivation and improve teacher-student relationships through uncovering underlying emotions.

Keywords::

• Adolescent
• validity
• measurement
• motivation
• relationship
• teacher-student relationship
• liking
• disliking

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the principals, teachers, and students for their cooperation in making these studies possible.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by a grant from the Volkswagen Foundation (Schumpeter Fellowship, II/84 452).

Notes on contributors

Diana Raufelder

Diana Raufelder holds PhDs in cultural anthropology, and psychology. She is the leader of the interdisciplinary Junior Research Group SELF, funded by the Volkswagen Foundation, at the Free University of Berlin, Department of Educational Science and Psychology. Her primary area of research focuses on the social and emotional aspects of teacher-student and student-student relationships, with a special emphasis on their meaning for scholastic motivation and learning processes.

Frances Hoferichter

Frances Hoferichter, MA, is a doctoral candidate at the Free University of Berlin (Germany), Department of Education and Psychology. Her research interests are in social support and test anxiety in adolescent students, including personality aspects as well as cross-cultural differences.