Psychological Reactance and Resistance Intention in the Classroom: Effects of Perceived Request Politeness and Legitimacy, Relationship Distance, and Teacher Credibility

This research comprises two studies examining the antecedents and outcomes of psychological reactance in teacher requests in the instructional context. In Study 1 we investigated the mediating role of reactance in the relationship of perceived teacher request politeness and teacher–student relationship distance with student resistance intention. In Study 2, we explored the effects of perceived teacher request legitimacy and teacher credibility on reactance and resistance intention. The results indicated that increases in the politeness of teacher requests and the closeness in teacher–student relationships combined to alleviate reactance and student resistance intention. In addition, teacher request legitimacy had a stronger effect on reactance than did teacher credibility.