Abstract

One potential source of bias in teaching and course evaluations may be the students’ perceptions of the personality of the instructor. Social comparison theory may help elucidate the relation between personality and teaching evaluations. The use of downward or upward social comparison may result in more negative assessment of the course depending on the favorability of the personality trait. Students (N=176) rated themselves and their instructor on five personality traits, as well as the overall quality of the course and the instructor. Results indicated that when the students viewed themselves as having more favorable traits than their instructor, they tended to rate the course, and sometimes the instructor, more harshly. Universities should consider social comparison as a possible source of bias in teaching evaluations.

Document Type

Article

Source Publication

Journal of Scientific Psychology

Version

Published Version

Publication Date

6-2019

Rights

© The Author(s)

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