Abstract
In a 2×2×2 factorial design, 3rd year Romanian psychology students (N=94) were assigned into 2 groups according to the extent to which they acknowledged an epistemic dependence (lowvs. high) toward their professor. They then compared the competence of 3rd year students to that of 1st year or 5th year students. Finally, they were exposed to a persuasive counter-attitudinal message from an epistemic authority, framed in an authoritarian vs. democratic style. The main dependent variable was the influence of the counter-attitudinal message. Results show an interaction between the three variables. No effects were found among students in the upward social comparison condition in which they felt particularly incompetent. The expected interaction between style and dependence was significant in the down ward comparison condition where participants felt more competent than 1st year students. Students high in perceived epistemic dependence were more influenced by the authoritarian style than those low in epistemic dependence. The reverse tended to be true for participants exposed to the democratic style.
Résumé
Dans un plan 2×2×2, 94 participants roumains de 3ème année d’études en psychologie ont d’abord été distingués selon le degré (bas ou haut) de reconnaissance de leur dépendance épistémique à l’égard des enseignants. Ils ont ensuite eu à comparer la compétence des étudiants de leur année d’étude à celle des étudiants de 1ère année ou de 5ème année. Ils ont finalement été exposés à un message persuasif contro-attitudinal provenant d’une autorité épistémique faisant usage d’un style soit autoritaire, soit démocratique. La principale mesure dépendante concernait l’influence du message contre-attitudinal, i.e., son appropriation. Les résultats donnent lieu à une interaction des trois variables considérées. Aucune dynamique particulière n’apparaît chez les étudiants qui ont dû effectuer une comparaison par le haut, et qui se sont sentis très incompétents comparativement aux étudiants de 5ème année. Au contraire, chez les participants qui se sont comparés aux étudiants de 1ère, et qui partant ont moins ressenti leur incompétence relative par rapport à la source, l’interaction attendue entre style et dépendance apparaît: ceux qui reconnaissent une haute dépendance épistémique sont davantage influencés par le style autoritaire que ceux qui expriment une basse dépendance épistémique, alors que l’inverse tend à se produire face au style démocratique.
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The current study was made possible by a grant from the Swiss Scientific Research Fund.
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Quiamzade, A., Mugny, G. & Chatard, A. When teaching style matches students’ epistemic (in)dependence: The moderating effect of perceived epistemic gap. Eur J Psychol Educ 24, 361–371 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03174766
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03174766