The Relationship between Perceived Self-Efficacy Beliefs with Interpersonal Teacher-Student Behavior: The Mediating role of Teacher Emotions

This study examined the mediating effect of teacher emotions on the relationship between teachers’ perceived self-efficacy beliefs and interpersonal teacher behavior. In a sample consisting of 329 women teachers, the Teacher Self-Efficacy Scale-Short Form (Schwarzer, Schmitz  & Daytner, 1999), the Teacher Emotion Inventory (TEI, Chen, 2016) and the Questionnaire on Teacher Interaction (QTI, Lourdusamy & Khine, 2001) were administered. Structural equation modeling was used to assess the mediating effects of teacher emotions on the relationship between teachers’ perceived self-efficacy beliefs and interpersonal teacher behavior. Results showed that there is a positive significant correlation between teachers’ perceived self-efficacy beliefs with positive emotions and positive interpersonal teacher behavior and a negative significant correlation with negative emotions and negative interpersonal teacher behavior. Results also indicated that there is a negative significant correlation between positive emotions with negative interpersonal teacher behavior and a positive significant correlation whit positive interpersonal teacher behavior and there is a negative significant correlation between negative emotions with positive interpersonal teacher behavior and a negative significant correlation whit negative interpersonal teacher behavior. Results showed that the partially mediated model of teacher emotions on the relationship between teachers’ perceived self-efficacy beliefs and interpersonal teacher behavior had acceptable fit to data. In these hypothesized models, teachers’ perceived self-efficacy beliefs and teacher emotions accounted for 54% and 57% of the variance in positive and negative interpersonal teacher behavior, respectively. In sum, these finding show that the part of available variance in positive and negative interpersonal teacher behavior in the context of prediction by teachers' perceived self-efficacy beliefs, accounted for teacher emotions.