Academic status and practical experience of university teachers as factors of socio-psychological interpretation of their personality by students

Abstract

. The article presents the results of an experimental study of the academic status and practical experience of a university teacher as factors that impact the socio-psychological interpretation of their personality. The study involved 65 psychology students from universities of Saint Petersburg and the Leningrad Region. The study participants, divided into four groups, were shown a video lecture about groupthink. The lecture was delivered by a female teacher with experience in psychological counselling and popularization of science. The academic status and practical experience of the teacher varied for each of the groups. The information about the instructor was presented at the beginning and at the end of the video. The information was compiled on the basis of a survey of students specialising in psychology. According to the results of the survey, we found that students assess the academic status of a teacher based, primarily, on the presence/absence of an academic degree, the number of publications (including international journals) and track record of research. Students evaluate practical experience on the basis of work experience and the number of positive reviews about the work of a practicing psychologist. The control group were only shown the teacher’s full name. Experimental groups were provided with the following information: 1) Academic status; 2) Practical experience; 3) Academic status and practical experience. All the information about the teacher was fictitious. After watching a video lecture, the study participants evaluated certain personality traits of the teacher on a seven-point scale. Factor analysis showed that students rated the teacher on the basis of the following scales: “Closedness/Openness”, “Competence/Incompetence”, “Immorality/Morality”, “Responsiveness/ Indifference”. The results of the study showed the perceived competence of the teacher is higher when students are aware of his/her academic status, while the information about practical work experience did not affect the first impression of the teacher.