Student Use of Relational and Influence Messages in Response to Perceived Instructor Power Use in American and Chinese College Classrooms

The purpose of this study was to examine a theoretical model explaining the influence of instructor power (i.e., coercive, reward, legitimate, expert, referent) on students' relational and social influence communication behaviors (i.e., student affinity-seeking strategies, student behavior alteration techniques) across two cultures. Participants were 445 undergraduate students from the U.S. (n=265) and China (n=180). Results of structural equation modeling revealed that perceived instructor referent and expert power had indirect effects (mediated by student communication satisfaction), and perceived instructor reward power had a direct effect, on both student affinity-seeking strategies and student behavioral alteration techniques in the U.S. In China, perceived instructor referent and legitimate power had indirect effects (mediated by student communication satisfaction) on both student affinity-seeking and student behavioral alteration techniques, whereas perceived instructor expert and legitimate power ...