| Abstract: | The present study examined the role of differentiation matching and level of differentiation in student-teacher relationships. Subjects were residents, mental health specialists, and medical students enrolled in psychiatry courses and in five core curriculum courses, and the respective faculty professors. All subjects completed measures of differentiation at the beginning of the course and students rated the teaching effectiveness of the faculty at the end. Judged teaching "effectiveness" was associated with a high level of interpersonal differentiation on the part of the teacher. Differentiation matching of teachers and student was related to high effectiveness ratings when the student was more differentiated than the teacher under conditions of frequent teacher exposure and familiarity. |
