You May call me professor: Professor form of address in email communication and college student reactions to not knowing what to call their professors

This experimental study tested whether a professor's form of address (FOA) and email signature influenced students' perceptions of the professor's credibility, approachability, and likability. Guided by communication accommodation theory, the study investigated the likelihood that stu...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of communication pedagogy (Print) 2020-01, Vol.3, p.82-99
Main Authors: Hildenbrand, Grace, Perrault, Evan, Devine, Taylor
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Attitudes
College Faculty
College Students
Communication
communication accomidation theory
Electronic Mail
email
Evaluation
form of addresss
instructional communication
instructor-student relationship
Interpersonal Communication
Language Usage
Methodology
Norms
professor
Student Attitudes
Study and teaching
Teacher Student Relationship
Teacher-student relationships
Teachers
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Summary:This experimental study tested whether a professor's form of address (FOA) and email signature influenced students' perceptions of the professor's credibility, approachability, and likability. Guided by communication accommodation theory, the study investigated the likelihood that students would reciprocate a professor's FOA in email communication. Participants were randomly assigned to one of seven conditions varying by professor FOA (doctor, professor, first name) and email signature (present or not), with a signature only control condition. Results indicated students were more likely to reciprocate the FOA when an email signature was not present. Open-ended responses suggested students perceive instructors more positively when instructors specify a FOA and feel anxious and uncertain when professors do not specify a FOA.
ISSN:2578-2568
2640-4524
2578-2568
2640-4524
DOI:10.31446/JCP.2020.08