Course Engagement as a Mediator between Student-Instructor Personality Fit and Academic Outcomes

While the positive effects of personality similarity on attraction are well established, this research has made a limited transition to the person-environment (P-E) fit research. Following Schneider’s (1987) attraction-selection-attrition model based on similarity-attraction literature, the following study proposes that student-instructor relationships characterized by high levels of perceived personality congruence (i.e., fit) will lead to more motivated and engaged students. The study proposes a model to explain the relationship between student-instructor fit, student course engagement, and student outcomes, whereby engagement should mediate the relationship between perceived student-instructor personality fit and student outcomes of course performance, course satisfaction, and commitment to the academic discipline. A sample of introductory psychology course students completed perceived personality fit and student course engagement questionnaires midway through the semester and final course evaluations at the close of the semester. The proposed theoretical model was not supported; however, findings indicated a significant relationship between personality fit and elements of engagement. Furthermore, some factors of engagement discriminately predicted course outcomes. The proposed role of engagement as a mediating variable was only moderately supported in the fit-satisfaction relationship. Modifications to the proposed model are explored and implications for future research in student-instructor fit and student course engagement are discussed.