35th Annual Student Research Conference
The Effect of Actual and Perceived Political Orientations on Academic Evaluations
Anna C. Blecha
Dr. Katie Judd, Faculty Mentor
One factor of possible significance in assigning college grades and in creating positive professor relationships is a student’s political orientation. Presently, a large majority of the professoriate identify as liberal to an extent, and this could possibly create a favoring of like-minded students. Our investigation examined whether political orientation had any significant relationship with college GPA or professor relationships. Perceived and actual (measured by a 14 question Likert scale) orientations were examined. Additionally, orientation was subtyped into general, fiscal, and social ideology. While sample means at first glance appeared different, all six categories of political orientation had no significant impact on GPA or professor relationships, but professor relationships did significantly affect GPA. Additionally, Pearson correlations indicated that the majority of participants accurately identified their political orientation. We discuss the practical implications and limitations of these findings when concluding the importance of political orientation in regards to professor relationships and GPA.
Keywords: political orientation, GPA, professor relationships, perceived, actual
Topic(s):Psychology
Presentation Type: Poster Presentation
Session: 3-3
Location: SUB Activities Room
Time: 3:00