Abstract

A positive teacher-student relationship that is characterized by mutual trust, warmth, and teacher support (= proximity) as well as clear limits for student behavior (= influence) is considered central for students’ cognitive and psychosocial development and this assumption has widely been supported empirically. However, these studies largely focused on domain-specific student outcomes such as achievement or interest in particular subjects and less so on general aspects of school adjustment such as school satisfaction or self-esteem. At the same time, the teacher-student relationship can also be considered vital for teachers: Teachers who perceive difficulties in controlling student behavior report reduced occupational well-being. In addition, the teachers’ need to feel appreciated and liked by students is increasingly emphasized as an important resource for their occupational well-being. However, this assumption has not been investigated sufficiently. Therefore, the present work addressed the question of whether the teacher-student relationship in terms of proximity and influence is associated with students’ general school adjustment and teachers’ occupational well-being. Results from study 1 revealed that teacher proximity and influence were associated with students’ general school adjustment in terms of achievement, school satisfaction, truancy, and self-esteem. Study 2 showed that teachers who perceived difficulties in controlling student behavior and who felt unappreciated by students reported lower work enthusiasm and higher emotional exhaustion. In Study 3, teachers who felt related with their students reported higher work enthusiasm, whereas no association with their emotional exhaustion was found. The present work underlined the importance of the teacher-student relationship for both students’ school adjustment and teachers’ occupational well-being.