Sex differences in instructional dissent
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Updated: May 17, 2026

Problem-Solving Before Instruction (PS-I): A Protocol for Assessment and Intervention in Students with Different Abilities
Published on: September 11, 2021
1Department of Communication Studies, West Virginia University, 108 Armstrong Hall, PO Box 6293, Morgantown, WV 26506, USA. agoodboy@mail.wvu.edu
Abstract:
This study examined sex differences in students' expression of instructional dissent and the role that an instructor's sex plays in spurring this dissent. Participants were 446 undergraduate students (M age = 20.1 yr., SD = 2.8; 148 men, 290 women, 8 unreported) who completed the Instructional Dissent Scale (IDS) and provided demographic information. Results indicated small effects for student sex and instructor sex on IDS scores. Female students reported communicating more expressive dissent than male students, whereas male students reported communicating more rhetorical dissent and vengeful dissent than female students. Students also directed vengeful dissent more towards male instructors than female instructors.
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