The Quality of Teacher-Student Relationship and its Impact on the Psychological Well-Being of University Students

Abstract

This study explores the influence of teacher-student relationships on the psychological well-being of university students. Recognizing the university environment as a critical period for personal and academic development, the research investigates how supportive, respectful, and communicative interactions with faculty impact students’ mental health outcomes.  Since the current study focused on examining the teacher-student relationship and its impact on the psychological health of undergraduate and postgraduate university students in Multan, Pakistan, this study collected data through employing the mixed-methods research design. The data was collected from three universities, including the women university Multan, Emerson University Multan and Bahauddin Zakariya University Multan. The convenience sample involved 576 students aged 18-26 years and was identified through purposive sampling method. Further, 27 participants teaching and non-teaching both the staff and students were selected for conducting analyzed and unstructured interviews. Statistically significant findings were established from quantitative results that the kind of teacher-student relationship was correlated to the psychological health state of university students and their copying manners. Interaction between university teacher and students has consequences on the psychological well-being of university students.  This paper reveals that there is a change in the level of psychological well-being in university students. Further statistician evaluation of the mean scores of all the variables brought out the fact that the students-teacher relationship had a moderate to high score while the psychological well-being of the university students and their coping strategies have a moderate score. Conducting thematic analysis of the interview data collected from the teacher as well student identified few overall experiences which are critical in relation to the overall teacher-student relationship. The findings highlighted the significance of promoting positive teacher-student relationships. Recommendations included the construction of counseling centers, complaints centers, and teacher training to improve interpersonal skills and handle personal difficulties.