Communication climate and coping mechanisms in the college classroom

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Abstract
The purpose of this investigation was twofold: first, to determine those teacher behaviors indicative of supportive and defensive communication climates, and those that fail to distinguish between the two types of climate; and second, to determine the specific student coping mechanisms indicative of supportive and defensive climates. Results supported the following conclusions: (1) supportiveness and defensiveness are independent dimensions of communication climate; (2) liked and disliked college classes differ more in their degree of supportiveness than defensiveness; (3) liked and disliked classes may be distinguished by both their supportiveness and defensiveness; and (4) student behavior in a non‐supportive, defensive climate is characterized by the use of coping mechanisms.