Applicability of the Student-Teacher Relationship Scale (STRS) in the Greek educational setting

Abstract

The present study examined the applicability of the Student-Teacher Relationship Scale (STRS) within the Greek cultural context. Sixty-seven kindergarten teachers filled in a Greek version of the STRS concerning 403 kindergarten students. Exploratory factor analysis showed that a 26-item version of the STRS could be considered as a valid and reliable instrument to measure Closeness (alpha = .86), Conflict (alpha = .87) and Dependency (alpha = .79). Findings further indicated that teachers described young boys as having more conflictual relationships with their teachers and young girls as having closer and more dependent relationships with them. In contrast with previous studies, the Dependency subscale was positively correlated with the Closeness subscale (r = .34) and did not associate with the Conflict subscale. These findings might be attributed to the different cultural background of the Greek kindergarten teachers or their differentiated interpretation of the notion of dependency.