Using student reports to measure immediacy: Is it a valid methodology?

Teacher immediacy has been a widely studied construct with the overall finding that being immediate is good. Verbal and nonverbal immediacy has been associated with increased motivation to study and learning. The most common methodology used to measure teacher immediacy has been student reports. An underlying assumption of this methodology is that students are able to objectively observe and report the behaviors performed by their instructor. The validity of this methodology has never been examined. The purpose of this study is to examine a variety of individual differences that may influence how students report their instructors' immediacy behaviors. Results from four studies are presented. The general conclusion drawn from these studies is that the individual differences examined do not influence the reporting of immediacy, providing support for the use of this methodology.