Understanding college students’ relationship maintenance behaviors with their high school teacher(s)

This study analyzes how undergraduate students maintain relationships with their former high school teacher(s) and what motivates them to do so. Based on open-ended responses from 278 participants, findings revealed that students engage in a variety of relational maintenance behaviors via digital interactions (e.g. social media, e-mails, texts) and in-person (e.g. classroom visits, high school sporting events, and informal meetings). Students reported communicating to maintain relationship quality for practical purposes and personal reasons. These findings contribute to relationship maintenance literature by identifying how students continue their educator relationships beyond high school and demonstrate the lasting impact of student-teacher relationships on students’ subsequent academic communication patterns.