Abstract

Instructor is granted with some basic forms of power to influence student behaviors. Students tend to perceive themselves in an inferior position due to the power imbalance between instructors and students. Therefore, this paper aims to explore the interrelationships between perceived instructor power, student dissatisfaction and complaint behaviors in the context of higher education. The present study employed quantitative research methodology using survey questionnaire to collect data. Results from structural equation modeling indicated that students are more likely to engage in private complaining behavior and third party complaining behavior when instructor exhibited legitimate power, while perceived referent power is more associated with voice and third party complaining behavior. It was also noticeable that the student dissatisfaction can mediate the power-complaining behavior link. This research can be practically applied in the higher education institutions on how certain power bases can lead to student dissatisfaction and modes of complaining.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.