The Mediating Role of Teacher–Pupil Interaction in the Relationship of Pupil Temperament to Self-Esteem and School Success

Abstract

The aim of this research was to examine the mediating role
of teacher–pupil interaction in the relationship of
temperament to self-esteem and school success among
year-7 and year-8 elementary-school pupils in Croatia and
Bosnia & Herzegovina (B&H). The assumptions on the
contribution of the dimensions of temperament (self-control
and negative affectivity) and teacher–pupil interaction
(influence and proximity) in explaining pupils' self-esteem and
school success were partially confirmed. Similar relationships
among the measured variables were confirmed in both
samples of pupils. Self-control, negative affectivity, and
teacher proximity directly predicted self-esteem, while self-
-control indirectly predicted self-esteem through teacher
proximity. Self-control and teacher proximity contributed
directly to school success, and the indirect contribution of self-
-control to school success through teacher proximity was also
significant. The results of this research indicate the importance
of the direct contribution of children's temperaments to their
self-esteem and school success, and of its indirect contribution
through the quality of the interaction with their teacher.