Evidence from implicit association tests regarding the dual attitudes of teachers in educational discipline enforcement

The study aimed to uncover teachers’ implicit and explicit attitudes towards educational discipline. Implicit association tests and self-rating questionnaires were used to measure primary and middle school teachers. The results showed that teachers tend to associate disciplinary actions with negative attributes at an implicit level. There were no significant differences in this tendency across demographic variables. However, teachers generally express strong support for educational discipline, but there was no significant linear correlation between their explicit support and implicit disapproval. Nearly half of the teachers exhibited a pattern of explicit support versus implicit disapproval. Implicit association tests can provide additional information on automated associations that self-rating questionnaires cannot capture. However, they should not be used for individual assessments or to make direct inferences about behavior. Teachers’ professional support should take into account concerns regarding the risks associated with discipline…