Perceived Teacher Support in Online Literature Reading: Scale Development, Validation, and Prediction of Continuous Reading Intention

Abstract

This study aims to develop a scale to measure perceived teacher support in online literature reading (PTSOLR) and explore the relationship between PTSOLR and postgraduates’ continuous reading intention (CRI). Two hundred and fifty-seven postgraduates from Chinese mainland were investigated. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was used to clarify the factor structure of PTSOLR, and multiple regression analysis was performed to illustrate the predictive effect of PTSOLR on CRI. Through EFA, four factors with 20 items were identified, which are emotional support (ES), methodological support (MS), autonomous support (AS) and instrumental support (IS). The results of multiple regression analysis showed that teachers’ ES and AS can positively predict students’ CRI. The pedagogical implications of this finding are discussed and suggestions for teachers are made.