Instructor Misbehaviors as Digital Expectancy Violations: What Students Despise and What They Let Slide

This study examines students’ motives for communicating with their instructors when the instructor exhibits inappropriate or unprofessional online behavior. To understand the relationship between what we call instructors’ digital expectancy violations and students’ motives for communicating with instructors, students’ levels of task, social, and physical attraction are measured. Pearson correlations were used to assess relationships among the presence of digital expectancy violations, motives to communicate, and attraction. Results revealed that students’ motivation to communicate with instructors who commit digital expectancy violations differs based on preexisting social, physical, and task attraction to the instructor.