Ecological Disturbance: A Test of the Matching Hypothesis

Abstract

Ecological theories of emotional disturbance emphasize the interactions between the child's unique characteristics and reactions of others to those features as critical components in defining disturbance. In this study, regular classroom teachers with different levels of tolerance for immature behaviors were asked to rate a hypothetical child thought to exhibit immature or defiant behaviors. An analyses of of the teachers' ratings of the child's likelihood of success in a regular classroom suggested that tolerance was influential in the teachers' decisions regarding the child. The implications of the results are discussed with regard to assumptions underlying ecological theory, and as support for the potential benefits of ecological matching of teachers and children.¹

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