The effects of teacher immediacy and student burnout on empowerment and resistance among Turkish pre-service teachers

• Teacher immediacy has a greater impact than student burnout on student empowerment.
• Student burnout has a greater impact than teacher immediacy on student resistance.
• Teacher–student interaction is important in empowering students in higher education.

This study examined the role of teacher immediacy and student burnout on empowerment and resistance behaviors among university students attending a faculty of education in Turkey. A total of 329 pre-service teachers ranging in age from 17–37 (mean age: 20.57 years) participated in the study. Hierarchical regression results revealed that teacher immediacy positively predicted all three dimensions of student empowerment and negatively predicted student resistance. Efficacy was a positive predictor of the competence and impact dimensions of learner empowerment and a negative predictor of resistance, whereas cynicism was a negative predictor of the meaningfulness dimension of empowerment and a positive predictor of resistance. In addition, teacher immediacy had a stronger effect on learner empowerment than student burnout, while student burnout had a stronger effect on resistance than teacher immediacy.