Supervisors emotional reactions when their PhD-students are criticized, positively or negatively

Abstract

Emotional reactions among supervisors when their PhD-students receive positive or negative critique are seldom studied. In our study, we interviewed 5 supervisors and 4 PhD-students about their experiences. Supervisors are happy when their students are praised, mainly for the sake of the student. Strategies used by the supervisors in the case of negative critique were expression of emotions, suppression of emotions and pep-talking. Both supervisors and PhD-students acknowledge that there is a need for emotional reactions, however they need to be balanced.