title: Discrepancies between perceptions of real and ideal yoga teachers and their relationship to emotional well-being.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Although more individuals are adopting yoga into their lives, little research has examined practitioners' expectations and experiences of their yoga instructor's behavior. Discrepancies between real and ideal behaviors of yoga instructors may lead to unsatisfactory experiences and decrease the potential impact of yoga practice. This study investigated differences between yoga practitioners' real and ideal perceptions of their yoga teacher's behavior and the relationship between discrepant beliefs and students' symptoms of depression, anxiety,and stress.
  
  
  METHODS
  The Perceptions of Yoga Teacher Questionnaire (PYTQ), a recently developed survey of student attitudes regarding yoga teachers' behavior, was administered ina national online survey of yoga students and teachers. Greater discrepancy between real and idea yoga teacher behavior was anticipated to be positively associated with practitioners' symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Pearson correlations corrected for multiple comparisons revealed that yoga students and teachers are generally satisfied with their teacher's behaviors. Significant discrepancies between real and ideal teacher behavior were found for both groups. Higher discrepancy scores were associated with symptoms of stress and anxiety but not depression for students, but not for teachers.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These preliminary findings provide insight into the relationship between expectancies and real yoga teacher behaviors and their links to student emotional adjustment.More research in this area is warranted.
authors.affiliation: University of Connecticut.
authors.forename: Crystal L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Kristen E
authors.initials: KE
authors.lastname: Riley
authors.forename: Elena Y
authors.initials: EY
authors.lastname: Besedin
authors.forename: V Michelle
authors.initials: VM
authors.lastname: Stewart
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D004644:Emotions; D005260:Female; D006282:Health Personnel / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008603:Mental Health; D008875:Middle Aged; D010465:Perception; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D015013:Yoga / Q000523:psychology*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: discrepancy; well-being; yoga student; yoga teacher