Abstract
Self-efficacy beliefs are significant predictors of achievement in education. However, majority of existing self-efficacy measures are rather ‘general’ and assess aggregated perceptions of students’ proficiencies within broad academic disciplines. Applying Rasch analysis, the present study explored the psychometric properties of the five-item ‘self-efficacy in body and health’ (SEBH) scale as administered to 1622 tenth-graders aged 15-16years in Norway. Based on our sample, the SEBH scale stood out as well targeted and reliable with acceptable overall fit to the partial credit parameterization of the polytomous unidimensional Rasch model. Except for a slightly reversed threshold in item 1, which could be explained by few persons located at low levels of self-efficacy, the locally independent items had ordered response categories and functioned in the same way for the different levels of relevant person factors. Adapting this scale to different fields of education would contribute to development of more specific measures of perceived capability.
Highlights
Does it matter whether you have the will and belief that you can? it does! Self-efficacy signifies a person’s belief that he or she is able to execute successfully the behaviours required to produce a specific outcome
We found that the self-efficacy in body and health’ (SEBH) items did not share the same set of threshold difficulties
The present paper provides insights into an issue that seems to have passed health literacy research by: the application of Rasch analysis to evaluate the psychometric properties of measurement scales
Summary
Does it matter whether you have the will and belief that you can? it does! Self-efficacy signifies a person’s belief that he or she is able to execute successfully the behaviours required to produce a specific outcome. Self-efficacy signifies a person’s belief that he or she is able to execute successfully the behaviours required to produce a specific outcome. Self-efficacy is the person’s belief in his or her capability to control and execute actions in spite of potential obstacles. A person’s perceived self-efficacy has a direct influence on the choice of activities and settings, and the stronger the perceived self-efficacy, the more active the efforts to cope with the task at hand (Bandura, 1977). Self-efficacy refers to an individual’s belief in his or her ability to successfully accomplish academic tasks or to achieve academic goals (Schunk, 1991). Scales measuring academic self-efficacy evaluate the extent to which students perceive they can accomplish established academic goals (Marsh, Hau, Artelt, Baumert & Peschar, 2006; Pastorelli et al, 2001). Self-efficacy is a specific view of one’s capacities in a given domain and it follows that efficient self-efficacy measures be tailored to the particular domain of interest (Bandura, 2006)
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