Assessing Generalization in Perceived Self-Efficacy: Multidomain and Global Assessments of the Effects of Self-Defense Training for Women

Abstract

The authors assessed the impact of self-defense training for women on multifaceted aspects of perceived self-efficacy. As compared to a waiting list control condition, training increased self-efficacy perceptions not only for self-defense skills but also across a variety of domains, including self-defense abilities, sports competencies, and coping skills. Trained participants also experienced a significant increase in more global aspects of personality, including perceptions of physical self-efficacy and assertiveness. No changes were detected on a trait measure of global self-efficacy; however, there was a significant change on a composite score of a multidomain self-efficacy questionnaire and on several domain-specific subscales, indicating that trained participants experienced a boost in multiple domains of self-efficacy not directly tapped by the intervention. Implications for constructing more sensitive measures of coping skills generalization effects are discussed.