General Self-efficacy Beliefs Research Articles

Mediated association between spirituality and life satisfaction in chronically ill undergraduate students.

Preservation of life satisfaction in the face of a chronic illness is of major importance for psychosocial functioning. We addressed in this study how spirituality relates to global life satisfaction in young people with chronic physical illnesses. Based on social-cognitive theory, the transactional model of stress and coping, and Pargament’s theory of religious coping, a serial mediation model with general self-efficacy beliefs and proactive coping as related linkage variables was proposed. In a cross-sectional design, 304 undergraduate students with different chronic physical diseases completed an online survey. As expected, students higher in spirituality reported higher general self-efficacy beliefs, which subsequently related to better proactive coping and which then subsequently related to higher life satisfaction (Bserial = 0.04, SEserial = 0.02, 95% CI [0.01, 0.09]). There was also a specific indirect effect of spirituality on life satisfaction through self-efficacy beliefs only (Bspecific M1 = 0.12, SEspecific M1 = 0.04, 95% CI [0.05, 0.20]). In addition, a direct association of spirituality and life satisfaction was revealed (Bdirect = 0.15, SEdirect = 0.07, p = .039). Findings indicate an important role of spirituality in well-being. General self-efficacy beliefs and proactive coping were identified as key variables in the relation between spirituality and global life satisfaction.

Employee voice at work: the role of employees’ gender, self-efficacy beliefs, and leadership

ABSTRACT Building on social role theory, we investigated the association between gender and employee voice (employees’ speaking up in a challenging but constructive way about work-related issues) in a typically male-dominated sector. In two field studies in the logistics context, we tested how and when gender is related to employee voice. In Study 1 (N = 132), we examined whether the gender-voice association is mediated by general self-efficacy beliefs. In Study 2 (N = 99), we replicated the indirect effect of gender on employee voice via general self-efficacy beliefs and investigated whether this indirect effect is contingent on supportive leadership. Using path analytical procedures, we found a significant indirect effect moderated by supportive leadership: At low and medium levels of supportive leadership, women reported less self-efficacy than men, which in turn resulted in less voice. At high levels of supportive leadership, the indirect effect was nonsignificant. Our studies contribute to research on the mechanisms and boundary conditions of gender’s influence in the employee voice process and have practical implications for leaders in male-dominated working contexts who want to encourage their female employees to speak up about work-related issues.

Is Teaching Less Challenging for Career Switchers? First and Second Career Teachers' Appraisal of Professional Challenges and Their Intention to Leave Teaching.

Teacher attrition is a major problem in many countries. One possible and widely spread counter measure is to recruit persons from other occupational fields to become teachers. Although the existent literature suggests that second career teachers (SCT) have additional resources compared to first career teachers (FCT), empirical data are still scarce on whether SCT are able to transfer prior skills and knowledge into teaching, how this affects the way they deal with professional demands, as well as their intentions to stay in their new profession. On this basis, the present study explores whether FCT and SCT differ in how challenged they feel by typical professional demands associated with teaching, and in what way their challenge appraisals are relevant for the intention to leave the profession. A questionnaire survey was conducted with a sample of 297 teachers, comprising 193 FCT and 104 SCT. Both groups had had regular teacher training, resulting in a full teacher diploma. Professional demands associated with student learning and assessment were rated as most challenging, whereas classroom management, establishing a professional role and cooperation with colleagues were perceived as less challenging. A group difference was found in professional demands concerning student learning and assessment, where SCT felt less challenged than FCT. Also, SCT were more intent to stay in the teaching profession. Further analyses showed that both group differences are mainly attributable to the higher proportion of male teachers among SCT, as well as to their higher general self-efficacy beliefs. Both career background and the degree to which the teachers felt challenged in their job played a subordinate role for the intention to leave the teaching profession. The findings indicate that SCTs’ background as career switchers might be less important for coping with specific professional demands than the existent research literature implies. On the other hand, they indicate that SCT feel nearly as challenged when starting to teach as traditional teachers, and may have the same needs for good teacher induction.

Students' psychological characteristics and its relationship with exhaustion, cynicism, and academic inefficacy

This paper highlights the relationship between students' psychological characteristics with exhaustion, cynicism, and academic inefficacy. A sample of 247 students from Iranian colleges of agriculture participated in this study. A questionnaire was used to obtain information on studied variables including demographic characteristics, goal orientation, intelligence beliefs, general self-efficacy beliefs, and so on. Reliability and validity of instrument were determined through opinions of professors and application of Cronbach's alpha. The findings revealed that there were significant correlations between students' psychological characteristics with exhaustion, cynicism, and academic inefficacy. Finally, the findings showed that the most dominant determinant of exhaustion was general self-efficacy belief with a total effect of −0.400. Incremental intelligence belief and entity intelligence belief had the most effects on cynicism and academic inefficacy, with a total effect of −0.437 and 0.448, respectively. The findings have implications for professors to use teaching methods that encourage effective engagement of students in learning and for counsellors to give useful educational and psychological advices to students.

An Analysis on General Self-Efficacy Beliefs of Swimming Referees in Terms of Demographic Variables

The purpose of this study is to investigate the general self-efficacy beliefs of licensed swimming referees who actively serve in Turkish Swimming Federation in terms of variables age, gender, educational status, level of referee, the reason to become a referee, professional experience and satisfaction level. The population of the study is composed of a total of 450 swimming referees participating to the Swimming Referee Development Seminar in Antalya in 2016. In addition, the research sample is randomly selected by 212 swimming referees (6 FINA, 74 National and 132 Provincial referees) including 95 females and 117 males were selected in this seminar. A five-point likert-scale “General Self-Efficacy Scale (GSES)”, which was developed by Sherer et al. (1982), presented by Magaletta and Oliver (1999) as 17 items and adapted into Turkish culture by Yıldırım and İlhan (2010), was used in the study as data collection tool. Necessary formal permissions were obtained from Turkish Swimming Federation for the scale applied to the referees. Descriptive statistics, reliability analysis, factor analysis, an independent samples t test, one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Post-Hoc test (Tukey HSD) were applied to data by using SPSS Statistics. An analysis with p<0.05 is considered statistically significant. Cronbach Alpha value was calculated as .949 for the scale. As a result of factorial analysis, two factors with an eigenvalue greater than one were obtained, and it was observed that these two factorial structures revealed 62.63% of the total variance. In addition, according to Bartlett’s test, this test was considered significant (p<0.05). As a result of the study, it was found that the swimming referees showed significant differences in terms of the variables of general self-efficacy beliefs such as level of referee, the reason to become a referee, professional experience and satisfaction level and it can be said that these variables are the determinants of the self-efficacy beliefs of swimming referees.

The influence of general self-efficacy on the interpretation of vicarious experience information within online learning

An individual’s general self-efficacy affects their cognitive behaviours in a number of ways. Previous research has found general self-efficacy to influence how people interpret persuasive messages designed to encourage behavioural change. No previous work has looked into how general self-efficacy affects the interpretation of vicarious experience information and how this affects self-efficacy in being able to complete a set task within a career skills online learning environment. The study presented considers this gap in knowledge, analysing the effect of six different types of vicarious experience information on the self-efficacy of online workshop participants to complete a set task. In analysing the results, each participant’s general self-efficacy was considered.Results showed individuals with low general self-efficacy to find vicarious experience information significantly less beneficial for their self-efficacy in completing a set task when compared to others with high general self-efficacy. Those with low general self-efficacy were more likely to make negative self-comparisons to the vicarious experience information, restricting its potential to increase their self-efficacy. In contrast, participants with high general self-efficacy found many of the vicarious experience information presented to be beneficial to their self-efficacy to complete the set task as they were more likely to dismiss any information they interpreted to be negative. Results from this study highlight the importance of more research into how vicarious experience information can be designed and presented in a way that ensures benefit to the task-specific self-efficacy of all individuals, regardless of their general self-efficacy beliefs at the time.

The role of self-efficacy and locus of control in asthma-related needs and outcomes: a cross-sectional study

Objective: This study sought to identify psychological resources, which are associated with improved asthma outcomes. Methods: A total of 205 patients who reported physician-diagnosed asthma were surveyed between September 2017 and March 2018. Psychological resources included self-efficacy (i.e. the belief in one’s capabilities to organize and execute required behavior [SE]; assessed by the Short Scale for Measuring General Self-Efficacy Beliefs), and internal and external locus of control (i.e. one’s beliefs about whether a given event is the result of one’s behavior or of forces outside one’s control [LoC]; Scale for Internal External Locus of Control-4). Outcome variables included asthma control (Asthma Control Test), asthma-related quality of life (QoL; Asthma Quality of Life Questionnaire-Sydney) and patient needs (Patient Needs in Asthma Treatment Questionnaire). Associations were estimated by linear regressions. Results: We observed that higher self-efficacy and internal LoC scores, but lower scores on the external LoC subscale were associated with improved asthma control (SE: β = 0.19, p = 0.01; internal LoC: β = 0.17, p = 0.02; external LoC: β = −0.18, p = 0.01), better asthma-related QoL (SE: β = −0.38, p < 0.01; internal LoC: β = −0.40, p < 0.01; external LoC: β = 0.46, p < 0.01) and less unmet needs (SE: β = −0.16, p = 0.02; internal LoC: β = −0.18, p < .01; external LoC: β = 0.32, p < 0.01). Conclusions: Our study provides novel evidence on psychological resources among patients with asthma, which are associated with improved asthma outcomes.

Exploring How Learning Style Relates to General and Career Management Self-Efficacy Beliefs in a Managerial Context

This study examined how learning style relates to self-efficacy beliefs in a managerial context. To make a theoretical frame, the study relied on Kolb’s experiential learning theory and a model of ...

Effects of General and ERP Self-Efficacy Beliefs on the Acceptance of ERP Systems

The impact of computer self-efficacy (CSE) on acceptance and utilisation of enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems is widely recognised in the literature. However, past ERP adoption research has mostly used CSE as a universal and general computer cognitive variable across the computing domain. While CSE is a multifaceted concept which can be conceptualised and assessed at the general computer or application-specific level, past studies did not differentiate between the general and application self-efficacy belief in examining the acceptance of ERP systems. This study aims to address this issue and make a clear distinction between general computer and application (ERP) self-efficacy beliefs and examines the effects of both types of efficacy beliefs on known determinants of acceptance and use of ERP systems. The results provide strong support for the effects of self-efficacy beliefs at the ERP level. The results show that the effects of CSE beliefs at the ERP level are stronger than those of general CSE beliefs on ERP acceptance behaviour.

Pre-service early childhood teachers’ beliefs concerning parent involvement: the predictive impact of their general self-efficacy beliefs and perceived barriers

ABSTRACTThis study aimed to investigate pre-service early childhood teachers’ beliefs regarding their competency in implementing parent involvement strategies as well as examining the predictive impact of variables on these implementations, namely general self-efficacy beliefs and parent involvement barrier perceptions. Data were collected from 601 third and fourth-year pre-service early childhood teachers using adapted versions of the General Self-Efficacy Scale, Assessment of Parent Involvement Efficacy Scale, and Parent Involvement Barrier Scale. Descriptive and inferential statistics including multiple regression analysis were employed. Although pre-service early childhood teachers were, in general, found to believe in themselves at a moderate level, they were highly confident in the parent involvement activities despite having high perceived barriers to parent involvement. Moreover, even though competency in beliefs regarding overall abilities were found to be significant predictor of parent involvement related competency, there was no significant correlation between parent involvement self-efficacy beliefs and perceived barriers to parent involvement.

Self-appraisals and episodic memory: Different psychological factors related to patient versus informant reports of apathy in severe traumatic brain injury

ABSTRACTIntroduction: Apathy is a core feature in patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI). The psychological processes underlying apathy are still unclear, and the few studies conducted on this subject have essentially focused on cognitive processes and informant reports of apathetic manifestations. The aims of the present study were to examine self-reports versus informant reports of diminished initiative/interest, as well as their relationship with different cognitive factors (attention/executive mechanisms, episodic memory, and multitasking) and personal identity factors (self-esteem and self-efficacy beliefs). Method: To this end, 74 participants (38 patients with severe TBI matched with 36 control participants) were given three questionnaires to assess self-esteem, general self-efficacy beliefs, and anxio-depressive symptoms and five tasks to assess cognitive processes, including real-life multitasking. In addition, a questionnaire that assessed self-awareness of functional competencies and a questionnaire that assessed lack of initiative/interest were administered to each participant and their relatives. Results: The main results showed that patients demonstrated an awareness of their lack of initiative/interest and that self-reported lack of initiative/interest was best predicted by low general self-efficacy beliefs and self-esteem, whereas informant-reported lack of initiative/interest was predicted by episodic memory difficulties. Conclusions: These results shed new light on the psychological processes related to apathetic manifestations, as well as the differing perspectives and lived experiences of patients and external observers in the TBI population, which opens interesting prospects for psychological interventions.

Motivational capacities after prolonged interpersonal childhood trauma in institutional settings in a sample of Austrian adult survivors

A considerable amount of research has been conducted on the aversive impact of prolonged interpersonal childhood trauma, but data on possible associations with motivational concepts (self-efficacy, self-esteem and locus of control) in adult survivors is scarce. The purpose of this study is to investigate specific coherences between childhood abuse and adult life events with (a) motivational concepts (MC), (b) the emotion regulation strategy “goal-directed behavior” and (c) the possible mediation of emotion regulation (ER) on motivational concepts. We use data from a cross-sectional survey in Vienna (VIA-S) obtained from 220 adult survivors of prolonged interpersonal childhood trauma. In addition, we assess the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire, the Life Events Checklist for DSM-5, the subscale “Goals” (Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Questionnaire), the Short Scale for Measuring General Self-Efficacy Beliefs, the Multidimensional Self-Esteem Scale, and an extended version of the Internal-External Control Beliefs-4 Scale. An estimated multi-group path-model, divided by gender, was also conducted with the measures indicated above. Our results show that prolonged interpersonal childhood trauma directly relates to reduced self-efficacy, self-esteem, and difficulties in ER. Concurrently, ER serves as a mediator for all MC. No gender differences were observed. Associations with adult life events were only found regarding self-efficacy. This study supports the notion that prolonged interpersonal childhood trauma in institutional settings impacts ER, which further mediates MC. Despite several study limitations (e.g. lack of a control group) the presented findings underline the importance of broadening the perception of trauma sequelae as well as integrating inhibited ER strategies and MC.

Top-down or bottom-up? Prospective relations between general and domain-specific self-efficacy beliefs during a work-family transition

In the present studies, we examined the prospective relations between general self-efficacy beliefs and different types of domain-specific self-efficacy beliefs, namely occupational and academic self-efficacy beliefs as well as self-efficacy beliefs regarding the compatibility of work and family life. Data stem from two longitudinal data sets of 297 and 107 women during their transition into the workforce after maternity leave; in addition, 196 university students served as a non-transitional control sample. In both studies of mothers, we observed top-down effects: General self-efficacy beliefs predicted domain-specific self-efficacy beliefs. Bottom-up effects seem to be restricted to non-transitional settings and situations when demands have become more familiar. Results speak in favor of conceptualizing general and specific self-efficacy beliefs as separate constructs; implications for self-efficacy theory are discussed.

Cross-National Study on Relations between Motivation for Science Courses, Pedagogy Courses and General Self-Efficacy

1799 prospective elementary and prospective science teachers from six countries (Croatia, Czech Republic, Lithuania, Slovakia, Slovenia and Turkey) participate in the study about the level of motivation toward science courses, pedagogy courses and self-efficacy. The most important findings were that choosing educational career as the first choice of prospective teachers depends on country and study track. The highest percentage of prospective teachers who choose teaching career and will probably stay teachers is in participating institutions from Slovenia and Croatia and the lowest in Slovakia and Turkey with Czech Republic and Lithuania in between. The percentages are higher for prospective elementary teachers than for prospective science teachers. Motivation of prospective teachers’ regarding to the science courses and pedagogy courses vary. Differences between countries are small but as a rule future science teachers are more motivated for science courses than for pedagogy/didactics courses and the opposite is true for elementary teachers. Differences on general self-efficacy beliefs vary within and between countries? On average values falls in the upper third range what can be predictor of good teaching. Correlation between students’ motivation toward science courses, pedagogy courses and their self-efficacy beliefs is statistically significant but low, showing that good students are generally motivated for all courses but differences between motivation toward science and pedagogy exists and depends on study track. Conclusion of our study is that science teachers are better equipped to cope with problems than elementary teachers, but elementary teachers will most probably work at the working place they choose as their first will.

Effect of Web-Based Problem Based Learning on School Administrators' Self-Efficacy Beliefs and Attitudes Towards Principalship Profession

The purpose of this research is to determine the effect of a web-based problem based school administrator training program (WB-PBSAT) on participants' self-efficacy beliefs and attitudes towards principalship. For this aim, mixed approach combining quantitative and qualitative research approach was used in this study. The quantitative dimension was carried out with the experimental model. The focus group interviews were conducted in the qualitative dimension. An experimental group and a control group were used. Participants of the experimental and the control groups were determined by purposive sampling. According to the findings, WB-PBSAT process was significantly and positively affected participants' attitudes towards general and professional self-efficacy beliefs and principalship. This result shows that the administrator training model used has the potential to make significant contributions in the professional development of school administrators.

The Investigation of General Self-Efficacy Beliefs and Life Satisfaction of the Job and Vocational Counselor Education Candidates' in Terms of Socio-Demographic Variables

The purpose of this research is to investigate the job and vocational counselor candidates' general self-efficacy beliefs and life satisfaction in terms of gender, educational level, the faculty they graduated, the geographical region they live in and social support variables. Research group consists of 357 volunteers (148 women and 209 men) attended to and Vocational Counselor Education conducted by Mersin University Information Processing Research and Application Center. The data of the research have been collected with Self-Efficacy Beliefs Scale, Satisfaction Scale and Personal Information Form. One-way MANOVA and t test has been used in the analysis of the data. As a result of investigations, significant differences were statistically found among the job and vocational counselor candidates' general self-efficacy beliefs and life satisfaction in terms of socio-demographic variables. The findings were discussed according to the literature. Keywords: Job and Vocational Counselor; General Self-Efficacy Belief; Life Satisfaction

The Investigation of General Self-Efficacy Beliefs and Life Satisfaction of the Job and Vocational Counselor Education Candidates' in Terms of Socio-Demographic Variables

The purpose of this research is to investigate the job and vocational counselor candidates' general self-efficacy beliefs and life satisfaction in terms of gender, educational level, the faculty they graduated, the geographical region they live in and social support variables. Research group consists of 357 volunteers (148 women and 209 men) attended to "Job and Vocational Counselor Education" conducted by Mersin University Information Processing Research and Application Center. The data of the research have been collected with "General Self-Efficacy Beliefs Scale", "Life Satisfaction Scale" and "Personal Information Form". "One-way MANOVA" and "t test" has been used in the analysis of the data. As a result of investigations, significant differences were statistically found among the job and vocational counselor candidates' general self-efficacy beliefs and life satisfaction in terms of socio-demographic variables. The findings were discussed according to the literature.Keywords: Job and Vocational Counselor; General Self-Efficacy Belief; Life Satisfaction

Self-Efficacy in Students with and Without Physical Impairment

There has been long term and systematic denial of opportunities to people with disabilities, particularly in fields such as education, employment, housing, transport, cultural life and access to public places and services. The mistreatment and oppression inflicted on individuals who have some form of disability or impairment has been well documented. The present study analyzed associations of general self-efficacy beliefs with psychological adjustment, academic achievement, and attainment of developmental tasks in various hostels and homes with physical impairment and same group peers without physical impairment. In this study the main objective is to compare the self efficacy of physically impaired and without impaired. Between-group differences in levels of self-efficacy beliefs were small. On average, higher self-efficacy beliefs predicted positive change in psychological adjustment (life-satisfaction and emotional symptoms) and academic achievement as well as greater progress in the attainment of developmental tasks of adolescence. However, for emotional symptoms and the discrepancy between desired and present attainment of developmental tasks we found such an effect only for students without physical impairment. This paper also presented by me in National Conference on “Challenges of Contemporary Life – Role of Positive Psychology &amp; 9th Annual Conference of Indian Association of Mental Health from 22nd to 24th January 2015 and not publish myself the same in any journal. We conclude that students with physical impairment may benefit from measures that both promote supportive external conditions for goal attainment and increase the self-management skills needed to translate self-efficacy beliefs into accomplishment of goals and related positive feelings.

The associations of illness perceptions and self-efficacy with psychological well-being of patients in preparation for joint replacement surgery

Patient well-being on referral to surgery likely affects their surgical experience yet few studies examine pre-surgical correlates of well-being. Guided by the Common Sense Model of Self-Regulation and Social Cognitive theory, this study examined whether illness and emotional representations, general and domain self-efficacy were associated with pre-surgical well-being. The pre-surgical assessment of a three-wave prospective study is reported. Fifty-four hip and knee replacements patients (mean age = 69.33; SD = 8.57) were recruited in the pre-surgery educational clinic at a UK general hospital. Patients completed a questionnaire-pack including the Revised Illness Perceptions Questionnaire, the General Self-Efficacy Scale, the Self-Efficacy for Rehabilitation Outcome Scale, the Falls-Efficacy Scale, and the Short Form of Psychological Well-Being Index. Multiple hierarchical regression analyses showed that above and beyond demographic and clinical characteristics, negative emotional representations were associated with lower psychological well-being while strong general self-efficacy beliefs were positively related to psychological well-being. Independent of demographic and clinical characteristics, joint replacement patients’ psychological well-being was associated with their cognitions and emotional reactions to their condition before surgery. Early interventions could potentially target these modifiable factors to improve pre-surgical well-being in this group of patients, with potential for additional post-surgical benefit.

The relationship between prosocial and antisocial behaviors in sport, general self-efficacy and academic self-efficacy: Study in department of physical education and sport teacher education

&lt;p&gt;The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between prosocial and antisocial behaviors in sport, general self-efficacy and academic self-efficacy beliefs of students studying in physical education and sport teacher education department. 118 students in department of physical education and sport teacher education at Mugla Sitki Kocman University voluntarily participated in the study. 31 of the participants were national athletes while 87 of them were non-national athletes. 50 of the participant were females while 68 of them were males. Prosocial and Antisocial Behavior in Sport Scale (PABSS) was used to determine the behaviors of students whether prosocial or antisocial. General self-efficacy scale&lt;strong&gt; &lt;/strong&gt;was used to determine the self-efficacy beliefs of participants.&lt;strong&gt; &lt;/strong&gt;Academic Self-Efficacy scale&lt;strong&gt; &lt;/strong&gt;was used to determine academic self-efficacy beliefs of students. Positive correlations have been found between age and prosocial opponent. Positive correlations have been found between general self-efficacy and prosocial teammate, prosocial opponent. Positive correlations have been found between academic self-efficacy and prosocial teammate, prosocial opponent, general-self-efficacy. Consequently, students having high level of self-efficacy beliefs in physical education and sport teacher education department can adopt prosocial behaviors.&lt;/p&gt;