Notion Of Self-efficacy Research Articles

The impact of Self-Efficacy on Foreign Language Performance among High School Students

In recent decades, the notions of self-efficacy and fear of failure have attracted considerable research attention in the field of educational psychology. However, research on the influence of these two variables on foreign language performance is limited, and empirical data about the potential mediating function of fear of failure in the mechanism of self-efficacy impacting academic performance is lacking. This study is conducted with Chinese high school students as the target population to investigate these two variables. A questionnaire is designed and analyzed to explore whether fear of failure mediates the relationship between self-efficacy and foreign language (FL) performance. This study finds that self-efficacy has no discernible effect on fear of failure, indicating that the indirect effect between these variables is also not significant. However, high school pupils’ performance in a foreign language is affected by their level of self-efficacy and their fear of failure, and the variables are independent of each other. Researchers believe that these two variables can be considered a set of psychological indicators of students’ perceptions of the academic curriculum, which can influence students’ foreign language performance. Furthermore, the results reveal that grade, language studied by students, beliefs about effort, and other factors also influence students’ foreign language performance.

The neglected contributions of self-efficacy to older adults’ financial capacity

Purpose An ageing population comes with its own set of challenges such as impaired financial capacity and resultant dependency on others to manage financial affairs. Dependency, in turn, as the evidence suggests, creates opportunities for financial exploitation of older adults. Related studies have primarily examined the clinical features and correlates of financial capacity or have attempted to develop its multidimensional measures. Both of which do little to resolve issues associated with impaired financial capacity. This paper aims to make a case for future researchers to assess older adults’ financial capacity from a non-clinical aspect. Design/methodology/approach Drawing on the notion of self-efficacy, as encapsulated within the social cognitive theory, this paper presents evidence from a host of different domains to demonstrate the potential contributions of self-efficacy to older adults’ financial capacity. Findings The contributions of self-efficacy in preserving older adults’ financial capacity appear to be much more profound than is currently acknowledged in the literature, thereby overlooking potentially promising and cost-effective interventions for autonomous ageing. Originality/value This paper presents a novel application of self-efficacy to autonomous ageing. Within this context, potential routes to the deployment of self-efficacy-based interventions are also discussed.

A Functional Model of Kitsch and Art: Linking Aesthetic Appreciation to the Dynamics of Social Motivation.

With the advent of modernity, change and novelty have become the core values of artistic production. At the same time the derogatory term “kitsch” was coined to contrast truly ground-breaking artistic achievements. In this article, we argue that kitsch and avant-garde art ideally represent two complementary types of aesthetic experience: a fluent one that allows for immediate emotional gratification (kitsch) and a disfluent one that requires cognitive elaboration (art). We make a case that preferences for the one or the other are dynamically related to a set of conflicting needs which constitute the basic dilemma of human attachment behavior: needs for safety and intimacy versus needs for arousal and autonomy. Based on the Zurich Model of Social Motivation we hypothesize that social distance regulation and aesthetic liking are synchronized via notions of self-efficacy and autonomy: Whenever we feel safe and self-sufficient, an appetence for arousal (curiosity) is likely to arise that increases our interest in unfamiliar conspecifics as well as in innovative, cognitively challenging aesthetic stimuli (art). By contrast, when we feel vulnerable and dependent, a longing for safety and relatedness (nostalgia) attracts us not only to familiar and trustworthy individuals but also to conventional aesthetic stimuli charged with positive emotions (kitsch). This theoretical framework offers an integrative perspective on dynamics of aesthetic liking in that it unites a wide variety of phenomena from anthropology, developmental, and cognitive psychology with concepts and findings from art history, sociology of art, and empirical aesthetics.

Crisis behavior: An exploration of theories in concert.

How might prominent existing communication theory better explain behavior in a crisis context, when considered in concert with one another? This theoretical work highlights the insight to be gained using Situational Crisis Communication Theory and Bandura's notions of self-efficacy to heighten the explanatory power of the Theory of Planned Behavior as applied to communication during times of crisis. Situational Crisis Communication Theory better explains how past experience with crisis influences the attitudes and social norms of crisis behavior, while Bandura's notion of self-efficacy speaks more directly to the availability of resources as contributing factors to perceived behavioral control in a crisis situation. As such, the incorporation of these well-developed notions into the broader framework of the Theory of Planned Behavior affords greater understanding of the relationship between communication and behavior during a crisis. Further exploration of this theoretical relationship is warranted.

Academic self-efficacy: from educational theory to instructional practice

Self-efficacy is a personal belief in one’s capability to organize and execute courses of action required to attain designated types of performances. Often described as task-specific self-confidence, self-efficacy has been a key component in theories of motivation and learning in varied contexts. Furthermore, over the last 34 years, educational researchers from diverse fields of inquiry have used the notion of self-efficacy to predict and explain a wide range of human functioning, from athletic skill to academic achievement. This article is not a systematic review of the empirical research on self-efficacy; instead, its purpose is to describe the nature and structure of self-efficacy and provide a brief overview of several instructional implications for medical education. In doing so, this article is meant to encourage medical educators to consider and explicitly address their students’ academic self-efficacy beliefs in an effort to provide more engaging and effective instruction.

Is self-efficacy for smoking abstinence a cause of, or a reflection on, smoking behavior change?

Social learning theory considers self-efficacy as a causal factor in behavior change. However, in line with behavioral theory, recent clinical research suggests self-efficacy ratings may reflect, rather than cause, behavior change. To test these two disparate views, self-efficacy was related to actual smoking abstinence on the next day (i.e., self-efficacy causes change), and abstinence status over 1 day was tested as a predictor of rated self-efficacy for quitting the next day (i.e., reflects change). All data were from two similar crossover studies evaluating the short-term effects of both placebo versus medication, nicotine patch (n = 209) or varenicline (n = 123), on smoking abstinence during week-long practice quit attempts. Placebo and active medication periods were separated by an ad lib smoking washout, and analyses were controlled for prior-day's abstinence or self-efficacy values. Results were very consistent between studies in showing essentially bidirectional associations: daily self-efficacy predicted next-day's abstinence, and current-day's abstinence status predicted self-efficacy for abstinence the next day. However, secondary factors differentially predicted abstinence and, to a lesser extent, self-efficacy, between these two medication studies. These data provide some support for both social learning and behavioral theories of smoking behavior change, although self-efficacy may only briefly predict subsequent short periods of abstinence as assessed in these studies. Nonetheless, because self-efficacy has long been assumed to cause behavior change, including smoking cessation, the notion of self-efficacy as a reflection of recent smoking behavior change in these studies warrants greater attention in clinical research on smoking cessation treatment.

Understandings of Health

The purpose of the study was to discover what the concept of health means to the participants and to determine how an organization can assist its members in developing and maintaining their notion of health. The participants for this study were drawn from the employees at a post secondary educational institution. Tape recorded interviews were transcribed by the researcher, and the transcripts were analyzed for common topics and predominant themes. Imbedded in the data were four themes that provided an over arching conceptual framework from which to view health and health promoting activities: well being as a broad definition of health; the concept of balance as a prime contributor to health; the notion of self efficacy in determining one's health, and the value of caring as a significant determinant of health. Findings of the study have significance for individual health, organizations and health, health promoters, and further research.

Manipulations of the Relationship Between Reported Self-Efficacy and Performance

Due to the popularity of Bandura's notion of self-efficacy a series of three studies was conducted that examined the relationship between reported self-efficacy and performance. In each of the studies thiiy undergraduate students were asked to manage a computer simulated furniture factory. The subjects' performance on the simulation was correlated with their reports of self-efficacy. Study I successfully replicated the typical statistically significant positive correlation obtained by Bandura and colleagues. Study II successfully manipulated the relationship between reported self-efficacy and performance, producing a statistically significant negative correlation. Study III successfully manipulated the relationship between reported self-efficacy and performance, producing a strong, statistically significant positive correlation. The results of these three studies were examined in terms of their implications regarding the research methodology typically employed when studying the relationship between report...

Psycho-social factors differentiating people who reported making desirable changes in their diets from those who did not

This study was designed to investigate the influences on dietary change by comparing adult shoppers who reported having voluntarily made positive changes in their diets with those who had not. 117 adult supermarket shoppers were systematically surveyed and placed in either a “self-change” or “no-change” group, depending on whether or not they reported decreasing their intake of red meat and/or butter and making one other change suggested by the Dietary Guidelines. The survey instrument solicited their responses on twelve scales about outcome and efficacy expectancies, and social norms derived from the health belief and behavioral intention models, locus of control construct and the notion of self-efficacy. Results of t-test and discriminant function analyses indicated that self-changers could be distinguished statistically from non-changers primarily on the following six variables: 1) their perception of personal susceptibility to diet-related diseases: 2) their perception of benefits from taking preventive health actions; 3) their overall health concern; 4) the beliefs of those important to the survey participants; 5) cues to action; and 6) chance locus of control. The difference in perceived personal efficacy was less important. Among demographic variables examined, older subjects were more likely to be changers than younger, and females were more likely to be changers than males.

Self-efficacy and the control of anxious cognitions

This study was designed to explore the possibility that Bandura's notion of self-efficacy can be applied to control over cognitions as well as behavior. Subjects were asked to complete questionnaires designed to measure (a) their dental anxiety, (b) the number of their negative self-statements about a dental appointment and (c) their perceived ability to control these thoughts. Subjects with low anxiety claimed to experience fewer negative thoughts than those with moderate or high anxiety, and also to have more control over these thoughts. Subjects believed that the extend of their control would decline as the appointment approached in time, but least for the low anxiety group and most for the high anxiety group. Finally, differences in self-efficacy scores between anxiety groups were maintained when the number of negative thoughts was controlled for, but differences in negative thinking between anxiety levels were not maintained when self-efficacy was controlled for. These results suggest that anxiety is more closely related to thinking processes than content.

Self-efficacious control over reported physiological, cognitive and behavioural symptoms of dental anxiety

This study explored the possibility that Bandura's notion of self-efficacy can be applied to control over physiological, cognitive and behavioural symptoms of anxiety. Patients waiting to see a dentist were asked to complete questionnaires designed to measure (a) their level of dental anxiety, (b) the extent to which they experienced anxiety-related symptoms and (c) their perceived ability to control these symptoms. Patients with low anxiety claimed to experience fewer symptoms on all three dimensions than those with moderate or high anxiety, and also to have more control over these symptoms. Ss believed that the extent of their control declined as the appointment approached in time, but this reported decline was least for the low anxiety group and greatest for the high anxiety group. Implications for interventions and future research are discussed.

Imagery in cognitive-behavior therapy: Research and application

This paper explores the uses of imagery within behavioral and cognitive-behavioral clinical interventions. The nature of imagery as a central human phenomenon is first examined and then recent theoretical models of the role of imagery in therapy are reviewed and evaluated critically. A trend towards broader conceptualizations of the role of imagery in treatment is highlighted. The notion of self-efficacy and its role in imagery methods is discussed. The specific kinds of imagery techniques that have been practiced, including systematic desensitization, positive imagery, covert conditioning, implosive imagery and others, are briefly described and research results bearing on their effectiveness are presented. The assessment of imagery for clinical purposes is outlined and the possibilities for enhancing imagery capabilities are explored. The paper concludes on a note of cautious optimism about the potential of imagery therapies, acknowledging the limitations of imagery. Finally, it is proposed that clinicians should adopt a “research perspective” to collect information on the effectiveness of their procedures and provide data which could be used to correct the course of therapy as needed.