Perceptions Of Collective Efficacy Research Articles

“We’re like community”: Collective identity and collective efficacy among transgender women in prisons for men

Recognizing that prisons house diverse populations in equally diverse types of environments, we utilize a unique data set and employ two well-known sociological concepts—collective identity and collective efficacy—to examine overlapping communities in which transgender women in prisons for men are situated and experience prison life. Findings from our mixed-methods analysis reveal that despite their considerable diversity, transgender prisoners embrace a collective identity and perceive collective efficacy as transgender prisoners more so than as prisoners per se; their collective identity and perceptions of collective efficacy are predicated on social-interactional factors rather than demographic characteristics and physical features of the carceral environment; and the more time a transgender inmate spends in prison, the more likely she is to identify with a community of transgender prisoners, but the less likely she is to feel an affective commitment to the transgender prisoner community or to expect other transgender prisoners to act on her behalf in prison. This novel application of dynamics generally understood to operate in social movements and residential neighborhoods—collective identity and collective efficacy, respectively—to the transgender community in California’s prisons sheds insight into the ways in which transgender women in prisons for men experience prison life, the loyalties around which prison life is organized, and the complexities around which communities in prison are structured.

Collective Efficacy as a Mediator of the Relationship between Authentic Leadership and Well-being at Work

Prior research, both theoretically and empirically, has revealed that authentic leadership is positively related to work attitudes and behaviors. But the fundamental mechanisms through which an authentic leader utilizes his/her influence on followers have not fully been explored. To provide a clear insight into authentic leadership and the inner working of the construct, further research is needed. This study addresses that needs and proposes that positive organizational outcomes are fundamentally related with the emotions felt by followers at work and followers' belief in their competences. Thus, the mechanisms that link the authentic leadership behavior to positive work outcomes are followers' well-being at work and collective efficacy perceptions. In this way, the aim of present study is to explore the influence of authentic leadership behavior on employees' well-being at work and also develop a clear understanding about the role of collective efficacy perceptions of employees' in that relationship. We conducted the research with full-time employed 556 construction engineers. Consequently, structural equation modeling results exposed that there is a positive relationship between authentic leadership and well-being at work. Moreover collective efficacy perception of employees' partially mediates this relationship. The implications of results and routes for future research are argued.

Collective efficacy: How is it conceptualized, how is it measured, and does it really matter for understanding perceived neighborhood crime and disorder?

Building on the insights of the self-efficacy literature, this study highlights that collective efficacy is a collective perception that comes from a process. This study emphasizes that 1) there is updating, as there are feedback effects from success or failure by the group to the perception of collective efficacy, and 2) this updating raises the importance of accounting for members' degree of uncertainty regarding neighborhood collective efficacy. Using a sample of 113 block groups in three rural North Carolina counties, this study finds evidence of updating as neighborhoods perceiving more crime or disorder reported less collective efficacy at the next time point. Furthermore, collective efficacy was only associated with lower perceived disorder at the next time point when it occurred in highly cohesive neighborhoods. Finally, neighborhoods with more perceived disorder and uncertainty regarding collective efficacy at one time point had lower levels of collective efficacy at the next time point, illustrating the importance of uncertainty along with updating.

Impact of Crime Tolerance in Low-Income Housing on Neighbor Cohesion and Collective Efficacy

This article focuses on determining the impact that resident crime tolerance in public housing has on other factors that predict perceptions of residents' ability to work together to address crime and call the police. Survey participants (n = 387) were recruited through door-to-door knocking in 2 redeveloping public housing neighborhoods. Study measures were validated with factor analysis before developing a structural equation model. Perceptions of neighborhood problems, neighbor cohesion, and organizational collective efficacy predict collective efficacy: working together against crime and/or calling the police. Two crime tolerance variables covary, but do not have a direct impact on their perception of their ability to address crime or call the police.

Policing and collective efficacy: the relative importance of police effectiveness, procedural justice and the obligation to obey police

ABSTRACTThe role of police in building collective efficacy remains an unanswered question. This paper employs a sample of 4403 people living in 148 neighbourhoods in Brisbane, Australia, to examine the relationship between perceptions of police and collective efficacy. Results indicate that even when controlling for neighbourhood compositional and structural characteristics, trust in police effectiveness and procedural justice are the key variables explaining collective efficacy. Although trust in police effectiveness and procedural justice do not predict neighbourhood differences in collective efficacy, they do explain variations in perceptions of collective efficacy among those residents in a given neighbourhood. These findings reveal that when people trust the police are effective and procedurally just, they are more likely to view their neighbourhoods as collectively efficacious. This research suggests that police can help to encourage collective efficacy, and potentially reduce crime, by communicating their effectiveness and delivering procedural justice to citizens.

Impact of fear appeals on pro-environmental behavior and crucial determinants

This study examines the impact of various degrees of fear appeals of climate change on an individual's intention to engage in pro-environmental behavior, and how possible factors that influence an individual's intention to engage in pro-environmental behavior vary in different degrees of fear appeals of climate change. The results indicate that the participants who read the low-fear appeal text exhibit more evoked fearful emotion and have more intentions to engage in pro-environmental behavior than do those who read the high-fear appeal text. In addition, an individual's moral obligations play a crucial role in determining his or her intention to engage in pro-environmental behavior under both low-fear and high-fear appeal conditions. However, under high-fear appeal conditions, an individual's perception of collective efficacy plays a crucial role in determining his or her intention of engaging in pro-environmental behavior. The results of this study contribute to enhancing the intercultural validation of research on fear appeals applied to people's pro-environmental behavior in a collective Chinese cultural social context in response to global warming. In addition, the findings provide implications for applying fear appeals to encourage pro-environmental behavior.

'Lonesome Town'? Is Loneliness Associated with the Residential Environment, including Housing and Neighbourhood Factors?

This article considers whether feelings of loneliness are associated with aspects of the home and neighborhood of residence. Multinominal logistic regression models were used to explore associations between residential environment and loneliness in 4,000 residents across deprived areas of Glasgow. People who rated their neighborhood environment of higher quality and who used more local amenities were less likely to report loneliness. Respondents who knew more people within the local area were less likely to report loneliness. Those who reported more antisocial behavior problems, who had a weak perception of collective efficacy, and who felt unsafe walking alone at nighttime were more likely to report loneliness. Length of residence and dwelling type were not associated with reported loneliness. The findings indicate the potential importance of several dimensions of the neighborhood physical, service, and social environment, including aspects of both quality and trust, in protecting against or reducing loneliness in deprived areas.

Binge Drinking and Perceived Neighborhood Characteristics Among Mexican Americans Residing on the U.S.-Mexico Border.

This study examines the association between perceived neighborhood violence, perceived neighborhood collective efficacy, and binge drinking among Mexican Americans residing on the U.S.-Mexico border. Data were collected from a multistage cluster sample of adult Mexican Americans residing in the U.S.-Mexico border areas of California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas (N = 1,307). The survey weighted response rate was 67%. Face-to-face interviews lasting approximately 1 hour were conducted in respondents' homes in English or Spanish. Path analysis was used to test whether collective efficacy mediated the impact of perceived neighborhood violence on binge drinking. Among 30+-year-old women, perceived neighborhood collective efficacy mediated the effects of perceived neighborhood violence on binge drinking in a theoretically predicted way: Lower perceptions of violence predicted an increased perception of collective efficacy, which in turn, predicted less binge drinking. Direct effects of violence perceptions on binge were nonsignificant. Younger 18- to 29-year-old women showed a similar (but nonsignificant) pattern of effects. Perceived collective efficacy also mediated the effects of perceived violence on binge drinking among men, but in opposite ways for older and younger men. Older men showed the same mediating effect as older women, but the effect reversed among younger men due to a strong, positive relation between collective efficacy and binge drinking. There were also age differences in the direct effect of violence perceptions on binge drinking: Perceptions of violence predicted more binge drinking among young men, but less among older men. These results highlight the complexity of people's responses to neighborhood characteristics in regard to their drinking. Young men in particular seem to react very differently to perceptions of collective efficacy than other groups. However, among both men and women, collective efficacy may come to play an increasingly important protective role in health outcomes with age.

Assessing the effect of the Queensland “Summer of Disasters” on perceptions of collective efficacy

The collective efficacy literature suggests that neighborhoods with higher collective efficacy have fewer problems of disorder, increased volunteerism, and higher levels of life satisfaction and wellbeing, along with the increased potential for resilience in the face of a disaster. Although perceptions of collective efficacy typically remain stable over time, rapid or sudden social change, such as experiencing a natural disaster, has the potential to disrupt the neighborhood and the individuals within – including their perceptions of the regulatory mechanisms of collective efficacy. Still, the effect of a major disaster on perceptions of collective efficacy remains relatively unexamined. Longitudinal survey data collected before and after the Queensland flood and cyclone disasters permit a unique investigation of the impact of the disaster on perceptions of social control and social cohesion before and after the disaster. Results show that after this major natural disaster, respondents who were proximately affected reported decreased levels of collective efficacy. Also, persons who experienced the biggest decrease in perceived collective efficacy were those that had lower levels of collective efficacy prior to the disaster. We discuss the mechanisms surrounding disaster preparedness, response, and recovery that may contribute to changing perceptions of collective efficacy.

Social Ties, Collective Efficacy, and Crime-Specific Fear in Seattle Neighborhoods

While research suggests that individuals’ interactions with their communities—such as their social integration into the community and perceptions of collective efficacy—impact their perceived risk of victimization, only a handful of studies have examined the influence of these characteristics on crime-specific, emotional fear. Using the Seattle Neighborhoods and Crime Survey, we conduct multilevel models to examine whether social ties and collective efficacy are associated with perceived risk and emotional fear of violence and burglary. The results show that individuals’ social ties to the community are negatively associated with perceived risk, but not emotional fear of violence or burglary, while perceived collective efficacy is negatively related to both cognitive and emotional fear. Moreover, the results suggest that individuals’ social integration into the community functions through perceptions of collective efficacy to predict perceived risk; however, this process does not extend to emotional fear of either violence or burglary.

Collective efficacy at the Rugby World Cup 2015 – The role of imagery and observation

The Rugby World Cup in 2015 will present each competing team with unique psychological challenges not usually encountered in normal international fixtures. In the “pressure-pot” environment of the tournament, teams that have the strongest sense of collective efficacy will most likely perform to their best and respond positively to the outside stressors (e.g., media interest, public expectations). In this review, the importance of collective efficacy to team performance at the World Cup in terms of team resiliency and minimising process losses is discussed. In addition, the relationship between collective efficacy and other psychological factors such as team cohesion is highlighted. From a practical perspective, an introduction to interventions to develop collective efficacy is provided. In particular, the neuroscience evidence for the use of imagery and observation interventions to improve individual collective efficacy perceptions is highlighted. It is emphasised how these interventions are particularly suited to international teams who compete together sporadically. Finally, specific recommendations are made such that practitioners might be able to implement these strategies with their teams before the World Cup.

Education Evaluation – A Proposed Approach for the Technical Schools in Romania

Abstract The article presents a research approach and results on how education evaluation through teachers’ motivation (intrinsic and extrinsic factors), collective efficacy perception, and how they can affect professional satisfaction and forward teaching staff performance. The propose approach methodology is based on a designed questionnaire. In addition, the evaluation approach was applied in the case of the technical education system in Romania, West Region. The research results and conclusions are expected to play an important role for improving teaching processes quality for better development of technical competencies in secondary schools. The statistical data process considered the research hypothesis gives the research results and support the empirical model related to evaluation of the complex motivation – satisfaction – performance interdependences.

The Multilevel Effects of Motivational Climate on the Collective Efficacy in a Cheerleading Team

This study examines the relationships between individual and group motivational climates and collective efficacy in cheerleaders. The authors hypothesize that perceived motivational climate at the individual and group levels may explain the perceived collective efficacy of athletes, for which perceived mastery climate is positively related to collective efficacy and perceived performance climate is negatively related to collective efficacy. A sample of 442 cheerleaders (175 male and 267 female) nested to 27 teams completed the PMCSQ and collective efficacy questionnaire approximately one hour prior to a competition. Hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) was conducted to test the hypotheses. The analyses showed that individual level and group level perceptions of a mastery climate positively predicted perceptions of collective efficacy, whereas individual and group level perceptions of performance climate were non-significant. These findings indicate that creating a supportive and cooperative climate for the athletes may help to improve team confidence.

Teacher leadership and collective efficacy: teacher perceptions in three US school districts

Purpose – Collective efficacy and teacher leadership, two constructs central to school reform, were examined in this quantitative study of three school districts. The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between teacher perceptions of the extent of teacher leadership and the extent of collective efficacy. Research was guided by the following questions: Do teachers who perceive a strong sense of collective efficacy also perceive a greater extent of teacher leadership in their schools? Are there differences in perceptions of collective efficacy and the factors of teacher leadership, specifically, sharing expertise, shared leadership, supra-practitioner, and principal selection? Design/methodology/approach – Data were collected utilizing two instruments, the Teacher Leadership Inventory (TLI) (Angelle and DeHart, 2010) and the Teacher Efficacy Belief Scale – Collective Form (Olivier, 2001). Descriptive statistics and ANOVA were run to examine mean differences by district in teacher collective efficacy and the extent of teacher leadership in the school (n=363). In addition, ANOVA were run to examine district differences in the four factors on the TLI. A one-way ANOVA contrasted the overall collective efficacy mean scores of Districts A, B, and C. Demographic data were also collected from participants. Findings – Findings indicate a clear and strong relationship between collective efficacy and teacher leadership. District B was markedly stronger in teacher leadership and collective efficacy than the other two districts. The highest percentage of participants indicating they have a leadership role were from District B. Findings from this study also indicate that teachers perceive the informal aspects of teacher leadership as a greater indicator of collective efficacy. District B, which reported significantly higher collective efficacy than did District A or C, also reported a significantly lower extent of principal selected teacher leadership. Formal roles such as department heads and grade level chairs were not perceived as extensive indicators of teacher leadership as were teacher roles in collaboration or extra role behaviours. Research limitations/implications – This study took place in three small districts in a southeastern US state. Generalizability to larger school districts should be approached with caution. This study may be limited in that teacher leaders may have a greater tendency to complete a survey on teacher leadership than teachers who do not take on leadership roles. Practical implications – This study provides support for developing shared leadership which can impact the collective beliefs of the faculty in a positive manner. Results from this study affirms those leaders who believe in the power of professional learning communities, shared decision making, and other indicators of teacher leadership. Success of teacher leaders depends, in large part, on the principal's philosophy of power sharing in the context in which they work. Teachers can be given the power to lead but they must also be willing to accept the roles this power brings. Originality/value – While several studies have been conducted on collective efficacy in schools, most of these studies have been quantitative. Studies of teacher leadership have tended to focus on the formal roles of teacher leaders with a qualitative. Using quantitative methodology for collective efficacy and teacher leadership, this study approaches teacher leadership from an organizational perspective, examining the extent to which both informal and formal, or principal selected, teacher leadership exists across the school. The authors also argue that teacher leadership is a construct greater than administrative roles assigned to teachers but also includes informal leadership, primarily through their influence on organizational effectiveness.

Collective-efficacy as a mediator of the relationship of leaders' personality traits and team performance: A cross-level analysis.

The relationship between a leader's personality and his team's performance has been established in organisational research, but the underlying process and mechanism responsible for this effect have not been fully explored. Both the traditional multiple linear regression and the multilevel structural equation model approaches were used in this study to test a proposed mediating model of subordinates' perception of collective efficacy between leader personality and team performance. The results show that the team leader's extraversion and conscientiousness personality traits were related positively to both the team-average (individual) perception of collective efficacy and team performance, and the collective efficacy mediated the relationship of the leader's personality traits and team performance. This study also discusses how Chinese cultural elements play a role in such a mediating model.

How psychological and behavioral team states change during positive and negative momentum.

In business and sports, teams often experience periods of positive and negative momentum while pursuing their goals. However, researchers have not yet been able to provide insights into how psychological and behavioral states actually change during positive and negative team momentum. In the current study we aimed to provide these insights by introducing an experimental dynamical research design. Rowing pairs had to compete against a virtual opponent on rowing ergometers, while a screen in front of the team broadcasted the ongoing race. The race was manipulated so that the team’s rowing avatar gradually progressed (positive momentum) or regressed (negative momentum) in relation to the victory. The participants responded verbally to collective efficacy and task cohesion items appearing on the screen each minute. In addition, effort exertion and interpersonal coordination were continuously measured. Our results showed negative psychological changes (perceptions of collective efficacy and task cohesion) during negative team momentum, which were stronger than the positive changes during positive team momentum. Moreover, teams’ exerted efforts rapidly decreased during negative momentum, whereas positive momentum accompanied a more variable and adaptive sequence of effort exertion. Finally, the interpersonal coordination was worse during negative momentum than during positive momentum. These results provide the first empirical insights into actual team momentum dynamics, and demonstrate how a dynamical research approach significantly contributes to current knowledge on psychological and behavioral processes.

Trust in the Police

Tyler’s process-based model of policing suggests that the police can enhance their perceived legitimacy and trustworthiness in the eyes of the public when they exercise their authority in a procedurally fair manner. To date, most process-based research has focused on the sources of legitimacy while largely overlooking trust in the police. The present study extends this line of literature by examining the sources of trust in the police. In particular, emerging research has revealed that neighborhood context influences attitudes toward the police but much less attention has been given to exploring the role individuals’ perceptions of their neighborhood play in shaping such evaluations. Therefore, the present study considers whether individuals’ perceptions of collective efficacy serve as a social-psychological cognitive orientation that influences levels of trust in the police. Using data from a recently conducted mail survey of a random sample of 1,681 residents from a metropolitan city, we find that procedural justice evaluations are a primary source of trust in the police. At the same time, however, level of perceived collective efficacy is positively associated with trust even after accounting for procedural justice. The findings suggest that police procedural fairness is vitally important to establishing trust from the public but peoples’ cognitive orientation toward their neighborhood context partially shapes the level of trustworthiness they afford to the police.

Drug users’ Satisfaction with Drug Control by the Police in China

Illicit use of drugs has received tremendous public attention in China in recent years, but little is known about the effectiveness of drug control practices, especially those adopted by the police. This study examines the effectiveness of drug control as perceived by drug users. The study uses surveys from 100 drug users who have voluntarily participated in nongovernmental treatment in Kunming. Results show that, inconsistent with prior research on campaign style policing, the majority of respondents were satisfied with the police in drug control. In addition, drug users’ evaluations of the police were significantly correlated with their age, marital status, perceptions of collective efficacy, and evaluations of their prior contacts with the police. Limitations of the research and future directions are also discussed.

Observation Interventions as a Means to Manipulate Collective Efficacy in Groups

The purpose of this multistudy investigation was to examine observation as an intervention for the manipulation of individual collective efficacy beliefs. Study 1 compared the effects of positive, neutral, and negative video footage of practice trials from an obstacle course task on collective efficacy beliefs in assigned groups. The content of the observation intervention (i.e., positive, neutral, and negative video footage) significantly influenced the direction of change in collective efficacy (p < .05). Study 2 assessed the influence of content familiarity (own team/sport vs. unfamiliar team/sport) on individual collective efficacy perceptions when observing positive footage of competitive basketball performance. Collective efficacy significantly increased for both the familiar and unfamiliar conditions postintervention, with the largest increase for the familiar condition (p < .05). The studies support the use of observation as an intervention to enhance individual perceptions of collective efficacy in group-based activities. The findings suggest that observations of any group displaying positive group characteristics are likely to increase collective efficacy beliefs; however, observation of one's own team leads to the greatest increases.

Teacher supervision practices and characteristics of in-school supervisors in Uganda

We examined teacher supervision practices (supervision models, phases, and professional development guidelines) of in-school supervisors (principals, vice principals, and study program directors) in Uganda, the supervisors’ efficacy perceptions regarding teacher supervision, and supervisor characteristics associated with the choice of supervisory practices. A quantitative survey on instructional supervision was conducted among in-school supervisors in 45 secondary schools in three rural school districts in Uganda. This country faces the challenge of assessing the quality of its education, in light of reforms in universal primary and secondary education programs, and of improving student achievement through teacher professional development. A total of 106 supervisors responded to the questionnaire. Factor analysis, descriptive statistics, correlations, t test analysis, and analysis of variance were performed. Results indicate that the supervisory practices most used were a differentiated model and a 360° supervision model, a supervision phase prior to class observation, and a phase following class observation, as well as directive and collaborative professional development guidelines. The supervisors’ perception of collective efficacy was stronger than was their perception of self- or professional efficacy, and their internal perception of efficacy was generally stronger than was their external perception of efficacy. Supervisors’ sociocognitive characteristics, particularly the internal perception of professional efficacy, were the factors most associated with the choice of supervisory practice. Our findings suggest that the choice of supervisory practice is greatly associated with the supervisors’ perceptions of efficacy. Before introducing change, we must learn more about the practices and perceptions of the teaching supervisors. This study addresses this aspect.