Self‐Efficacy,Self‐Rated Abilities,Adjustment, and Academic Performance

This study examined the association between self‐efficacy and self‐rated abilities in conjunction with adjustment and academic performance with a diverse sample of 271 undergraduate college students with majors in the liberal arts. Significant positive associations between and among the constructs in different combinations were found. The discussion focuses on the theoretical and practice implications of the results and offers suggestions for further research.     

The Role of Cognitive Ability in Self‐Efficacy and Self‐Assessed Test Performance1

Research has shown that test takers are often unable to assess their own test performance accurately. However, the role of cognitive ability in assessing one's test performance has not been explored. We examined whether high cognitive ability participants were better than low cognitive ability participants in assessing their performance on a video‐based situational judgment test (SJT) of customer‐service skills. Results indicated a strong relationship between actual and perceived SJT performance for high cognitive ability participants, but no relationship for those low in cognitive ability. The discussion focuses on implications for metacognitive theory, test perceptions, and providing feedback to applicants.     

Physical Activity and Perceived Self‐Efficacy in Older Adults

The purpose of this study was to examine predictors of self‐efficacy in older adults, with physical activity, age, and sex as the predictor variables. Regression analyses revealed physical activity to be the only statistically significant predictor of self‐efficacy. These findings may be of interest to counselors who work with older people.     

Need for Cognition Moderates Responses to Framed Smoking‐Cessation Messages1

Smoking‐cessation messages usually emphasize the costs of continuing to smoke (loss‐framed). However, prospect theory suggests that messages that instead emphasize the benefits of quitting smoking (gain‐framed) could be more effective than loss‐framed messages because smoking cessation is likely viewed as a cancer‐prevention behavior with a certain rather than a risky outcome. In this study, smokers at public events read brochures containing brief gain‐ or loss‐framed smoking‐cessation messages. The influence of framing was moderated by participants' need for cognition (NFC). Individuals lower in NFC had greater intention to quit after reading a gain‐framed message than after reading a loss‐framed message a finding consistent with our predictions whereas framing did not affect the persuasiveness of messages among people higher in NFC.     

Using Past Performance, Proxy Efficacy, and Academic Self-Efficacy to Predict College Performance

This study examined the ability of prior academic performance, proxy efficacy, and academic self-efficacy to predict college academic performance. Participants ( N  = 202) completed a modified version of the Teacher Collective Efficacy scale ( Goddard, 2001 ), the Academic Self-Efficacy scale ( Elias & Loomis, 2000 ), and a demographic questionnaire. Prior performance was predictive of both academic self-efficacy beliefs and college performance. Hierarchical regression analysis indicates that academic self-efficacy beliefs explain a significant amount of unique variance beyond past performance in predicting college performance. Proxy efficacy did serve as a predictor of student academic self-efficacy, but did not serve as a predictor of college performance. Implications for instructors, as well as for future research, are discussed.     

Using the Knowledge‐and‐Appraisal Personality Architecture to Predict Physically Active Leisure Self‐Efficacy in University Students1

Although self‐efficacy is a construct found throughout research literature, little is known about the psychological mechanisms that give rise to perceptions of personal confidence. This situation is changing as a result of the introduction of the knowledge‐and‐appraisal personality architecture (KAPA; Cervone, 2004 ), a theory proposed to explain the origins of self‐efficacy percepts. In the present study, KAPA's framework was utilized to predict university students' self‐efficacy toward 3 physically demanding leisure activities. The results support the theory's validity. Confidence was strongly related to how personal characteristics were thought to influence performance of a leisure activity. Self‐efficacy was significantly higher when personal attributes were thought to help with performance vs. when attributes were believed to hinder performance.     

Need for Cognition Promotes Adaptive Style of Self‐Focusing with the Mediation of Effortful Control

Previous studies have indicated that “need for cognition” (NfC), which is the tendency to enjoy effortful cognitive activity, affects various cognitive processes and behaviors. However, the effects of NfC on mental adaptation have not been investigated. According to previous studies, it can be hypothesized that NfC decreases maladaptive self‐focusing, which is called self‐rumination, through increasing effortful control (EC); therefore, we hypothesized that NfC would indirectly inhibit self‐rumination through the mediation of EC. As we expected, the results of a cross‐sectional questionnaire study with 152 undergraduate participants indicated a negative indirect association between NfC and self‐rumination through the mediation of EC. Secondarily, the present results revealed a direct positive association between NfC and adaptive type of self‐focusing, which is called self‐reflection. The present study is the first to propose the possible contribution of NfC to mental health through decreasing self‐rumination and increasing self‐reflection.     

Expanding Academic and Career Self‐Efficacy: A Family Systems Framework

This article presents 2 theories useful to school counselors: self‐efficacy and family systems. The author advocates the use of a family‐sensitive model when counseling individuals that recognizes and respects the individual's membership in a family culture. Self‐efficacy and family systems interventions for academic and career development are demonstrated in the hope that individual identities in relation to family identities will be strengthened so that youth can access family legacies as they consider their academic and career options.     

Influence of Generational Status and Financial Stress on Academic and Career Self‐Efficacy

The importance of a college degree is underscored by higher unemployment rates of individuals who have not completed college (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2014 ). Academic and career self‐efficacy influence students' completion of college, and 1st‐generation college students and those under financial strain may experience decreased self‐efficacy (Wohlgemuth et al., 2007 ). Participants in this study (N = 383) were college students at a 4‐year university. Results from a 2 × 3 multivariate analysis of variance and discriminant function analysis revealed significant differences in academic and career self‐efficacy based on financial stress, but not generational status.     

Lifetime and 12‐Month Nonsuicidal Self‐Injury and Academic Performance in College Freshmen

We examined whether nonsuicidal self‐injury (NSSI) is associated with academic performance in college freshmen, using census‐based web surveys (N = 7,527; response = 65.4%). NSSI was assessed with items from the Self‐Injurious Thoughts and Behaviors Interview and subsequently linked with the administratively recorded academic year percentage (AYP). Freshmen with lifetime and 12‐month NSSI showed a reduction in AYP of 3.4% and 5.9%, respectively. The college environment was found to moderate the effect of 12‐month NSSI, with more strongly reduced AYPs in departments with higher‐than‐average mean departmental AYPs. The findings suggest that overall stress and test anxiety are underlying processes between NSSI membership and academic performance.     

Perceived Early Childhood Family Influence,Perceived Pain Self‐Efficacy,and Chronic Pain Disability: An Exploratory Study

The authors examined, with adult participants, the relationship between perceived early childhood family influence, pain self‐efficacy beliefs, and pain‐related disability. Perceived pain self‐efficacy explained 37% of the variance in chronic pain disability, but perceived early childhood family influence was not a statistically significant predictor of chronic pain disability.     

Need for Cognition and Cognitive Performance From a Cross-Cultural Perspective: Examples of Academic Success and Solving Anagrams

The cross-cultural validity of the Need for Cognition Scale and its relationship with cognitive performance were investigated in two studies. In the first study, the relationships between the scale and university entrance scores, course grades, study skills, and social desirability were examined. Using the short form of the Turkish version of the Need for Cognition Scale (S. Gülgöz & C. J. Sadowski, 1995) no correlation with academic performance was found but there was significant correlation with a study skills scale and a social desirability scale created for this study. When regression analysis was used to predict grade point average, the Need for Cognition Scale was a significant predictor. In the second study, participants low or high in need for cognition solved multiple-solution anagrams. The instructions preceding the task set the participants' expectations regarding task difficulty. An interaction between expectation and need for cognition indicated that participants with low need for cognition performed worse when they expected difficult problems. Results of the two studies showed that need for cognition has cross-cultural validity and that its effect on cognitive performance was mediated by other variables.     

Self‐Efficacy Assessment and Generalization in Physical Education Courses1

Physical education courses can have effects that generalize past their immediate task as measured by increases in domain‐specific self‐efficacy. It was predicted that competitive combative courses like boxing would be more likely to have skills generalize to other domains than noncontact courses like swimming. A Physical Education Self‐Efficacy Scale was created that focused on 2 different domains of self‐efficacy: 1 specific to the course (physicality), and 1 in a disparate domain (leadership initiative). Students were given the scale before and after the 2 different courses. Results indicate that there were small but significant increases in both subscales for students enrolled in boxing, but not for students enrolled in swimming. Physicality self‐efficacy also correlated strongly with performance. Implications and mechanisms for generalization of self‐efficacy to neighboring domains are discussed.     

The Impact of Goal‐Performance Discrepancies,Self‐Efficacy,and Goal Orientation on Upward Goal Revision1

The present study examined the role of positive goal‐performance discrepancies (GPDs), self‐efficacy beliefs, and dispositional goal orientation on goal revision processes following performance feedback in a sample of 129 Icelandic job applicants. The results indicated that goal revision was primarily a function of the positive GPD encountered by individuals. However, this relationship was moderated by self‐efficacy, performance goal orientation, and learning goal orientation. Implications of these findings and directions for future research are discussed.     

Language Anxiety and Counseling Self‐Efficacy

A total of 120 master's‐level counseling students were given the Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale and the Counselor Self‐Estimate Inventory. Significance was found for all 3 hypotheses: (a) nonnative English‐speaking students have significantly more language anxiety than native English‐speaking students, (b) nonnative English‐speaking students’ language anxiety was negatively correlated with counseling self‐efficacy, and (c) native English‐ and nonnative English‐speaking students significantly differed in their perceptions of counseling self‐efficacy. Se administraron la Escala de Ansiedad en Clase de Lengua Extranjera y el Inventario de Autoestimación de Consejeros a un total de 120 estudiantes de máster en consejería. Se encontró significación para las 3 hipótesis siguientes: (a) los estudiantes cuya lengua nativa no es el inglés sufren un nivel considerablemente más alto de ansiedad a causa del idioma que los hablantes nativos de inglés, (b) la ansiedad a causa del idioma de los estudiantes cuya lengua nativa no es el inglés mostró una correlación negativa con la autoeficacia en consejería y (c) los grupos de estudiantes nativos y no nativos en inglés mostraron diferencias significativas en sus percepciones de autoeficacia en consejería.     

Magnitude: An Important Dimension of Self‐Efficacy1

According to Bandura (1977a. 1977b). self‐efficacy for a particular task varies along 3 dimensions: magnitude, strength, and generality. Although the magnitude of a task influences one's degree of self‐efficacy, researchers have seldom tapped this dimension. We explicitly examined the magnitude dimension, and whether magnitude and confidence represent operationally distinct dimensions. A sample of undergraduates (n= 221) rated how confident they were that they could perform 22 behaviors comprising 3 domains of protective sexual behaviors (refusing sexual intercourse, questioning potential sexual partners, using condoms). Each participant also rank‐ordered the difficulty of performing each item within each domain. Data analyses revealed considerable overlap between the dimensions of confidence and magnitude, but also substantial differences. Thus, researchers may want to include this dimension when including self‐efficacy.     

Discrepancies Between Implicit and Explicit Self‐concepts of Intelligence Predict Performance on Tests of Intelligence

Three studies investigated the correspondence between implicit and explicit self‐concepts of intelligence and how that correspondence is related to performance on different intelligence tests. Configurations of these two self‐concepts were found to be consistently related to performance on intelligence tests in all three studies. For individuals who self‐reported high intelligence (high explicit self‐concept), a negative implicit self‐concept (measured with the Implicit Association Test) led to a decrease in performance on intelligence tests. For participants whose self‐report indicated a low self‐concept of intelligence, positive automatic associations between the self and intelligence had a similar effect. In line with a stress hypothesis, the results indicate that any discrepant configuration of self‐concepts will impair performance. Importantly, the prediction of performance on intelligence tests by the self‐concept of intelligence was shown to be independent of self‐esteem (Study 3). Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Where the Motivation Resides and Self‐Deception Hides: How Motivated Cognition Accomplishes Self‐Deception

How do people remain blind to the motives underlying their flattering self‐construals, attitudes, and social judgments? This paper explores how motivated cognition accomplishes the goal of self‐deception. It proposes that self‐serving conclusions are produced although the influence of such distortions remains hidden from conscious awareness because of the ubiquitous presence and specialized nature of motivated cognition. I will discuss how motivations infiltrate four stages of cognitive processing, including information gathering and the creation of filters, the deployment of attention, information processing, and memory. In doing so, I will suggest that perhaps it is precisely because of this multicomponent system of checks and balances, the efficiency of motivational biases, and the specialized neural pathways used by motivated cognition that self‐deception is successful.     

Acute Thoughts,Exercise Consistency,and Coping Self‐Efficacy1

One study purpose was to determine whether individuals classified with respect to consistency of exercise adherence and acute thinking tone differed on coping self‐efficacy, decisional struggle, exercise intention, and affect. A second study purpose was to examine whether coping self‐efficacy predicted struggle, intention, and affect. Participants were 160 healthy people (Mage = 25.6 years) exercising in fitness settings. Social cognitive, affect, and exercise consistency measures were obtained concurrently. A multivariate analysis indicated that positive thinkers experienced significantly lower decisional struggle and higher coping self‐efficacy compared to negative thinkers. Further, consistent exercisers experienced significantly lower decisional struggle and higher coping self‐efficacy, intention, and positive affect compared to inconsistent exercisers. Regression analyses indicated that coping self‐efficacy significantly predicted decisional struggle and intention.