Working Together: Perceived Self- and Collective-Efficacy at the Workplace1

Collective efficacy is the extension of Bandura's (1977) self-efficacy concept to groups (Bandura, 1982, 1986). Self-efficacy refers to judgments that people make about their personal or individual competency. Collective efficacy concerns judgments that people make about a group's level of competency. This paper contributes to the theory and measurement of collective efficacy and to an understanding of its relationship to self-efficacy and performance. Elementary school teachers' collective- and self-efficacy were measured. The academic domain is well suited to the study of collective-efficacy because the organizational units (schools) all perform the same function (education). The findings supported the hypothesis that, in at least some domains, self-efficacy and collective-efficacy are related but independent constructs. As hypothesized, it was also found that the socioeconomic composition of a school's student body, was a strong predictor of teachers' collective-efficacy. Although teachers' collective-efficacy was associated with school level achievement, this relationship was no longer significant when prior achievement levels were controlled. It was suggested that future research should examine individual behaviors, attitudes, and beliefs that might serve as mediators between efficacy and performance. It was also suggested that the relationship between collective efficacy and organizational culture should be explored.