RRL SECOND VARIABLE
Self-efficacy
People's perceptions of their ability to achieve predetermined levels of
performance that exert control over circumstances that affect their daily lives are known
as perceived self-efficacy. Self-efficacy beliefs ascertain how people think, feel, behave,
and motivate themselves. The four major processes are cognitive, motivational,
affective, and selection processes (Bandura & Wessels, 1994). Furthermore, self-
efficacy can be considered a resilience factor as it facilitates goal setting, effort
investment, persistence in facing barriers, and recovery from setbacks (Schwarzer &
Luszczynska, 2008).
Hence, Self-efficacy does not refer to your abilities but rather to how firmly you
believe you can use your abilities to work and strive toward goals. Self-efficacious
adolescents perform better at school and similarly self-efficacious adults at work
(Maddux & Kleiman, 2023). It is one of the most powerful motivational predictors of how
well a person is skillful to perform in almost any attempt and is a strong determinant of
their endeavor, perseverance, and strategizing, as well as task performance (Heslin &
Klehe, 2006). Additionally, in Bandura's social cognitive theory, self-efficacy is a
personal construct that affects and is influenced by behaviors and social/environmental
variables (Schunk & DiBenedetto, 2021).
Self-efficacy is an important variable because it influences students’ motivation
and learning (Van Dinther et al., 2011). Heightened learning self-efficacy enhances
motivation to acquire knowledge and skills (Schunk, 1985). It can affect the choice of
tasks and perseverance while doing them. In other words, students with low self-
efficacy are more likely to be afraid of doing their tasks, dodging, delaying, and giving
them up soon. In contrast, those with high levels of self-efficacy are more presumably to
depend on themselves when faced with complex issues to find a solution to the
problem, as well as being patient, making more efforts, and persisting longer to
overcome the challenges (Hayat et al., 2020). In addition, self-efficacy is an important
variable in controlling stress and it is a protection factor against the impact of day-to-day
stressors at university (Freire et al., 2020).
References:
Bandura, A., & Wessels, S. (1994). Self-efficacy (Vol. 4, pp. 71-81). na.
Schwarzer, R., & Luszczynska, A. (2008). Self efficacy.
Maddux, J. E. & Kleiman, E. (2023). Self-efficacy. In R. Biswas-Diener & E. Diener
(Eds), Noba textbook series: Psychology. Champaign, IL: DEF publishers. Retrieved
from http://noba.to/bmv4hd6p
Heslin, P. A., & Klehe, U. C. (2006). Self-efficacy. Encyclopedia Of
Industrial/Organizational Psychology, SG Rogelberg, ed, 2, 705-708.
Schunk, D. H., & DiBenedetto, M. K. (2021). Self-efficacy and human motivation. In
Advances in motivation science (Vol. 8, pp. 153-179). Elsevier.
Van Dinther, M., Dochy, F., & Segers, M. (2011). Factors affecting students’ self-
efficacy in higher education. Educational research review, 6(2), 95-108.
Schunk, D. H. (1985). Self‐efficacy and classroom learning. Psychology in the Schools,
22(2), 208-223.
Hayat, A.A., Shateri, K., Amini, M., & Shokrpour, N. (2020). Relationships between
academic self-efficacy, learning-related emotions, and metacognitive learning strategies
with academic performance in medical students: a structural equation model. BMC
Medical Education, 20.
Freire, C., Ferradás, M. D. M., Regueiro, B., Rodríguez, S., Valle, A., & Núñez, J. C.
(2020). Coping strategies and self-efficacy in university students: A person-centered
approach. Frontiers in psychology, 11, 841.
