Perceived self-efficacy in the exercise of personal agency

En este artículo, el autor afirma que las creencias de autoeficacia percibida son un factor causal en el desencadenamiento de la conducta humana; al igual que un predictor del rendimiento. Por ello, las autoprecepciones positivas de eficacia van acompañadas de óptimos rendimientos. La opinión sobre la propia eficacia es uno de los más importantes mecanismos de la conducta e influye en cómo pensamos, sentimos y actuamos. Son las creencias del sujeto sobre sus capacidades las causa de la conducta psicosocial a través de procesos cognitivos, motivacionales, afectivos y de selección de vida profesional y de los ambientes en los que van a actuar. El autor afirma que los juicios de eficacia personal son causantes de nuestros proyectos de vida, seleccionando tanto las actividades como el ambiente en que vamos a desarrollarlos. De esta forma, tendemos a evitar actividades y situaciones que excedan nuestras capacidades o emprendemos actividades desafiantes y creamos o seleccionamos los ambientes si creemos que podemos controlarlos y manejarlos. Cuanto más eficaces y competentes nos creamos, tendremos en cuenta más posibles opciones profesionales, más interés mostraremos por adquirir conocimientos y habilidades, más nos prepararemos para alcanzar nuestras metas. Del mismo modo, la autoeficacia estimada contribuye a nuestro desarrollo social eligiendo actividades y asociaciones, aunque también los patrones de afiliación aprendidos determinan el sesgo de nuestra eficacia percibida

Social cognitive theory of posttraumatic recovery: The role of perceived self-efficacy. Behav Res Ther

Abstract The present article integrates findings from diverse studies on the generalized role of perceived coping self-efficacy in recovery from different types of traumatic experiences. They include natural disasters, technological catastrophes, terrorist attacks, military combat, and sexual and criminal assaults. The various studies apply multiple controls for diverse sets of potential contributors to posttraumatic recovery. In these different multivariate analyses, perceived coping self-efficacy emerges as a focal mediator of posttraumatic recovery. Verification of its independent contribution to posttraumatic recovery across a wide range of traumas lends support to the centrality of the enabling and protective function of belief in one's capability to exercise some measure of control over traumatic adversity.

Test of three conceptual models of influence of the big five personality traits and self-efficacy on academic performance: A meta-analytic path-analysis

The Big Five personality traits and self-efficacy independently relate to a multitude of outcomes across domains of functioning. Yet, only a small number of studies examined these variables together as part of the same conceptual model, and findings are mixed. We revisit their joint relationships, and test three conceptual models of influence on academic performance of college students over a semester. Because of the key role college graduates will play in society, many have a stake in better understanding their performance. The trait model specifies that the Big Five traits influence performance directly and indirectly through partial mediation of self-efficacy. In the independent model, the Big Five traits influence self-efficacy and performance independently, without mediation of self-efficacy. In the intrapersonal model, the effects of the Big Five traits on performance are fully mediated by self-efficacy. We collected data in five samples, three Universities, and two countries, N = 875, and conducted a meta-analytic path-analysis. Self-efficacy positively related to academic performance across the models, conscientiousness and emotional stability were predictive of self-efficacy and performance in some analyses, and the significance of the other three traits was fleeting

Cultivating competence, self-efficacy, and intrinsic interest through proximal self-motivation.

Abstract: The present experiment tested the hypothesis that self-motivation through proximal goal setting serves as an effective mechanism for cultivating competencies, self-percepts of efficacy, and intrinsic interest. Children who exhibited gross deficits and disinterest in mathematical tasks pursued a program of self-directed learning under conditions involving either proximal subgoals, distal goals, or no goals. Results of the multifaceted assessment provide support for the superiority of proximal self-influence. Under proximal subgoals, children progressed rapidly in self-directed learning, achieved substantial mastery of mathematical operations, and developed a sense of personal efficacy and intrinsic interest in arithmetic activities that initially held little attraction for them. Distal goals had no demonstrable effects. In addition to its other benefits, goal proximity fostered veridical self-knowledge of capabilities as reflected in high congruence between judgments of mathematical self-efficacy and subsequent mathematical performance. Perceived self-efficacy was positively related to accuracy of mathematical performance and to intrinsic interest in arithmetic activities. Article: Much human behavior is directed and sustained over long periods, even though the external inducements for it may be few and far between. Under conditions in which external imperatives are minimal and discontinuous, people must partly serve as agents of their own motivation and action. In social learning theory (Bandura, 1977b, in press), self-directedness operates through a self system that comprises cognitive structures and subfunctions for perceiving, evaluating, motivating, and regulating behavior. An important, cognitively based source of self-motivation relies on the intervening processes of goal setting and self-evaluative re-actions to one's own behavior. This form of self-motivation, which operates largely through internal comparison processes, re-quires personal standards against which to evaluate ongoing performance. By making self-satisfaction conditional on a certain level of performance, individuals create self-inducements to persist in their efforts until their performances match internal standards. Both the anticipated satisfactions for matching attainments and the dissatisfactions with insufficient ones provide incentives for self-directed actions. Personal goals or standards do not automatically activate the evaluative processes that affect the level and course of one's behavior. Certain properties of goals, such as their specificity and level, help to provide clear standards of adequacy In the social learning view, adopting proximal subgoals for one's own behavior can have at least three major psychological effects. As already alluded to, such goals have motivational effects. One of the propositions tested in the present experiment is that self-motivation can be best created and sustained by attainable subgoals that lead to larger future ones. Proximal subgoals provide immediate incentives and guides for performance

Perceived self-efficacy in coping with cognitive stressors and opioid activation

This experiment tested the hypothesis that perceived self-inefficacy in exercising control over cognitive stressors activates endogenous opioid systems. Subjects performed mathematical operations under conditions in which they could exercise full control over the cognitive task demands or in which the cognitive demands strained or exceeded their cognitive capabilities. Subjects with induced high perceived self-efficacy exhibited little stress, whereas those with induced low perceived self-efficacy experienced a high level of stress and autonomic arousal. Subjects were then administered either an inert saline solution or naloxone, an opiate antagonist that blocks the analgesic effects of endogenous opiates, whereupon their level of pain tolerance was measured. The self-efficacious nonstressed subjects gave no evidence of opioid activation. The self-inefficacious stressed subjects were able to withstand increasing amounts of pain stimulation under saline conditions. However, when endogenous opioid mechanisms that control pain were blocked by naloxone, the subjects were unable to bear much pain stimulation. This pattern of changes suggests that the stress-induced analgesia found under the saline condition was mediated by endogenous opioid mechanisms and counteracted by the opiate antagonist

Twisting arms and sending messages: Terrorist tactics in civil war

We examine the strategic rationale for terrorist tactics in civil war. We identify conditions that favor terrorism as a tactic in armed civil conflicts as well as the specific targets as a function of rebel characteristics, goals, and government responses to political demands. Terrorist tactics can be helpful as an instrument to coerce the government in asymmetric conflicts, as rebels are typically weak relative to the government. But terrorism can also help communicate the goals and resolve of a group when there is widespread uncertainty. We consider the strategic importance and rationale for terrorism in terms of the frequency of attacks and specific targets, and analyze our propositions using new data linking actors from the Uppsala/PRIO Armed Conflict Data and the Global Terrorism Database. Consistent with our expectations, we find that terrorism is used more extensively in civil conflicts by weaker groups and when attacks can help the group convey its goals without undermining popular support. Groups with more inclusive audiences are more likely to focus on ‘hard’ or official targets, while groups with more sectarian audiences are more likely to attack ‘soft’ targets and civilians

Positive Psychology in Sales: Integrating Psychological Capital

As positive psychology moves into the workplace, researchers have been able to demonstrate the desirable impact of positive organizational behavior. Specifically, psychological capital (PsyCap) improves employee attitudes, behaviors, and performance. Advancing PsyCap in sales research is important given the need for a comprehensive positive approach to drive sales performance, offset the high cost of salesperson turnover, improve cross-functional sales interfaces, and enrich customer relationships. The authors provide an integrative review of PsyCap, discuss its application in sales, and advance an agenda for future research. Research prescriptions are organized according to individual-level, intra-organizational, and extra-organizational outcomes pertinent to the sales field