Teachers' self-efficacy is assumed to be affected by self-esteem and teachers' general self-efficacy. Self-esteem is considered to be a trait reflecting an individual's characteristic affective evaluation of self (Gist & Mitchell, 1992). The current study explores the factors that would affect teachers' efficacy in cultural context. In the current study 200 teachers participated from various public schools. Multivariate analysis of variance and correlational analysis were employed to understand the effect of self-esteem and self-efficacy on teachers' efficacy. The results indicated significant relationship between teachers' efficacy and general self-efficacy and self-esteem. It was found that low self-esteem and low general self-efficacy led to low teachers' efficacy and consequently substandard performance in the class. On the contrary, high teachers' efficacy was a reflection of high self-esteem and high general self-efficacy. Self-esteem influenced only in decision making, perceived education self-efficacy, perceived disciplinary self-efficacy, ability to get cooperation from community, and in the development of positive school environment of teachers' efficacy. General self-efficacy influenced all the components of teachers' efficacy except decision making and ability to influence school council/authorities. In the study, it was observed that self-esteem significantly influenced teachers' efficacy.

The leftward cradling bias is the tendency to cradle infants on the left side of the body and it has been linked with hemispheric asymmetry for emotional processing. This study examines this phenomenon using a real-size infant doll in typically developing adults who score high in the Reading the Mind in the Eyes, the Autistic Spectrum Quotient and the Empathy Quotient, measures that assess autistic traits among typically developing individuals. Results revealed that this group showed a reduced tendency to cradle on the left compared to participants who score within the normal range on the above measurements. This study provides further support for the justification of the leftward cradling bias upon brain lateralization on emotional processing. Study limitations and suggestions for future research are discussed.

This study examines the attitudes and the behavioural intentions of typically developing (TD) adolescents towards a hypothetical peer with Asperger syndrome (AS). Participants (N= 179, M age= 13.7 years) viewed two Powerpoint presentations one of a TD male target and one of a male target with AS. The target with AS was introduced either with descriptive or combined information delivered either by a hypothetical friend or by a hypothetical teacher. Attitudes and behavioural intentions were assessed by the administration of the Shared Activities Questionnaire and the Adjective Checklist. Results yielded that participants were more positive towards the TD target than towards the target with AS. Regarding the target with AS, there was no significant overall advantage of either information type whereas the friend rather than the teacher source triggered more positive responses. Limitations and suggestions for future research are discussed.

The aim of this study is twofold. First, to investigate whether the imagined contact method (an indirect method of contact) can improve behavioural intentions towards a hypothetical peer with Asperger syndrome (AS). Second, to test whether the effect of the method can be generalised on attitudes towards young people with AS in general.Participants were 416 young adolescents (M age= 15.2) who view a power-point presentation introducing a hypothetical male target with AS. A voice-over provided either descriptive or combined (descriptive plus explanatory) information about AS. Next, imagined contact participants were asked to imagine an encounter with the target boy while control participants were asked to simple think about him. Behavioural intentions towards the target were assessed by the Shared Activities Questionnaire while attitudes towards young people with AS in general were assessed by the Asperger Syndrome Questionnaire, a self-generated instrument. Results revealed that imagined contact compared to control participants exhibited greater behavioural intentions towards the target. However, no effect of the imagined contact method was observed on attitudes towards young people with AS in general. Combined information about AS had only a moderate effect. Implications and study limitations are discussed.

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