Sources of Self-Efficacy in School: Critical Review of the Literature and Future Directions

Abstract

The purpose of this review was threefold. First, the theorized sources of self-efficacy beliefs proposed by A. Bandura (1986) are described and explained, including how they are typically assessed and analyzed. Second, findings from investigations of these sources in academic contexts are reviewed and critiqued, and problems and oversights in current research and in conceptualizations of the sources are identified. Although mastery experience is typically the most influential source of self-efficacy, the strength and influence of the sources differ as a function of contextual factors such as gender, ethnicity, academic ability, and academic domain. Finally, suggestions are offered to help guide researchers investigating the psychological mechanisms at work in the formation of self-efficacy beliefs in academic contexts.

Identifying events that impact self-efficacy in physics learning

“…He theorized that these mastery experiences, experiences with previous personal attainments or failures in a task similar to the one at hand, had the most influence over an individual's confidence in their ability because they provide authentic evidence as to whether the individual is capable to succeed at the task. Many researchers studying the influence of mastery experiences have found evidence to support Bandura's conjecture that these experiences have the greatest sway for determining self-efficacy [40]. In her quantitative 2008 study of the self-efficacy of high school students in various science courses [24], Britner found mastery experiences played a critical role in determining self-efficacy.…”

Autoeficácia no campo educacional: revisão das publicações em periódicos brasileiros

“…Na literatura internacional, diferentes estudos que buscaram verificar o desenvolvimento da produção sobre AE apontam que, metodologicamente, grande parte dessas pesquisas está pautada em abordagens quantitativas de corte transversal (Henson, 2001;Klassen, Tze, Betts, & Gordon, 2010;Tschannen-Moran & cols., 1998;Usher, 2009). Pesquisadoressugerem o desenvolvimento de novas frentes de investigação relacionadas aos enfoques qualitativos em associação aos quantitativos e delineamentos longitudinais (Henson, 2001;Klassen & cols., 2010;Tschannen-Moran & cols., 1998), além de estudos específicos sobre as fontes de AE (Usher & Pajares, 2008) e eficácia coletiva (Goddard, Hoy, &WoolfolkHoy, 2000).…”

“…Os autores indicam que os resultados confirmam as postulações teóricas sobre a constituição da AE docente, ou seja, que as atividades ligadas à ação docente, dependendo da maneira como o professor as processa, podem ser interpretadas como fontes de autoeficácia. Ademais, a escala obteve índice de confiabilidade satisfatório (alpha de Cronbach = 0,81), devendo ser utilizada em estudos em outros contextos para verificar sua aplicabilidade em diferentes realidades (Iaochite & Azzi, 2012).Conforme sugerem os autores do estudo e apoiado por autores já citados (Klassen & cols., 2010;Usher & Pajares, 2008), a investigação sobre a constituição da autoeficácia de professores pode contribuir, considerando o impacto dessa crença, para a formação de futuros professores, além de favorecer a compreensão da gênese das crenças de autoeficácia.…”

Attitudes, Beliefs, Motivation, and Identity in Mathematics Education

“…In their review of the literature, Usher and Pajares (2008) refer to quantitative and qualitative ways of measuring sources of selfefficacy. The adapted version of the Sources of Mathematics Self-efficacy Scaled developed by Lent (1991, as cited in Usher andPajares 2008) and his colleagues has been used in many studies. The findings of various studies show that mastery experience consistently emerges as the most powerful source of self-efficacy, while findings for the other three sources have been less consistent.…”

“…Usher and Pajares (2009) note that these inconsistent results may be due to methodological problems such as poor reliability, aggregated scores that mask information from any one source, or multicollinearity between the sources. Usher and Pajares (2008) state that the sources of self-efficacy function best at appropriate levels of specificity and when they correspond with the self-efficacy outcome they are developed to predict.…”