“Why not use it more?” Sources of self-efficacy in researchers’ use of social media for knowledge sharing

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the sources of self-efficacy that researchers rely on when using social media for knowledge sharing and to explore how these sources impact their use. Design/methodology/approach The study employed 30 semi-structured interviews with researchers at a major Scottish university. The authors analysed the interview transcriptions using directed content analysis. Findings The researchers relied on the four sources of self-efficacy proposed by Bandura (1977) when using social media for knowledge sharing. These sources lead researchers to use social media effectively and frequently for sharing knowledge, although some may discourage its use. Research limitations/implications It extends the self-efficacy integrative theoretical framework of Bandura (1977) by presenting the relative amount of the influence of these sources for researchers to share their ideas, experiences, questions and research outputs on social media. While the participants included academic staff, postdoctoral researchers, and PhD students, the majority were PhD students. Practical implications The findings can help universities understand how to promote productive use of social media. For example, academic staff who have high personal mastery experience could mentor those who do not. Originality/value This is the first known study to investigate the sources of self-efficacy that impact researchers’ use of social media for knowledge sharing.

“How to use it more?” Self-efficacy and its sources in the use of social media for knowledge sharing

“…As stated previously, self-efficacy has four sources, which individuals are responsible for constructing (Bandura, 1977). Personal mastery experiences refer to past experiences that positively or negatively influence individuals' perceived ability (Alshahrani & Rasmussen Pennington, 2018). It is the most influential source in building confidence for individuals (Hendricks, 2016).…”

“…The second source, vicarious experience, is "the mimicry of other researchers who effectively use social media for knowledge sharing by observing their performance and successes, and then attempting to replicate their behaviours" (Alshahrani & Rasmussen Pennington, 2018, p. 1275. Individuals can build their self-efficacy indirectly by observing others' activities (Bandura, 1977), which can lead them to believe that they are able to do what others do.…”

“…Verbal persuasion, the third source, refers to encouragement received from colleagues, friends, family, and institutions (Alshahrani & Rasmussen Pennington, 2018;Bandura, 1977). This encouragement motivates individuals to believe that they have the ability to achieve a high level of performance (Tschannen-Moran & McMaster, 2009).…”

“…Indeed, social media use for knowledge sharing can remove the space and time constraints that occur when using more traditional methods of communication (Fotis, 2015). In the process of sharing knowledge through social media, researchers can discuss ideas, and develop topics, present their professional selves virtually, and share their outputs (Panahi et al, 2016;Alshahrani & Rasmussen Pennington, 2018;Veletsianos, 2016, Carrigan, 2016Ellison, Gibbs, & Weber, 2015). "Online, researchers can share what they have learnt and practiced in their work as well as what they have produced as written communication" (Alshahrani & Rasmussen Pennington, 2018, p. 1275.…”

“…In this paper, self-efficacy specifically refers to researchers' ability to use social media effectively for sharing knowledge. The first part of this larger study investigated these sources and their impact on researchers' use of social media for knowledge sharing through semi-structured qualitative interviews (Alshahrani & Rasmussen Pennington, 2018). The current paper builds on the qualitative results with a quantitative approach to gain a broader perspective on the topic.…”