Is Perceived SelfEfficacy a Universal Construct Psychometric Findings

Is Perceived Self-Efficacy a Universal Construct? Psychometric Findings from 22 Cultures Ralf Schwarzer & Urte Scholz Freie Universität Berlin, Germany

Perceived Self-Efficacy is the belief that one can perform a novel or difficult task, or cope with adversity -- in various domains of human functioning

Perceived Self-Efficacy FACILITATES: GOAL SETTING EFFORT INVESTMENT ÞPERSISTANCE IN FACE OF BARRIERS ÞRECOVERY FROM SETBACKS

General Perceived Self-Efficacy Scale Ralf Schwarzer & Matthias Jerusalem (1995) Examples: I can always manage to solve difficult problems if I try hard enough. Thanks to my resourcefulness, I know how to handle unforeseen situations. If I am in trouble, I can usually think of a solution. I am confident that I could deal efficiently with unexpected events.

The General Perceived Self-Efficacy Scale Source of the English Version: Schwarzer, R. & Jerusalem, M. (1995). Generalized Self. Efficacy scale. In J. Weinman, S. Wright, & M. Johnston (Eds. ), Measures in health psychology: A user’s portfolio. Causal and control beliefs (pp. 35 -37). Windsor, UK: NFER-NELSON. The full 10 -item scale can be copied from the web http: //www. healthpsych. de

Frequency Distribution broken down by Nation

Age Distribution

Mean Age per Nation (N = 13, 461)

Distribution of Self-Efficacy Sum Scores for the Total Sample (N= 17, 553)

Scale Reliabilities (Cronbach’s ) for all Nations

Unidimensionality of the General Perceived Self-Efficacy Construct 1. 00 GSE . 37 . 40 . 56 . 47 . 55 . 50 . 48 . 53 SE 1 SE 2 SE 3 SE 4 SE 5 SE 6 SE 7 SE 8 SE 9 SE 10 . 43 . 55 . 50 . 36 . 30 . 43 . 36 . 38 . 31 . 38

Mean Sum Scores Broken Down by Nation

Mean Sum Scores Broken Down by Nations and Gender

Correlations Between Self-Efficacy And Other Constructs Self-Efficacy Sum Score of German Teachers (N = 302) Proactive Coping . 55 Self-Regulation . 58 Procrastination -. 56 Emotional Exhaustion -. 47 Depersonalisation -. 44 Lack of Accomplishment -. 75

Correlations Between Self-Efficacy And Other Constructs Self-Efficacy Sum Score of Costa Ricans Women (N = 393) Men (N = 258) Anxiety -. 43 -. 42 Depression -. 46 -. 33 Optimism Expected Social Support . 60 . 52 . 43 . 30

The Self-Efficacy Scale Is Reliable And Unidimensional Across Cultures. www. healthpsych. d e

References Schwarzer, R. (Ed. ) (1992). Self-efficacy: Thought control of action. Washington, DC: Hemisphere. Schwarzer, R. & Born, A. (1997). Optimistic self-beliefs: Assessment of general perceived self-efficacy in thirteen cultures. World Psychology, 3, 177 -190. Schwarzer, R. , Bäßler, J. , Kwiatek, P. , Schröder, K. , & Zhang, J. X. (1997). The assessment of optimistic self-beliefs: Comparison of the German, Spanish, and Chinese versions of the General Self-Efficacy scale. Applied Psychology: An International Review, 46, 69 -88. Schwarzer, R. , Born, A. , Iwawaki, S. , Lee, Y. -M. , Saito, E. , & Yue, X. (1997). The assessment of optimistic self-beliefs: Comparison of the Chinese, Indonesian, Japanese and Korean versions of the General Self-Efficacy Scale. Psychologia: An International Journal of Psychology in the Orient, 40, 1 -13. Schwarzer, R. & Jerusalem, M. (1995). Generalized Self-Efficacy scale. In J. Weinman, S. Wright, & M. Johnston (Eds. ), Measures in health psychology: A user’s portfolio. Causal and control beliefs (pp. 3537). Windsor, UK: NFER-NELSON. Schwarzer, R. & Jerusalem, M. (Eds. ) (1999). Skalen zur Erfassung von Lehrer- und Schülermerkmalen. Dokumentation der psychometrischen Verfahren im Rahmen der Wissenschaftlichen Begleitung des Modellversuchs Selbstwirksame Schulen [Scales for the assessment of teacher and student characteristics. ] Berlin, Germany: Freie Universität Berlin. Schwarzer, R. , Mueller, J. , & Greenglass, E. (1999). Assessment of perceived general self-efficacy on the Internet: Data collection in cyberspace. Anxiety, Stress, and Coping, 12, 145 -161. Schwarzer, R. , Schmitz, G. S. & Tang, C. (2000). Teacher burnout in Hong Kong and Germany: A crosscultural validation of the Maslach Burnout Inventory. Anxiety, Stress, and Coping, 13, 309 -326. Zhang, J. X. & Schwarzer, R. (1995). Measuring optimistic self-beliefs: A Chinese adaptation of the General Self-Efficacy Scale. Psychologia, 38, 174 -181.

Source of this Presentation: Scholz, U. , Gutiérrez-Doña, B. , Sud, S. , & Schwarzer, R. (2002). Is general self-efficacy a universal construct? Psychometric findings from 25 countries. European Journal of Psychological Assessment, 18, No. 3, 242 -251.