Browsing by Subject "self-efficacy"
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Item An Empirical Comparison between the NEO-FFI and the WPI and the Relationship between Self-Efficacy and Workplace Personality(2011-02-22) Orozco, Lauren MichelWhile much research has been devoted to the study of personality, the separate construct of ?workplace personality? is beginning to gain empirical attention. The current study takes a closer look at the factor structure of the Workplace Personality Inventory, a measure used to describe workplace personality using sixteen different scales measuring traits associated with positive job performance. This study also uses correlation analyses to determine the relation between workplace personality, personality traits, and self-efficacy. Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT) emphasizes the unique and important contribution of self-efficacy to career development and exploration. The present study determines the relationship between personality as measured by the NEO-FFI and workplace personality as it is measured by the WPI. The present study also uses self-efficacy scores and indicators of the Big Five personality factors (as measured by the NEO-FFI) to predict workplace personality. Results show that despite some logical correlations between scales on the NEO-FFI and the WPI, the measures are not redundant, showing the WPI to assess aspects of personality that the NEO-FFI does not. Further, in support of SCCT, self-efficacy was shown to significantly correlate with workplace personality. Practical implications and limitations of the study are also discussed.Item At-Risk Boys' Self-Efficacy in A Summer Sports Camp(2014-12-09) Su, XiaoxiaResearch has documented that summer sports camps can provide opportunities for social and physical benefits for at-risk boys who are often from low-income families and vulnerable to academic failure. However, whether these boys can reap such benefits is largely determined by their self-efficacy, including social self-efficacy and physical activity self-efficacy. Thus, the purpose of this study was to examine at-risk boys? social self-efficacy and physical activity self-efficacy in a summer sports camp setting. Specifically, this study addressed the following research questions: (1) Can at-risk boys differentiate between social self-efficacy and physical activity self-efficacy? (2) What level of social self-efficacy and physical activity self-efficacy do at-risk boys in this sample display? (3) What is the relationship between social self-efficacy and physical activity self-efficacy? (4) Do at-risk boys? mean scores of social self-efficacy and physical activity self-efficacy change over the course of the summer sports camp? (5) What are the predictive powers of social self-efficacy and physical activity self-efficacy on behaviors, effort, and intention for future physical activity participation, and (6) What factors do at-risk boys perceive contributing to their social self-efficacy and physical activity self-efficacy? The results of this study indicated that social self-efficacy and physical activity self-efficacy were clearly distinguishable, but they were also positively related. Both of them significantly predicted prosocial behaviors, with social self-efficacy having stronger predictive power. Physical activity self-efficacy was a better predictor of effort and intention than social self-efficacy. Boys with higher levels of social self-efficacy or physical activity self-efficacy were more likely to display prosocial behaviors. Besides the sources proposed by Bandura?s self-efficacy theory, such as mastery experience, vicarious experience, social persuasion, and emotional and physiological reactions, boys also identified some unique sources contributing to their social self-efficacy and physical activity self-efficacy. This study provides an initial effort using self-efficacy theory to understand at-risk boys? behaviors, effort, and intention for future physical activity participation in a summer sports camp setting. Given the finding that social self-efficacy and physical activity self-efficacy were related to their behaviors, effort, and intention, it is critical to enhance at-risk boys? social self-efficacy and physical activity self-efficacy in summer sports camps.Item Career self-efficacy and career decision of African-American, Hispanic, and Anglo students enrolled in selected rural Texas high schools(Texas A&M University, 2006-08-16) Owre, Martha LeonoraThe study was designed to obtain information that would be of value to secondary school personnel who provide career counseling and guidance to high school students preparing for post-secondary education, training, and employment. The study attempted to determine if African-American, Anglo, and Hispanic students varied significantly on characteristics that could potentially inhibit career decision-making. The characteristics investigated included career indecision and self-efficacy. Participants included 74 sophomore and senior students from three rural high schools in South Central Texas. Two research questions were investigated to determine if there were significant differences among Anglo, African-American, and Hispanic students on measures of career indecision and self-efficacy. A third research question was investigated to determine if significant differences existed on measures of career indecision and self-efficacy by ethnicity, gender, and grade level, as well as for the interaction of ethnicity, gender, and grade level. A supplementary analysis of the three research questions was conducted including school as an independent variable. The Career Decision Scale and Career Decision Self-Efficacy Scale were administered to the participants and the data were analyzed with ANOVA and MANOVA statistical tests. No significant differences were obtained for the three research questions. When the school variable was included in the data analysis, significant main effects differences were found for grade level on self-efficacy and for school on career indecision. The combination of ethnic groups, genders, and grade levels indicated significant differences for the interaction of gender and grade level on self-efficacy and for the interaction of ethnicity and gender on self-efficacy. Middle to high levels of career indecision were reported by 90% of the seniors and 79% of all students in the study. The researcher recommended that career interventions would be valuable to sophomores and seniors in helping them prepare for post-secondary career choices.Item Developing an alternative model for travel decision-making(2009-05-15) Hung, KamThis study proposes an alternative travel decision making model and situates its arguments in the Motivation-Opportunity-Ability (MOA) theoretical construct. The MOA model suggests that motivation, opportunity, and ability are major factors influencing decision making. Applying this model in the context of tourism, the proposed model suggests that travel behaviors are determined by self-congruity, functional congruity, perceived travel constraints, constraint negotiation, and self-efficacy. The proposed model and hypotheses were tested in the context of cruise travel. Both qualitative and quantitative methodologies were utilized in this study. Semi-structured interviews with both cruisers and non-cruisers were first conducted to derive measurement items for the interested constructs and to understand how different factors influence travel decision making. An online panel survey was followed to collect quantitative data for testing the proposed theoretical model and hypotheses. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was used to test both the proposed model and hypothesized relationships among the constructs. The analyses were performed with Analysis of MOment Structures (AMOS 7.0). All hypotheses except one were supported by the data. The proposed model also had an acceptable fit to the data. Based on the findings, both theoretical and practical implications of the study were recommended.Item Exploring Risk and Protective Factors Among African American Males in Alternative and General Education Settings(2012-02-14) Crossley, Tia BillyA large number of African American males have experienced risk and protective factors that may impede or enhance their success in the school setting. As a result of these risk and protective factors, they may or may not be at-risk for adverse outcomes behaviorally as well as academically. As indicated throughout the literature, to better serve behaviorally at-risk students, the educational system has responded by implementing methods such as zero-tolerance policies, increased security, and alternative education programs. While the former has been established throughout the literature, there has been a paucity of research on alternative education programs in general and even less with regard to African American male students. This study examined four levels of risk and protective factors, individual, school, community, and family, among African American males in both alternative and general educational settings. One hundred fifteen students ages 11 to 16 were assessed for demographics, self-efficacy, school engagement, and racial identity measures. The purpose of the study was to examine the differences between risk and protective factors among African American males in alternative and general education settings. Specifically, the individual level was examined in detail using the following risk and protective factors: self-efficacy, school engagement, and racial identity. This study also examined the impact risk and protective factors have in predicting the likelihood that an African American male would be placed in an alternative education setting. Both independent samples t-tests and hierarchical logistic regression analyses were used. Results indicated that there are statistically significant differences in levels of self-efficacy and school engagement between African American males in alternative education settings and general educations settings. No difference was found in levels of racial identity among the groups. Results from the hierarchical logistic regressions indicated that self-efficacy is a significant predictor. These findings show the importance for school psychologists to work with students to instill confidence to be successful in school settings. Also, since self-efficacy was shown to be a significant predictor of placement status in alternative school settings, it is important for school psychologists and school personnel to get involved with these students before they even become at-risk.Item Intergenerational parallelism of self-efficacy: moderating variables, mediating variables, and common antecedents(Texas A&M University, 2004-11-15) Lin, Cheng-HsienA number of theories and studies in sociology and psychology have asserted that self-efficacy is both the consequence and cause of our everyday life experiences. However, there is little empirical evidence to support the existence of intergenerational parallelism of self-efficacy between generations. And if it exists, then the processes by which self-efficacy is transmitted from parents to children is rarely documented in the literature. In addition, it is noteworthy to examine whether such intergenerational transmission of self-efficacy exists among different types of families, genders, or racial groups. In my dissertation, I intend to answer these inquiries by utilizing a longitudinal data set that incorporates information of three generations (grandparents, parents, and grandchildren) reporting their individual age, educational attainment, self-esteem, and self-efficacy, with both parent generation's self-efficacy and child generation's self-efficacy having been collected in the same developmental stage (early adolescence). In addition, parents also reported several aspects of their adulthood conditions and behaviors, including their occupation, substance use, parenting behaviors, educational expectation upon their children, and their self-efficacy in adulthood, which I introduce as mediating mechanisms of the intergenerational transmission of self-efficacy. Finally, I analyzed this model separately in terms of family structure (dual- or single-parent families), child's gender, parent-child gender dyads, and race/ethnicity. The results suggest that there exists intergenerational parallelism of self-efficacy, and parent generation's self-efficacy (in adolescence) is associated with parents' choices of conventional pathways towards adulthood. These conventional pathways that self-efficacious parents choose in turn exhibit a strong influence on the development of the child's self-efficacy. These findings are independent of other influences, e.g. the family's social economic status, race/ethnicity, ages of both generations, and family structure. The implications and contributions of this research are discussed in the last chapter.Item Self-efficacy for weight loss among multi-ethnic, low-income women: a psychometric evaluation(2009-08) Latimer, Lara Adrienne; Pasch, Keryn E.; Walker, LorraineThe current study examined the psychometric properties of the Physical Activity and Nutrition Self-Efficacy (PANSE) scale. If proven a valid and reliable measure of self-efficacy for weight-loss behaviors, the PANSE scale may be useful in future research involving activity and nutrition for weight loss. This is particularly important given today’s high prevalence of overweight and obesity, which may be curtailed with increased levels of activity and/or improved food-related behaviors. Initial reliability and validity testing was performed using a sample of 71 women low-income in central Texas. The average age of the participants was 24.5 ± 4.75 years; 35.2% were African American, 32.4% were Hispanic, and 32.4% were White. The women completed the 11-item PANSE questionnaire at baseline and at a 7-week follow-up data collection. Test-retest results provided reliability evidence, and there was sufficient evidence of internal consistency (Cronbach alpha = 0.89). Construct validity was established with significant correlations in expected directions with the Self Care Inventory, Perceived Stress Scale, and Decisional Balance Inventory. The predictive validity of the PANSE scale for weight-loss at 7-week follow-up and program drop out was not established. Exploratory factor analyses revealed a 2-factor model for the 11 items. Initial examination provided evidence for the reliability and construct validity of the PANSE scale. Future testing of the scale should to be conducted with other populations to assess the generalizability of the PANSE scale outside of the population studied in the current report.Item The Development and Initial Validation of a Measure of Small Group Leadership Self-Efficacy(2012-11-13) Asenuga, Olabisi 1984-Small group leadership self-efficacy is conceptualized as an individual?s degree of confidence in his/her ability to successfully assume a leadership role in a small group. The task specificity of self-efficacy and the conceptualization of leadership as context bound informs the need for a small group leadership self-efficacy measure that is a superior operationalization of the specified construct than extant measures of leadership self-efficacy in the context of small group leadership. Consequently, the purposes of this study were: (a) to develop a psychometrically sound self-report measure of small group leadership self-efficacy and establish its underlying structure through factor analytic procedures, and (b) to present preliminary validity evidence for the measure. In order to develop a representative item pool for the posited small group leadership self-efficacy dimensions, relevant theory was reviewed and extant literature was surveyed, with special attention to factor analytic studies. Using the data of 568 undergraduate students collected online, Study 1 investigated the factor structure of the initial 101-item measure. This resulted in the refinement and reduction of the initial measure to a 32-item measure, consisting of 5 dimensions. However, in Study 2, factor analyzing data collected from 296 undergraduate students who completed only the 32 items retained in Study 1 and the item-to-category sorts of 7 independent judges resulted in the confirmation of a second-order small group leadership self-efficacy factor structure with 2 dimensions (initiating structure and consideration) consisting of 23 items that best captured the content domain of the construct. The final 23-item measure of small group leadership self-efficacy was embedded into a nomological network where its relationships with four variables of interest was tested and results revealed that previous small group leadership experience, valence of previous small group leadership experience, and subjective vitality are correlates of small group leadership self-efficacy. The results of the present work have both theoretical and practical implications. An outcome of this study is a psychometrically sound measure of small group leadership self-efficacy which has the potential for high utility in both applied and scientific settings. These implications as well as possible directions for future research are identified and discussed.Item The Effects of Behaviorist and Constructivist Instruction on Student Performance in College-level Remedial Mathematics(2011-10-21) Cox, Murray WilliamThe number of American students with insufficient post-secondary mathematical abilities is increasing and the related rate of student attrition increases alongside the upsurge in college developmental programs. As a consequence, the demand for quality remedial mathematics classes is also growing. Institutions that place learners into remedial classes must also fund these same programs and are increasingly faced with disgruntled students, the appearance of having lower standards, and a demoralized faculty. The legal implications concerning placement and access have gone as far as litigation over student rights. The threat of performance based funding means that educational institutions are in need of demonstrably effective mathematical remediation techniques. This study examines the effect of pedagogical style for college-level remedial mathematics students and the effect of the chosen assessment method in determining student success. Specifically, this study explains student achievement for college students exposed to a pedagogical style from either the constructivist or behaviorist foundation as measured with short-answer, rote-knowledge questions and with long-answer, deductive-reasoning questions. Furthermore, consideration of student self-efficacy is investigated in order to account for any variation in instructional method. Ultimately, this study describes the effects of both instruction type and assessment method on the success of college-level remedial mathematics students. The findings in this study reveal quality teaching is of paramount importance in educating the remedial college student. Students from both methods, with instruction being performed with high fidelity, demonstrated statistically significant improvement over the semester. Moreover, the findings in this study further reveal that remedial students with strong reasons to succeed (combined with the quality teaching method) find success in the developmental mathematics classroom regardless of assessment method. In fact, though students tend to score higher on short-answer questions than extended-answer questions, the amount of improvement after a semester of quality teaching is nearly equal in question types under both instructional methods.Item The Perceived Impact of Cognitive Developmental Training on the Perceptions of University and District Trained Mentors(2011-08-08) Williams, Jennifer BethThe purpose of this study is to investigate differences found in self-efficacy perceptions regarding mentoring of trained mentors who were trained using a cognitive developmental model of mentor training, with mentor teachers who have received little or no training. The researcher was interested in whether the university based mentors, who participated in a cognitive developmental mentor training, would have a higher sense of self-efficacy and confidence in their mentoring as a result of the training than the campus mentors who received little or no training. Two groups of mentors participated in the study. One group consisted of university mentors who completed the Cognitive Developmental Mentor Training through Texas A&M University?s Mentoring Research Collaborative for Learning and Development. The campus mentors were from a suburban school district and volunteered to mentor. They were required to attend a one time district mentor training session. The university and campus mentors completed three components during the study. The three components included a self efficacy survey, an interview using open ended questions, and the completion of a mentoring narrative. The study followed a mixed method model. The researcher used both qualitative and quantitative methods to collect data. The researcher felt using both methods would offer the best explanation of the phenomenon of mentor self efficacy. The researcher used the basic interpretive approach, which requires constant comparisons of each type of data. The data collected from the self-efficacy survey indicated little or no difference in self-efficacy perceptions in regards to mentoring between the two groups. However, there were differences in the qualitative pieces of the study. The level of knowledge regarding mentoring differed between the two groups resulting in differences in the participants approach and definition of mentoring.Item Under the Radar: The Effects of Computer Games on Investigative Self-efficacy(2012-02-14) Columbus, Yolanda RoChelle DeboseMinorities are underrepresented in the science workforce yet adequately represented as players of computer games. Findings in career development research suggest that a decision to pursue a science career is directly impacted by a person?s investigative self-efficacy. Because minority students choose to spend a significant amount of time playing computer games this study examines the effects of computer games on investigative self-efficacy. The dissertation is composed of a systematic literature review, the development of a theoretical framework, and an application of the theoretical framework in a quasiexperimental study. In the systematic literature review, the small-to-moderate effect sizes of the 6 systematically identified studies suggest that elements in computer games can potentially affect self-efficacy. Unfortunately, the similarities across the small number of studies makes it difficult to generalize the results to other settings and content areas while variability across the studies makes it difficult to pinpoint which computer game elements or type of computer games affect self-efficacy. An exploration of theories and empirical research in cognitive psychology, career development, and performance in complex environments led to a theoretical framework. The theoretical framework integrates attention, flow, and self-efficacy theories as well as the results of Berry and Broadbent?s (1988) study that compared the effects of implicit and explicit instructions on performance. Using the theoretical framework developed in this dissertation, stealth educational games are proposed as an option for building the investigative self-efficacy of unmotivated or academically struggling learners. The effect of stealth educational games on minority students? investigative selfefficacy was explored. Based on the statistical results in this study and the differences across each of the schools, the potential value of stealth educational games is still unknown. Future research should employ theory to systematically document and define the context in which the game is delivered, incorporate assessments built into the game instead of using surveys, include incentives for student participation and obedience, and compare the effects of a stealth educational game to an explicitly educational game.