The assessment and predictive generality of self-percepts of efficacy.

In a recent article in this journal,.Tryon (1981) raises anew the issue of whether “social demand” might increase congruence between self-percepts of efficacy and behavior. Having raised the issue, Tryon surprisingly fails to cite any of the published research designed to assess what effect, if any, elements of social demand might have on the degree of relationship between self-percepts of efficacy and action. The methodological claim of social demand has, in fact, already been mined empirically many times with paltry yields. Before discussing this body of evidence, I should like to correct Tryon’s misunderstanding of how perceived self-efficacy is measured. Contrary to his statement, individuals are not asked “whether or not he would actually perform” the activities included in the performance test. Rather, people are asked to judge whether or not they are capable of performing various activities. Judgments of capability differ significantly from assertions of performance intentions. If judgments are made publicly under conditions that needlessly arouse evaluative concerns, such assessment procedures might either distort the self-judgments or affect actions if they are easily susceptible to voluntary control. In order to minimize possible reactive effects of the microanalytic assessment itself (Bandura, 1977), self-efficacy judgments are recorded privately, rather than stated publicly. Treatments and assessments are conducted in different places by different persons. Moreover, judgments of level and strength of self-efficacy are made for a variety of activities involving familiar and unfamiliar objects in advance of performance tests, rather than each judgment being made immediately prior to each performance task. And finally, instructions emphasize the importance of frank judgments. Phobics, whose lives have for years been severely impaired are interested in regaining their coping capabilities, which are not easily willed. They try to do as much as they can rather than play congruence games. The predictive value of self-efficacy judgments has now been established under a variety of assessment arrangements. Consider some examples. Perceived self-efficacy predicts performance when these two factors are measured in different places by different assessors (Bandura, Reese and Adams, 1982). People’s perceptions of their coping self-efficacy predict the level of their cardiac acceleration and blood pressure on stressful tasks (Bandura, Reese and Adams, 1982). In investigations of this type, which involve markedly different modalities, the