Experiential Exercise: Self Competency
What Is Your Self-Efficacy?29

The following questionnaire gives you a chance to gain insight into your self-efficacy in terms of achieving academic excellence. Using the following five-point scale, answer the following seven questions by circling the number that most closely agrees with your thinking. An interpretation of your score follows the questions.

5 = Strongly agree
4 = Agree
3 = Moderate
2 = Disagree
1 = Strongly disagree
1. I am a good student. 5 4 3 2 1
2. It is difficult to maintain a study schedule. 5 4 3 2 1
3. I know the right things to do to improve my academic performance. 5 4 3 2 1
4. I find it difficult to convince my friends who have different viewpoints on studying than mine. 5 4 3 2 1
5. My temperament is not well suited to studying. 5 4 3 2 1
6. I am good at finding out what teachers want. 5 4 3 2 1
7. It is easy for me to get others to see my point of view. 5 4 3 2 1

Add your scores to questions 1, 3, 6, and 7. Enter that score here _______. For questions, 2, 4, and 5, reverse the scoring key. That is, if you answered question 2 as strongly agree, give yourself 1 point, agree is worth 2 points, and so on. Enter your score here for questions 2, 4, and 5 _______. Enter your combined score here _______. This is your self-efficacy score for academic achievement. If you scored between 28 and 35, you believe that you can achieve academic excellence. Scores lower than 18 indicate that you believe, no matter how hard you try to achieve academic excellence, something may prevent you from reaching your desired level of performance. Scores between 19 and 27 indicate a moderate degree of self-efficacy. Your self-efficacy may vary with the course you are taking. In courses in your major, you may have greater self-efficacy than in those outside of your major.

Questions

1. Why does self-efficacy influence an individual's behavior?

2. What actions can you take to increase your self-efficacy at either work or school?