problem would be an efficacy expectation whereas a student’s beliefs about
the consequences of doing well in a math course, such as future employment
as an engineer, would be an outcome expectation. The sequential linkage of
these two human motives is depicted in Fig. 12.1.
Bandura (1986) suggested that self-efficacy and outcome judgments are
distinguished cognitively because people can believe that a particular course
of action will produce certain outcomes, but they do not act on that outcome
belief because they doubt whether they can actually execute the necessary ac-
tions. Because of this sequential dependence, Bandura suggested that self-
efficacy judgments would prove more predictive of personal effectiveness
than outcome beliefs. For example, a student may believe that graduation
from prestigious law school might lead to a high income, but he or she may
not enter a pre-law program because of doubts about mastering the underly-
ing requirements.
There is empirical support for Bandura’s (1986) hypothesis that self-
efficacy expectations are more predictive of outcomes than outcome expecta-
tions. Shell, Murphy, and Bruning (1989) assessed self-efficacy and outcome
beliefs regarding reading and writing in school. These researchers measured
self-efficacy in terms of perceived capability to perform various reading and
writing skills, such as finding main ideas and correcting grammatical errors.
Outcome expectations were assessed by ratings of the importance of reading
and writing in producing such outcomes as employment, social pursuits, fam-
ily life, education, and citizenship. Regarding reading achievement, self-
efficacy and outcome beliefs jointly predicted 32% of the variance, with self-
efficacy predicting 28% of the variance and outcome expectations predicting
4% of the variance. Regarding writing achievement, only self-efficacy was a
significant predictor. Lent, Lopez, and Bieschke (1991) also found that self-
efficacy was a better predictor of academic outcomes than outcome expecta-
tions. Clearly the distinction between self-efficacy and outcome expectations
is important in predicting students’ academic functioning.
- SELF-REGULATION 325
FIG. 12.1. Diagrammatic representation of the difference between efficacy
expectations and outcome expectations. From “Self-efficacy: Toward a unify-
ing theory of behavioral change” by A. Bandura, 1977,Psychological Review,
84 , p. 193. Copyright © 1977 by the American Psychological Association. Re-
printed with permission.