title: Self-efficacy and perceived control: cognitive mediators of pain tolerance.
abstract: The cold-pressor task was used with 102 female undergraduates in 2 experiments to determine (a) whether self-efficacy has validity as a true causal determinant of behavior change or is a correlate of change that has already occurred and (b) how perceptions of control and self-efficacy interact to determine choice behavior, persistence, and the impact of an aversive stimulus. Results of Experiment 1 indicate that self-efficacy expectations affected performance beyond what would have been expected from past performance alone. Changes in self-efficacy expectations predicted changes in cold-pressor tolerance. These findings suggest that self-efficacy expectations can be causal determinants of behavior in an aversive situation. Results of Experiment 2 indicate that self-efficacy was separable from control and that performance was best if both high levels of perceived control and self-efficacy were present. These findings support the notion that self-efficacy expectations can mediate the desirability of providing control, in that those who benefit most from control are those who are most confident they can exercise it.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Connecticut School of Medicine, Farmington 06032.
authors.forename: M D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Litt
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007389:Internal-External Control; D010147:Pain Measurement; D010556:Personality Tests; D012649:Self Concept; D012684:Sensory Thresholds