title: Latent Structure of the Sources of Mathematics Self-Efficacy
abstract: General social cognitive theory and its career-specific elaborations posit four primary sources through which self-efficacy beliefs are acquired and modified: personal performance accomplishments, vicarious learning, social persuasion, and physiological states and reactions. We present two studies exploring the dimensionality of these sources within the context of career-relevant mathematics activities. In Study 1, 295 college students completed measures of the source variables. Testing two- through five-factor models, we found strongest support for a four-factor latent structure of the efficacy sources. In Study 2, involving 481 high school students, a five-factor model fit the data well. We also found evidence of a higher order factor structure in both samples. Several directions for further research on the sources of efficacy information are considered, along with implications for career and academic interventions.
authors.affiliation: University of Maryland
authors.initials: RW
authors.lastname: Lent
authors.initials: FG
authors.lastname: Lopez
authors.initials: SD
authors.lastname: Brown
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Gore