Mastery of negative affect: a hierarchical model of emotional self-efficacy beliefs.
Building on previous studies that formulated measures for assessing self-efficacy beliefs regarding the management of anger/irritation and despondency/sadness, we developed 3 new scales to assess perceived self-efficacy in managing fear, shame/embarrassment, and guilt. In Study 1, the internal and construct validity of the 5 aforementioned measures were assessed in a sample of 403 Italian young adults. Study 2 was designed to examine the comparability of the aforementioned measures across Italy and the United States and involved the previous sample and a sample of 380 U.S college students. The best fitting model overall, across the sexes and across countries, had the following characteristics: (a) the 5 types of self-efficacy loaded separately on first-order factors; (b) self-efficacy in managing anger/irritation and despondency/sadness loaded on one second-order factor, and self-efficacy in managing shame/embarrassment, and guilt loaded on another; (c) self-efficacy in managing fear and the 2 second-order factors loaded on a common higher order factor. The various modes of emotional self-efficacy correlated in conceptually coherent ways to measures of emotional stability, irritability, depression, shyness, fearful affect, and need for reparation.
Psychology Department, Sapienza University of Rome, Via dei Marsi 78, 00185, Rome, Italy. gianvittorio.caprara@uniroma1.it
Gian Vittorio
GV
Caprara
Laura
L
Di Giunta
Concetta
C
Pastorelli
Nancy
N
Eisenberg
D000328:Adult; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D004644:Emotions / Q000502:physiology*; D005163:Factor Analysis, Statistical; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007558:Italy; D008297:Male; D008960:Models, Psychological; D011594:Psychometrics / Q000295:instrumentation; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012649:Self Concept; D020377:Self Efficacy; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires / Q000592:standards*; D014481:United States; D055815:Young Adult