title: When confidence comes and goes: How variation in self-efficacy moderates stressor-strain relationships.
abstract: Inconsistent published findings regarding a proposed buffering role of self-efficacy in stress coping led us to develop a model in which within-person variability in self-efficacy over time affects how individuals' mean levels of self-efficacy moderate the relationship between demands and psychological symptoms. Results from two independent samples (manufacturing workers and college students) supported the hypothesized interaction between demands, self-efficacy mean level, and self-efficacy variability. Demands were more positively associated with psychological strain among those with high and stable self-efficacy than those with high and variable self-efficacy. We discuss the implications of intrapersonal variability in self-efficacy for research on stress coping.
authors.affiliation: Richard Ivey School of Business.
authors.forename: Ann C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Peng
authors.affiliation: Department of Management, Michigan State University.
authors.forename: John M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Schaubroeck
authors.affiliation: Joseph L. Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto.
authors.forename: Jia Lin
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Xie
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000328:Adult; D001008:Anxiety Disorders / Q000523:psychology; D002681:China; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D016014:Linear Models; D008297:Male; D066192:Manufacturing Industry; D008875:Middle Aged; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D012649:Self Concept; D020377:Self Efficacy; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000523:psychology*; D013334:Students; D014481:United States; D014495:Universities; D014937:Work / Q000523:psychology*; D016526:Workload / Q000523:psychology; D055815:Young Adult