Individual and Situational Influences on the Development of Self‐efficacy: Implications for Training Effectiveness

We proposed a model that included individual and situational antecedents of self‐efficacy development during training. Initial performance and self‐efficacy levels, achievement motivation, and choice were examined as individual variables. Constraints, operationalized at both the individual and aggregate levels of analysis, were examined as situational influences. Mid‐course efficacy was hypothesized to have positive linear relationships with training reactions and subsequent performance, and an interactive relationship with performance when training reactions were considered as a moderator. Survey data were gathered at two points in time from 215 students enrolled in 15 eight‐week long university bowling classes. All of the hypothesized antecedents of mid‐course self‐efficacy were significant except aggregate and individual situational constraints, although both constraints related negatively to training reactions. Time 2 self‐efficacy exhibited significant positive influences on training reactions and subsequent performance, but the hypothesized moderated relationship was not supported.