Self-Limiting Behavior in Women

Research suggests that some women may be reluctant to pursue certain tasks because they lack confidence in their ability to succeed. This study was an exploration of the basis of this type of self-limiting behavior. Global self-esteem and task-specific self-efficacy were used as predictors of task choice and task preference. Results suggested that task-specific self-efficacy was a stronger predictor of whether a woman would choose a leadership task rather than a group-member task. In addition, task-specific self-efficacy predicted the strength of the woman’s preference for the group-member task. The implications of this finding and recommendations for shifting task-specific self-efficacy for leadership roles are discussed.