The Relationship between Self-Efficacy and the Functions of Writing

The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between expectations of success or failure in community college students and the functions of writing. Two questions were addressed. First, do high, medium, and low self-efficacy writers differ in terms of the range of the possible functions and usage? Second, do high, medium, and low self-efficacy writers differ in terms of reported writing activities performed in school as opposed to nonschool contexts? The quantitative analysis demonstrated a direct correlation between the degrees of self-efficacy and the dimensions measured. The qualitative analysis further confirmed the hypothesis that states that students who consider fewer functions of writing have lower self-efficacy. These findings are important because based both on Bandura's social cognitive theory and the attribution theory, students who consider fewer functions of writing have lower expectations for success.