Date of Award
7-1991
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts (MA)
Department
Psychology
First Advisor
James M. Thomas
Second Advisor
George Barger
Third Advisor
Wayne Harrison
Abstract
Self-efficacy theory (Bandura, 1977a, 1982, 1986) postulates that efficacy expectations can be modified by persuasion if it is perceived as being instilled by a credible source, it is realistic, and it is not in opposition to performance information. Subsequent research revealed equivocal results for the relationship between persuasion and self-efficacy. This study investigates the effects of persuasion, across task difficulties, on selfefficacy, performance, and persistence. A mathematical task was utilized. Six hypotheses were tested. Persuasion was found to be effective in a hardtask situation. Gender had a substantial impact on the results of this study; overall findings may have been hampered by unequal sample sizes for gender. The results are discussed in terms of their implications for application in industrial/organizational settings and future studies involving persuasion and self-efficacy.
Recommended Citation
Kaiser, Linda J., "The Effect of Persuasion, Across Task Difficulties, on Self-efficacy, Performance and Persistence A Thesis" (1991). Student Work. 234.
https://digitalcommons.unomaha.edu/studentwork/234