Mechanisms governing the generalization of self-efficacy beliefs in collegiate athletes

The present study explored possible mechanisms underlying the generalization of self-efficacy beliefs across various domains among collegiate athletes. The processes that were examined include a powerful mastery experience, cognitive similarity across activities, and beliefs about the nature of sport ability. Data was collected from 56 athletes and 69 non-athletes from a university with a NCAA Division I sport program. Participants completed measures of self-efficacy in the athletic, academic, career, social, and novel domains, as well as two indices of cognitive similarity (one for situational demands and the other for personality traits), and a measure of conceptions of the nature of sport ability. Results provide some support for the hypothesis that a powerful mastery experience may be related to the generality of positive self-efficacy beliefs. There was also some, though mixed, evidence that self-efficacy beliefs were more likely to generalize when two domains were perceived as similar as opposed to dissimilar in terms situational demands. There was little support for the notion that self-efficacy beliefs would generalize when appraisals of personality traits were similar across domains or when athletes believed that their sport ability was acquired as opposed to innate.