Abstract
This study investigated learning activities and associated quality of experience of students with different levels of perceived academic self-efficacy. Two groups were formed out of 130 Italian adolescents (age 15–19), one with high and one with low academic self-efficacy beliefs (31 and 32 participants, respectively). Students provided valuation of academic pursuits and aspirations, and were monitored for one week with experience sampling method (ESM). Attention was paid to the association of learning activities with optimal experience, characterized by high perceived environmental challenges matched by high personal skills, involvement, concentration and intrinsic reward. High self-efficacy students reported higher academic aspirations and pursuits than low self-efficacy students. They also spent more time in homework, and primarily associated learning activities with optimal experience. Results have educational implications in fostering motivation and enjoyment in learning. They also provide empirical support for the combination of self-efficacy beliefs and quality of experience in motivational research.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Alsaker F, Flammer A (eds) (1999) The adolescent experience. European and American adolescents in the 1990s. Erlbaum, Hillsdale, NJ
Asakawa K, Csikszentmihalyi M (1998) The quality of experience of Asian American adolescents in activities related to future goals. J Youth and Adolesc 27:141–163
Bandura A (1986) Social foundations of thought and action: a social cognitive theory. Prentice-Hall, Englewoods Cliffs, NJ
Bandura A (1997) Self-efficacy: the exercise of control. New York, Freeman
Bandura A (2001) Social cognitive theory: an agentic perspective. Annu Rev Psychol 52:1–26
Bandura A, Barbaranelli C, Caprara GV, Pastorelli C (1996) Multifaceted impact of self-efficacy beliefs on academic functioning. Child Dev. 67:1206–1222
Bandura A, Barbaranelli C, Caprara GV, Pastorelli C (2001) Self-efficacy beliefs as shapers of children's aspirations and career trajectories. Child Dev 72:187–206
Bassi M, Delle Fave A (2004) Adolescence and the changing context of optimal experience in time: Italy 1986–2000. J Happiness Stud 5:155–179
Boekaerts M, Pintrich PR, Zeidner MH (eds) (2000) Handbook of self-regulation. Academic, San Diego, CA
Bouffard-Bouchard T, Parent S, Larivée S (1991) Influence of self-efficacy on self-regulation and performance among junior and senior high-school aged students. Int J Behav Dev 39:280–282
Caprara GV, Delle Fratte A, Steca P (2002) Determinanti personali del benessere in adolescenza: Indicatori e predittori [Personal determinants of adolescents’ well-being: indicators and predictors]. Psicologia Clinica dello Sviluppo 2:203–223
Csikszentmihalyi M (1975) Beyond boredom and anxiety. San Francisco, Jossey-Bass
Csikszentmihalyi M (1990) Flow. The psychology of optimal experience. Harper and Row, New York
Csikszentmihalyi M (1997a) Activity, experience and personal growth. In: Curtis J, Russell S (eds) Physical activity in human experience: interdisciplinary perspectives. Human Kinetics, Champaign, IL, pp 59–88
Csikszentmihalyi M (1997b) Finding flow. The psychology of engagement with everyday life. Basic Books, New York
Csikszentmihalyi M, Beattie O (1979) Life themes: a theoretical and empirical exploration of their origins and effects. J Humanistic Psychol 19:45–63
Csikszentmihalyi M, Csikszentmihalyi I (eds) (1988) Optimal experience—psychological studies of flow in consciousness. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press
Csikszentmihalyi M, Larson R (1984) Being adolescent: conflict and growth in the teenage years. Basic Books, New York
Csikszentmihalyi M, Larson R (1987) Validity and reliability of the Experience Sampling Method. J Nerv Ment Dis 175:526–536
Csikszentmihalyi M, Larson R, Prescott S (1977) The ecology of adolescent activity and experience. J Youth and Adolesc 6:281–294
Csikszentmihalyi M, Massimini F (1985) On the psychological selection of bio-cultural information. New Ideas in Psychol 3:115–138
Csikszentmihalyi M, Schneider B (2000) Becoming adult: how teenagers prepare for the world of work. Basic Books, New York
Delle Fave A (1996) Esperienza ottimale e fluttuazioni dello stato di coscienza: risultati sperimentali [Optimal experience and fluctuation in the state of consciousness]. In: Massimini F, Inghilleri P, Delle Fave A (eds) La Selezione Psicologica Umana—Teoria e Metodo D’analisi. Cooperativa libraria I.U.L.M., Milano, pp 541–568
Delle Fave A, Bassi M (2000) The quality of experience in adolescents’ daily life: developmental perspectives. Genet Soc Gen Psychol Monogr 126:347–367
Delle Fave A, Bassi M (2003) Italian adolescents and leisure: the role of engagement and optimal experience. In: Verma S, Larson R (eds) Examining adolescent leisure time across cultures: developmental opportunities and risks. New directions in child and adolescent development. Jossey-Bass, San Francisco, pp 79–93
Delle Fave A, Bassi M, Massimini F (2003) Quality of experience and risk perception in high-altitude rock climbing. J Appl Sport Psychol 15:82–99
Delle Fave A, Massimini F (2003) Optimal experience in work and leisure among teachers and physicians: Individual and bio-cultural implications. Leisure Stud 22:323–342
Delle Fave A, Massimini F (2004) Parenthood and the quality of experience in daily life: a longitudinal study. Soc Indicators Res 67:75–106
Delle Fave A, Massimini F (2005) The investigation of optimal experience and apathy: developmental and psychosocial implications. Eur Psychol 10:4
Eccles JS, Wigfield A (2002) Motivation beliefs, values, and goals. Annu Rev Psychol 53:109–132
Eccles JS, Wigfield A, Schiefele U (1998) Motivation to succeed. In: Damon W, Eisenberg N (eds) Handbook of child psychology, Vol. 3. Wiley, New York, pp 1017–1095
Furstenberg FF, Cook TD, Eccles JS, Elder GH, Sameroff A (1998) Managing to make it: urban families and adolescent success. University of Chicago Press, Chicago
Gasperoni G (2001) La scuola [The school]. In: Buzzi C, Cavalli A, De Lillo A (eds) Giovani Del Nuovo Secolo. Quinto Rapporto IARD Sulla Condizione Giovanile in Italia. Il Mulino, Bologna, Italy, pp 20–24
Haworth J, Evans S (1995) Challenge, skill and positive subjective states in the daily life of a sample of YTS students. J Occup Organ Psychol 68:109–121
Hektner JM (1996) Exploring optimal personality development: a longitudinal study of adolescents. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Chicago
Hektner JM (2001) Family, school, and community predictors of adolescent growth conducive experiences: global and specific approaches. Appl Dev Sci 5:172–183
Jackson SA, Csikszentmihalyi M (1999) Flow in sports: the keys to optimal experiences and performances. Human Kinetics, Champaign, IL
Hidi S, Harackiewicz JM (2001) Motivating the academically unmotivated: a critical issue for the 21st century. Rev Educ Res 70:151–180
Larson R, Delespaul PAEG (1992) Analysing experience sampling data: a guidebook for the perplexed. In: deVries M (ed) The experience of psychopathology—investigating mental disorders in their natural settings. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp 58–78
Lent RW, Lopez FG, Bieschke KJ (1993) Predicting mathematics-related choice and success behaviors: test of an expanded social cognitive model. J Vocat Behav 42:223–236
Massimini F, Csikszentmihalyi M, Carli M (1987) The monitoring of optimal experience. A tool for psychiatric rehabilitation. J Nerv Ment Dis 175:545–549
Massimini F, Delle Fave A (2000) Individual development in a bio-cultural perspective. Am Psychol 55:24–33
Nakamura J (1988) Optimal experience and the use of talent. In: Csikszentmihalyi M, Csikszentmihalyi I (eds) Optimal experience—psychological studies on flow in consciousness. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp 319–326
Pajares F (1997) Current directions in self efficacy research. In: Maeher ME, Pintrich PR (eds) Advances in motivation and achievement. JAI Press, Greenwhich, CT, pp 1–49
Pajares F, Miller MD (1997) Mathematics self-efficacy and mathematical problem solving: implications of using different forms of assessment. J Exp Educ 65:213–228
Pastorelli C, Caprara GV, Barbaranelli C, Rola J, Rozsa S, Bandura A (2001) The structure of children's perceived self efficacy: a cross-national study. Eur J Psychol Assess 17:87–97
Ranson S, Martin J (1996) Towards a theory of learning. Br J Educ Stud 44:9–26
Rheinberg F, Vollmeyer R, Rollett W (2000) Motivation and action in self-regulated learning. In: Boekaerts M, Pintrich PR, Zeidner MH (eds) Handbook of self-regulation. Academic, San Diego, CA, pp 503–529
Ryan R, Deci E (2000) Self-determination theory and the facilitation of intrinsic motivation, social development, and well-being. Am Psychol 55:68–78
Ryan R, Connell J, Grolnick W (1992) When achievement is not intrinsically motivated: a theory of internalization and self-regulation in school. In: Boggiano A, Pittman T (eds) Achievement and motivation: a social-development perspective. Cambridge University Press, New York, pp 167–188
Schunk DH (2003) Self-efficacy for reading and writing: influence of modeling, goal setting, and self-evaluation. Reading and Writing Quarterly: Overcoming Learning Difficulties 19:159–172
Schunk DH, Ertmer PA, Boekaerts M (2000) Self-regulation and academic learning: self-efficacy enhancing interventions. In: Boekaerts M, Pintrich PR, Zeidner M (eds) Handbook of self-regulation. Academic Press, San Diego, CA, pp 631–649
Wong MM, Csikszentmihalyi M (1991) Motivation and academic achievement: the effects of personality traits and the quality of experience. J Pers 59:539–574
Zhang L, Zhang X (2003) A study of the relationships among learning strategy use, self-efficacy, persistence and academic achievement in middle school students. Psychol Sci 26:603–607
Zimmerman BJ (1995) Attaining reciprocality between learning and development through self-regulation. Human Dev 38:367–372
Zimmerman BJ, Bandura A (1994) Impact of self-regulatory influences on writing course attainment. Am Educ Res J 31:845–862
Zimmerman BJ, Bandura A, Martinez-Pons M (1992) Self-motivation for academic attainment: the role of self-efficacy beliefs and personal goal setting. Am Educ Res J 29:663–676
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Lecturer of Psychology at the Medical School of the University of Milan, Italy. She received her Ph.D. in 1999 from the University of Milan. She has conducted research in human development, focusing on adolescents’ quality of experience and identity building, as well as on methodological aspects of experience sampling procedures.
She received her Ph.D. in 2004 from the University of Padua. Her main interests focus on the study of subjective and psychological well-being across the life span, as well as on methodological aspects of longitudinal research
Her main research interests are the cross-cultural investigation of the quality of daily experience and its long-term developmental impact. She is supervisor in intervention projects on migration, disability and social maladjustment
His major research interests include personality development and personality assessment along the life span. He is supervisor in longitudinal projects on psychosocial adjustment from childhood to young adulthood
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Bassi, M., Steca, P., Fave, A.D. et al. Academic Self-Efficacy Beliefs and Quality of Experience in Learning. J Youth Adolescence 36, 301–312 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-006-9069-y
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-006-9069-y