Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-fbnjt Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-15T11:19:51.964Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

General Self-Efficacy and Psychological Resilience Promote Skill Acquisition Rate Under Psychological Pressure

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 August 2017

Monique F. Crane Open the ORCID record for Monique F. Crane [Opens in a new window] ,
Gareth Brabazon ,
Daniel F. Gucciardi ,
Thomas Loveday  and
Mark Wiggins
Monique F. Crane*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia
Gareth Brabazon
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia
Daniel F. Gucciardi
Affiliation:
School of Physiotherapy and Exercise Science, Curtin University, Perth, Australia
Thomas Loveday
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia
Mark Wiggins
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia
*
address for correspondence: Monique Crane, Building C3A, Department of Psychology, Macquarie University, North Ryde, Sydney 2109, Australia. Email: [email protected]
Get access

Abstract

This study extends the limited body of research exploring the association between psychological resources and performance under pressure. It was anticipated that participants’ general self-efficacy and resilience would positively influence skill acquisition rate more under high pressure, than low pressure. Eighty-one undergraduate students (Mage = 22.93; SD = 7.53; 50.6% female) participated in a learning task: to fly a flight simulator. The within-subjects variable was the participant's ability to steadily control the aircraft roll across six trials. Psychological pressure was manipulated between-subjects and general self-efficacy and resilience were measured moderator variables. Findings indicated that under high pressure, higher levels of general self-efficacy and perceived resilience predicted faster initial skill acquisition compared to those with lower levels of these resources. In contrast, in the low-pressure condition, the skill acquisition rate was the same irrespective of psychological resources. This research highlights the importance of psychological resources in pressured training contexts.

Keywords

employee performancemental healthstress and burnouttrainingindustrial and organisational psychology
Type
Articles
Information
The Australasian Journal of Organisational Psychology , Volume 10 , 2017 , e3
Copyright
Copyright © Australian Psychological Society Ltd 2017 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Aguinis, H., & Kraiger, K. (2009). Benefits of training and development for individuals and teams, organizations, and society. Annual Review of Psychology, 60, 451–474. doi:10.1146/annurev.psych.60.110707.163505.Google Scholar
Allsop, J., & Gray, R. (2014). Flying under pressure: Effects of anxiety on attention and gaze behavior in aviation. Journal of Applied Research in Memory and Cognition, 3, 63–71. doi:10.1016/j.jarmac.2014.04.010.Google Scholar
Bandura, A (1977). Self-efficacy: Toward a unifying theory of behavioral change. Psychological Review, 84, 191–215. doi:10.1037/0033-295x.84.2.191.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baumeister, R.F. (1984). Choking under pressure: Self-consciousness and paradoxical effects of incentives on skillful performance. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 46 (3), 610–620.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bonnano, G. (2005). Resilience in the face of potential trauma. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 135, 135–138. doi:10.1111/j.0963-7214.2005.00347.x.Google Scholar
Brooks, A.W. (2013). Get excited: Reappraising pre-performance anxiety as excitement. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 143, 1–15. doi:10.1037/a0035325.Google ScholarPubMed
Bryk, A.S., & Raudenbush, S.W. (1992). Hierarchical Linear Models in Social and Behavioural Research: Applications and Data Analysis Methods. Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications.Google Scholar
Chen, G., Gully, S.M., & Eden, D. (2004). General self-efficacy and self-esteem: Toward theoretical and empirical distinction between correlated self-evaluations. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 25, 375–395. doi:10.1002/job.251.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chen, G., Gully, S.M., & Eden, D. (2001). Validation of a new general self-efficacy scale. Organizational Research Methods, 4, 62–83. doi:10.1177/109442810141004.Google Scholar
Chen, G., Gully, S.M., Whiteman, J.A., & Kilcullen, B.N. (2000). Examination of relationships among trait-like individual differences, state-like individual differences, and learning performance. Journal of Applied Psychology, 85, 835–847.Google Scholar
Cohen, S., & Wills, T.A. (1985). Stress, social support, and the buffering hypothesis. Psychological Bulletin, 98, 310–357. doi:10.1037//0033-2909.98.2.310.Google Scholar
Colquitt, J.A., LePine, J.A., & Noe, R.A. (2000). Toward an integrative theory of training motivation: A meta-analytic path analysis of 20 years of research. Journal of Applied Psychology, 85, 678–707. doi:10.1037//0021-9010.85.5.678.Google Scholar
Cox, R.H., Martens, M.P., & Russell, W.D. (2003). Measuring anxiety in athletics: The revised Competitive State Anxiety Inventory-2. Journal of Sport & Exercise Psychology, 25, 519–533.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Crane, M.F., & Searle, B.J. (2016). Building resilience through exposure to stressors: The effects of challenges versus hindrances. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 21, 468–479. doi:10.1037/a0040064.Google Scholar
Cropanzano, R., James, K., & Konovsky, M.A. (1993). Dispositional affectivity as a predictor of work attitudes and job performance. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 14, 595–606. doi:10.1002/job.4030140609.Google Scholar
Dahlstrom, N., Dekker, S., van Winsen, R., & Nyce, J. (2009) Fidelity and validity of simulator training. Theoretical Issues in Ergonomics Science, 10, 305–314. doi:10.1080/14639220802368864.Google Scholar
Ellis, S., Carette, B., Anseel, F., & Lievens, F. (2014). Systematic reflection: Implications for learning from failures and successes. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 23, 67–72. doi:10.1177/0963721413504106.Google Scholar
Enders, C.K., & Tofighi, D. (2007). Centering predictor variables in cross-sectional multilevel models: A new look at an old issue. Psychological Methods, 12, 121–138. doi:10.1037/1082-989X.12.2.121.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Eysenck, M.W. (1992). Anxiety: The cognitive perspective. London, England: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Eysenck, M.W., Derakshan, N., Santos, R., & Calvo, M.G. (2007). Anxiety and cognitive performance: Attentional control theory. Emotion, 7, 336–353. doi:10.1037/1528-3542.7.2. 336.Google Scholar
Fletcher, D., & Sarkar, M. (2012). A grounded theory of psychological resilience in olympic champions. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 13, 669–678. doi:10.1016/j.psychsport.2012.04. 007.Google Scholar
Folkman, S., Lazarus, R.S., Gruen, R.J., & DeLongis, A. (1986). Appraisal, coping, health status, and psychological symptoms. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 50, 571–579. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/3701593.Google Scholar
Frydman, M., & Lynn, R. (1992). The general intelligence and spatial abilities of gifted young Belgian chess players. British Journal of Psychology, 83, 233–235. doi:10.1111/j.2044-8295.1992.tb02437.x.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gist, M.E., & Mitchell, T.R. (1992). Self-efficacy: A theoretical analysis of its determinants and malleability. Academy of Management Review, 17, 183–211.Google Scholar
Gucciardi, D.F., Longbottom, J.-L., Jackson, B., & Dimmock, J.A. (2010). Experienced golfers’ perspectives on choking under pressure. Journal of Sport & Exercise Psychology, 32, 61–83.Google Scholar
Jackson, D., Firtko, A., & Edenborough, M. (2007). Personal resilience as a strategy for surviving and thriving in the face of workplace adversity: A literature review. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 60, 1–9. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2648.2007.04412.x.Google Scholar
Jerusalem, M., & Schwarzer, R. (1992). Self-efficacy as a resource factor in stress appraisal processes. In Schwarzer, R. (Ed.), Self-efficacy: Thought control of action (pp. 195–213). Washington, DC: Hemisphere.Google Scholar
Lazarus, R.S., & Folkman, S. (1984). Stress, Appraisals, and Coping. New York: Springer.Google Scholar
Marteau, T.M., & Bekker, H. (1992). The development of a six-item short-form of the state scale of the Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI). British Journal of Clinical Psychology, 31, 301–306. doi:10.1111/j.2044-8260.1992. tb00997.x.Google Scholar
Mesagno, C., Harvey, J.T., & Janelle, C.M. (2011). Self-presentation origins of choking: Evidence from separate pressure manipulations. Journal of Sport Exercise Psychology, 33 (3), 441–459. doi:10.1016/j.psychsport.2011.07.007.Google Scholar
Moore, L.J., Vine, S.J., Wilson, M.R., & Freeman, P. (2012). The effect of challenge and threat states on performance: An examination of potential mechanisms. Psychophysiology, 49, 1417–1425. doi:10.1111/j.1469-8986.2012.01449.x.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Reis, S.M., Colbert, R.D., & Hebert, T.P. (2004). Understanding resilience in diverse, talented students in an urban high school. Roeper Review: A Journal on Gifted Education, 27, 110–120. doi:10.1080/02783190509554299.Google Scholar
Richardson, G.E. (2002). The metatheory of resilience and resiliency. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 58, 307–321. doi:10.1002/jclp.10032.Google Scholar
Sarkar, M., & Fletcher, D. (2014). Ordinary magic, extraordinary performance: Psychological resilience and thriving in high achievers. Sport, Exercise, and Performance Psychology, 3, 46–60. doi:10.1037/spy0000003.Google Scholar
Seery, M.D., Weisbuch, M., Hetenyi, M.A., & Blascovich, J. (2010). Cardiovascular measures independently predict performance in a university course. Psychophysiology, 47, 535–539. doi:10.1111/j.1469-8986.2009.00945.x.Google Scholar
Shelton, S.H. (1990). Developing the construct of general self-efficacy. Psychological Bulletin, 66, 987–994.Google Scholar
Smith, B.W., Dalen, J., Wiggins, K., Tooley, E., Christopher, P., & Bernard, J. (2008). The brief resilience scale: Assessing the ability to bounce back. International Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 15, 194–200. doi:10.1080/10705500802222972.Google Scholar
Taylor, S.E., Burklund, L.J., Eisenberger, N.I., Lehman, B.J., Hilmert, C.J., & Lieberman, M.D. (2008). Neural bases of moderation of cortisol stress responses by psychosocial resources. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 95, 197–211. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.95.1.197.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Tugade, M.M., & Fredrickson, B.L. (2004). Resilient individuals use positive emotions to bounce back from negative emotional experiences. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 86, 320–333. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.86.2.320.Google Scholar
Tugade, M.M., Fredrickson, B.L., & Barrett, L.F. (2004). Psychological resilience and positive emotional granularity: Examining the benefits of positive emotions on coping and health. Journal of Personality, 72, 1161–1190. doi:10.1111/j.1467-6494.2004.00294.x.Google Scholar
Vine, S.J., Freeman, P., Moore, L.J., Chandra-Ramanan, R., & Wilson, M.R. (2013). Evaluating stress as a challenge is associated with superior attentional control and motor skill performance: Testing the predictions of the biopsychosocial model of challenge and threat. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied, 19, 185–194. doi:10.1037/a0034106.Google ScholarPubMed
Vine, S.J., Uiga, L., Lavric, A., Moore, L.J., Tsaneva-Atanasova, K., & Wilson, M.R. (2014). Individual reactions to stress predict performance during a critical aviation incident. Anxiety, Stress, and Coping, 28, 467–477. doi:10.1080/10615806. 2014.986722.Google Scholar