ERIC Number: EJ735941
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2005-Sep
Pages: 30
Abstractor: Author
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0361-0365
EISSN: N/A
Self-Efficacy, Stress, and Academic Success in College
Zajacova, Anna; Lynch, Scott M.; Espenshade, Thomas J.
Research in Higher Education, v46 n6 p677-706 Sep 2005
This paper investigates the joint effects of academic self-efficacy and stress on the academic performance of 107 nontraditional, largely immigrant and minority, college freshmen at a large urban commuter institution. We developed a survey instrument to measure the level of academic self-efficacy and perceived stress associated with 27 college-related tasks. Both scales have high reliability, and they are moderately negatively correlated. We estimated structural equation models to assess the relative importance of stress and self-efficacy in predicting three academic performance outcomes: first-year college GPA, the number of accumulated credits, and college retention after the first year. The results suggest that academic self-efficacy is a more robust and consistent predictor than stress of academic success.
Descriptors: Self Efficacy, Stress Variables, Academic Achievement, College Freshmen, Academic Persistence, Correlation, Predictor Variables, Grade Point Average, Immigrants, Minority Groups, Urban Universities, Student Surveys, School Holding Power
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: Higher Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A