Brian Bellew

Ch.6 Self-efficacy in stressful life transitions

I. Study done in Germany beginning in 1989 when 300,000 citizens leave East Germany for West Germany. Longitudinal study over the course of three years, with 235 migrants questioned once a year, and ranging in age between 18-35. Perceived self-efficacy, employment status, partnership, anxiety, and health indicators were measured by questionnaires at all three points in time.

A. Aim of the program--To research and investigate psycho-emotional and health-related adaptation processes within a subgroup of migrant young adults.

B. Two issues of research on perceived self-efficacy to adaptation processes.

1. Whether the general self-efficacy beliefs are affected by this stressful life transition. (Stressors being environmental constraints in a new country, unemployment, lack of social support.)

2. Extent to which inter-individual differences in stress appraisals, emotional states, and health can be predicted by general beliefs in personal efficacy, unemployment states and partnership states as an indicator of access to social support.

C. Self-efficacy not situation specific but rather as a trait like general sense of confidence in ones own capabilities to master different types of environmental demands.

II. Long-term consequences of fleeing one’s country.

A. Stress Theory-such a migratory action can be considered as the onset of a non-normative critical life transition because of the resultant psychological crisis. (Others examples are accidents, losses, divorce and illness.)

B. Life transition consequences may impact personality development, functioning, and well- being.

III. Perceived self-efficacy and adaptation

A. High self-efficacy-People with a high sense of self-efficacy trust their own capabilities to master different types of environmental demands.

1. Tend to interpret demands and problems more as challenges than as threats.

2. Tend to face stressful demands with confidence, feel motivated by physiological arousal, and judge positive events as caused by effort and negative events due primarily to external circumstances.

B. Low self-efficacy-These individuals are prone to self-doubts, anxiety arousal, and threat appraisals of events and perceptions of coping deficiencies when confronted with difficult situations and demands.

1. Vulnerable to aversive experiences because they tend to worry.

2. Have weak task specific competence expectancies .

3. Interpret physiological arousal as indicative of anxiety.

4. Regard social feedback as evaluations of personal value.

5. Feel more personally responsible for failure than success.

C. Low self-efficacy expectancy causes

1. History of failures.

2. Lack of supportive feedback.

3. Unfavorable attribution style of one’s successes and failures by parents, teachers, and peers and may lead to the development of tendency to scan the environment for potential dangers (“sensitizing”).

IV. Environmental constraints and adaptation--Migrants in this study have lost their job as well as former social networks which served as resources in coping with stressful demands.

A. The impact of unemployment on personal well-being goes beyond direct economic costs.

1. Creates insecurity regarding one’s future life perspective.

2. Feelings of discouragement, hopelessness, and dependency as well as lowered self worth and health impairment.

B. A stabile social network is a structural prerequisite to feeling socially integrated and emotionally accepted.

1. Support by a social network gives a general sense that one is loved and cared for by others, and that these others would help if really needed, contributes to psychological and physical well-being.

C. Partnership can expand social networks because two people usually have a larger range of social ties than one individual.

1. People living with an intimate partner should suffer less from distressful experiences.

V. The complex stressor of migration

A. Strong self efficacy beliefs might buffer stress effects caused by unemployment or lack of a close partner.

B. Employment and partner support may have a positive long-term influence by strengthening perceived efficacy.

C. Expectations of research

1. High self-efficacious migrants would report more favorable appraisals and well-being than low self-efficacious migrants.

2. Unemployed persons should perceive more stressors and experience more anxiety and health complaints.

3. Those having access to a supportive partner should function better than those living alone.

VI. Assessment of Variables

A. Generalized self-efficacy-- “No matter what comes my way, I am usually able to handle it.”

B. Employment status--a) jobless at all points in time b) jobless at the beginning but employed at Time 3 c) employed at all points in time.

C. Cognitive appraisals--“I am discouraged because since my migration everything has become even worse.”

D. Anxiety--“I get tense and restless when I think of my worries and problems.”

E. Health complaints--Subjects were asked to judge current health on a 4-point Likert scale, poor, moderate, good, excellent.

VII. Longitudinal changes in self-efficacy-For the sample group as a whole, perceived self-efficacy turned out to be stable over time and was unaffected by employment status, partnership, or gender.

VIII. Results of research

A. Migrants who expressed a strong sense of efficacy viewed their social change more as a challenge than did those of low perceived efficacy.

B. Regardless of partnerships, migrants of low perceived efficacy felt more threatened than those of high perceived efficacy.

C. Migrants who had a close partner became less anxious over time, particularly those of low self- efficacy, but those who had no partner did not experience any decline in anxiety over time.

D. The highly efficacious migrants reported better current health than did migrants of low perceived self-efficacy.

E. Long-term unemployment or having no close partner for a long time was associated with more negative stress appraisals, higher levels of anxiety and a worse health state.

Even though young, still had stable general self-efficacy. Possible in the long run repeated failures to cope with the demands of the new environment would eventually take a toll on perceived self-efficacy. How long does it take for unemployment and/or living alone to affect self-worth and self-beliefs? Do you think that migrants who have to deal with language, cultural barriers and ethnic differences requires a higher sense of self-efficacy than Germans who share a common background?