Mechanisms governing empowerment effects: A self-efficacy analysis.

Abstract

This experiment tested the hypotheses that perceived coping and cognitive control self-efficacy govern the effects of personal empowerment over physical threats. Women participated in a mastery modeling program in which they mastered the physical skills to defend themselves successfully against unarmed sexual assailants. Multifaceted measures of theoretically relevant variables were administered within a staggered intragroup control design to test the immediate and long-term effects of the empowerment program and the mechanisms through which it produced its effects. Mastery modeling enhanced perceived coping and cognitive control efficacy, decreased perceived vulnerability to assault, and reduced the incidence of intrusive negative thinking and anxiety arousal. These changes were accompanied by increased freedom of action and decreased avoidant behavior. Path analyses of causal structures revealed a dual path of regulation of behavior by perceived coping self-efficacy, one mediated through perceived vulnerability and risk discernment and the other through perceived cognitive control self-efficacy and intrusive negative thinking.

Cites (3)

1. “Stress: appraisal and coping,”
   Folkman, Susan · 2013 · Encyclopedia of Behavioral Medicine
2. Judgment under Uncertainty: Heuristics and Biases
   Tversky, Amos, Kahneman, Daniel · 1975 · Utility, Probability, and Human Decision Making
3. Self-efficacy conception of anxiety
   Bandura, Albert · 1988 · Anxiety Research

Show all 3 references

Cited by (27)

1. Human agency in social cognitive theory.
   Bandura, Albert · 1989 · American Psychologist
2. Perceived self-efficacy in cognitive development and functioning
   Bandura, Albert · 1993 · Educational Psychologist
3. Social cognitive theory of organizational management
   Wood, Robert, Bandura, Albert · 1989 · The Academy of Management Review
4. Adolescence and the social determinants of health
   Viner, Russell M, Ozer, Elizabeth M, Denny, Simon, Marmot, Michael, Resnick, Michael, Fatusi, Adesegun, Currie, Candace · 2012 · The Lancet
5. Regulation of cognitive processes through perceived self-efficacy.
   Bandura, Albert · 1989 · Developmental Psychology

See all 719