The operation of self-efficacy beliefs was investigated in a group of 81 participants
between 73 and 97 years of age with intensive time samples including activities
carried out at the moment a signal was received, their subjective difficulty, and
concurrent mood in everyday life. In a two-level approach, occasion-level and
person-level effects could be modelled simultaneously. Within individuals,
productive activities were perceived more difficult, on average, than nonproductive
ones. Furthermore, perceived difficulty was lower the more positive concurrent mood
was rated. Variance in these intra-individual slopes was partially explained by
inter-individual differences in self-belief of efficacy regarding everyday activities.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Baltes, P.B.
(1997).
On the incomplete architecture of human ontogeny: Selection, optimization,
and compensation as foundation of developmental psychology
. American Psychologist, 52,
366-380
.
2.
Baltes, P.B.
, &
Baltes, M.M.
(1990). Psychological perspectives on successful aging:
The model of selective optimization with compensation. In
P.B. Baltes
&
M.M. Baltes
(Eds.), Successful aging: Perspectives from the behavioral
sciences (pp. 1-34).
Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press
.
3.
Baltes, M.M.
,
Maas, I.
,
Wilms, H.-U.
,
Borchelt, M.
, &
Little, T.
(1999). Everyday competence in old and very old age:
Theoretical considerations and empirical findings. In
P.B. Baltes
&
K.U. Mayer
(Eds.), The Berlin Aging Study: Aging from 70 to 100 (pp.
384-402).
New York: Cambridge University Press
.
4.
Bandura, A.
(1986). Social foundations of thought and action: A
social-cognitive theory.
Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall
.
5.
Bandura, A.
(1988a). Self-regulation of motivation and action through
goal systems. In
V. Hamilton
,
G.H. Bower
, &
N.H. Frijda
(Eds.), Cognitive perspectives on emotion and motivation (pp.
37-61).
Dordrecht: Kluwer
.
6.
Bandura, A.
(1988b).
Self-efficacy conception of anxiety
. Anxiety Research, 1,
77-98
.
7.
Bandura, A.
(1989a).
Regulation of cognitive processes through perceived self-efficacy
. Developmental Psychology, 25,
729-235
.
8.
Bandura, A.
(1989b). Reflections on nonability determinant s of
competence. In
J. Kolligian, Jr.
, &
R.J. Sternberg
(Eds.), Competence reconsidered: Perceptions of competence and
incompetence across the life span.
New Haven, CT: Yale University Press
.
9.
Berry, J.M.
, &
West, R.L.
(1993).
Cognitive self-efficacy in relation to personal mastery and goal setting
across the life span. Special issue: Planning and control processes across
the life span
. International Journal of Behavioral Development,
16,
351-379
.
10.
Borchelt, M.
, &
Steinhagen-Thiessen, E.
(1992).
Physical performance and sensory functions as determinants of independence
in activities of daily living in the old and very old
. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 673,
350-361
.
11.
Borkowski, J.G.
,
Carr, M.
,
Rellinger, E.
, &
Pressley, M.
(1990). Self-regulated cognitions: Interdependence of
metacognition, attributions, and self-esteem. In
B.F. Jones
&
L. Idol
(Eds.), Dimensions of thinking and cognitive instruction (Vol. 2).
Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum
.
12.
Bower, G.H.
(1981).
Mood and memory
. American Psychologist, 36,
129-148
.
13.
Bower, G.H.
(1991). Mood congruity of social judgments. In
J.P. Forgas
(Ed.), Emotion and social judgments (pp.
31-53).
Oxford: Pergamon
.
14.
Brandtstädter, J.
, &
Greve, W.
(1994).
The aging self: Stabilizing and protective processes
. Developmental Review, 14,
52-80
.
15.
Brandtstädter, J.
, &
Renner, G.
(1990).
Tenacious goal pursuit and flexible goal adjustment: Explication and
age-related analysis of assimilative and accomodative strategies of coping
. Psychology and Aging, 5,
58-67
.
16.
Bryk, A.S.
,
Raudenbush, S.W.
,
Seltzer, M.
, &
Congdon, R.
(1988). An introduction to HLM: Computer program and
user’s guide (2nd ed.).
Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Department
of Education
.
17.
Carstensen, L.L.
,
Pasupathi, M.
, &
Mayr, U.
(in press).
Emotion and everyday life in a lifespan sample
. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.
18.
Cavanaugh, J.C.
, &
Green, E.E.
(1990). I believe, therefore I can: Self-efficacy beliefs
in memory aging. In
E.A. Lovelace
(Ed.), Aging and cognition: Mental processes, self-awareness, and
interventions. Advances in psychology, 72 (pp.
189-230).
Amsterdam: Elsevier
.
19.
Cervone, D.
, &
Peake, P.K.
(1986).
Anchoring, efficacy, and action: The influence of judgmental heuristics on
self-efficacy judgements and behavior
. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 50,
492-501
.
20.
Cohen, R.M.
,
Weingartner, H.
,
Smallberg, S.A.
,
Picker, D.
, &
Murphy, D.L.
(1982).
Effort and cognition in depression
. Archives in General Psychiatry, 39,
593-597
.
21.
Csikszentmihalyi, M.
, &
Larson, R.
(1987).
Validity and reliability of the experience-sampling method
. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 175,
526-536
.
22.
Eizenman, D.R.
,
Nesselroade, J.R.
,
Featherman, D.L.
, &
Rowe, J.W.
(1997).
Intraindividual variability in perceived control in an older sample: The
MacArthur Successful Aging Studies
. Psychology and Aging, 12,
489-502
.
Frey, K.S.
, &
Ruble, D.N.
(1989). Strategies for comparative evaluation: Maintaining
a sense of competence across the lifespan. In
J. Kolligian, Jr.
&
R.J. Sternberg
(Eds.), Competence reconsidered: Perceptions of competence and
incompetence across the life span.
New Haven, CT: Yale University Press
.
25.
Heckhausen, J.
(1992). Adults’ expectations about development
and its controllability: Enhancing self-efficacy by social comparison.
In
R. Schwarzer
(Ed.), Self-efficacy: Thought control of action.
London: Taylor & Francis
.
26.
Kavanagh, D.J.
(1992). Self-efficacy and depression. In
R. Schwarzer
(Ed.), Self-efficacy: Thought control of action.
London: Taylor & Francis
.
27.
Kavanagh, D.J.
, &
Bower, G.H.
(1985).
Mood and self-efficacy: Impact of joy and sadness on perceived capabilities
. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 9,
507-529
.
28.
Klumb, P.L.
, &
Baltes, M.M.
(1995, November).
Berlin Aging Study: Selective participation and attrition in a study on
everyday competence in old age based on the experience-sampling method
. Paper presented at the EURODEP Conference, Dublin, Ireland.
29.
Klumb, P.L.
, &
Baltes, M.M.
(1999a).
Validity of retrospective time-use reports in old age
. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 13,
527-539
.
30.
Klumb, P.L.
, &
Baltes, M.M.
(1999b).
Time use of old and very old Berliners: Productive and consumptive
activities as functions of resources
. Journal of Gerontology: Social Sciences, 54B,
S271-S278
.
31.
Lachman, M.E.
(1986). Personal control in later life: Stability, change,
and cognitive correlates. In
M.M. Baltes
&
P.B. Baltes
(Eds.), The psychology of control and aging (pp.
207-236).
Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum
.
32.
Lang, F.
,
Featherman, D.L.
, &
Nesselroade, J.R.
(1997).
Social self-efficacy and short-term variability in social relationships:
The MacArthur Successful Aging Studies
. Psychology and Aging, 12,
657-666
.
33.
Lang, F.
, &
Helle, G.
(1994). RC-GEN: Random call generation software.
34.
Larson, R.J.
(1989). A process approach to personality psychology:
Utilizing time as a facet of data. In
D.M. Buss
&
N. Cantor
(Eds.), Personality psychology: Recent trends and emerging
direction (pp. 177-193).
New York: Springer
.
35.
Larson, R.
, &
Delespaul, P.A.E.G.
(1992). Analyzing Experience Sampling data: A guidebook
for the perplexed. In
M.W. deVries
(Ed.), The experience of psychopathology: Investigating mental disorders
in their natural settings (pp. 58-78).
New York: Cambridge University Press
.
36.
Mendes de Leon, C.F.
,
Seeman, T.E.
,
Baker, D.I.
, &
Richardson, E.D.
(1996).
Self-efficacy, physical decline, and change in functioning in
community-living elders: A prospective study
. Journals of Gerontology, 51B,
S183-S190
.
37.
Moss, M.S.
, &
Lawton, M.P.
(1982).
Time budgets for older people: A window on four lifestyles
. Journal of Gerontology, 37,
115-123
.
38.
Nesselroade, J.R.
(1988). Some implications of the trait-state distinction
for the study of development over the life span: The case of
personality. In
P.B. Baltes
,
D.L. Featherman
, &
R.M. Lerner
(Eds.), Life-span development and behavior (Vol. 8, pp.
163-189).
Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum
.
39.
Nesselroade, J.R.
(1991). The warp and the woof of the developmental
fabric. In
R.M. Downs
,
L.S. Liben
, &
D.S. Palermo
(Eds.), Visions of aesthetics, the environment and development: The
legacy of Joachim F. Wohlwill (pp. 213-240).
Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum
.
40.
Pawlik, K.
, &
Buse, L.
(1982).
Rechnergestützte Verhaltensregistrierung im Feld: Beschreibung und
erste psychometrische Überprüfung einer neuen
Erhebungsmethode [Computer-based behaviour recording in situ: Description
and first psychometric test of a new assessment method]
. Zeitschrift für differentielle und Diagnostische
Psychologie, 3,
101-118
.
41.
Reid, M.
(1934). Economics of household production.
New York: Wiley
.
42.
Schmitz, B.
(2000).
Auf der Suche nach dem verlorenen Individuum: Vier Theoreme zur Aggregation
von Prozessen [Searching for the lost individual: Four theorems regarding
the aggregation of processes]
. Psychologische Rundschau, 51,
83-92
.
43.
Schwartz, N.
, &
Bless, H.
(1991). Happy and mindless, but sad and smart? The impact
of affective states on analytic reasoning. In
J.P. Forgas
(Ed.), Emotion and social judgments (pp.
55-71).
Oxford: Pergamon
.
44.
Schwartz, J.E.
, &
Stone, A.A.
(1998)
Strategies for analyzing ecological momentary assessment data
. Health Psychology, 17,
6-16
.
45.
Schwarzer, R.
(1992). Self-efficacy: Thought control of action.
London: Taylor & Francis
.
46.
Shoda, Y.
,
Mischel, W.
, &
Wright, J.W.
(1994)
Intraindividual stability in the organization and patterning of behavior:
Incorporating psychological situations into the idiographic analysis of personality
. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 67,
674-687
.
47.
Staudinger, U.M.
,
Freund, A.M.
,
Linden, M.
, &
Maas, I.
(1999). Self, personality, and life regulation: Facets of
psychological resilience in old age. In
P.B. Baltes
&
K.U. Mayer
(Eds.), The Berlin Aging Study: Aging from 70 to 100 (pp.
384-402).
New York: Cambridge University Press
.
48.
Tinetti, M.E.
, &
Powell, L.
(1993).
Fear of falling and low self-efficacy: A cause of dependence in elderly persons
. Journals of Gerontology, 48,
35-38
.
49.
Totterdell, P.
, &
Folkard, S.
(1992).
In situ repeated measures of affect and cognitive performance facilitiated
by use of a hand-held computer
. Behavior Research Methods, Instruments, & Computers,
24,
545-553
.
50.
Tversky, A.
, &
Kahneman, D.
(1974).
Judgment under uncertainty: Heuristics and biases
. Science, 185,
1124-1131
.
51.
Watson, D.
,
Clark, L.A.
, &
Tellegen, A.
(1988).
A development and validation of brief measures of positive and negative
affect: The PANAS Scales
. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 54,
1063-1070
.
52.
Wheeler, L.
, &
Reis, H.T.
(1991).
Self-recording of everyday life events: Origins, types and issues
. Journal of Personality, 59,
339-354
.
