ABSTRACT

Researchers in the area of training and motivation have concluded that training causes improvements in performance partially via training’s influence on self-efficacy. A set of studies employing a moderation-of-process design contradicts this conclusion. Specifically, when two groups of trainees did not know their performance was increasing during training, their self-efficacy did not increase. Two other groups were able to observe improving performance, which enhanced self-efficacy. However, both groups in both studies exhibited equal improvement in performance. This effect was shown in two contexts: training on a physical task and training on a cognitive task. These results demonstrate that self-efficacy might not always play a causal role in determining training’s influence. The studies highlight the value of a rarely used moderation-of-process method for assessing mediation.

摘要

培训和动机领域的研究人员得出结论，培训部分是由于培训对自我效能的影响而导致绩效的提高。一组采用过程中度设计的研究与此结论相矛盾。具体而言，当两组受训者不知道他们在培训过程中的表现有所提高时，他们的自我效能并未提高。另外两个小组能够观察到绩效的提高，从而提高了自我效能。但是，两项研究中的两组都表现出相同的性能改善。在两种情况下显示了这种效果：进行物理任务训练和进行认知任务训练。这些结果表明，自我效能可能并不总是在确定培训影响力方面起因果作用。这些研究突显了一种很少使用的过程缓和方法对评估调解的价值。