The Role of Self-Efficacy and Psychological Well-Being in Students' Choice of Self-Improvement Strategies

The urgency of the problem justifies the significance of the study of psychological patterns and self-improvement mechanisms as a form of students’ self-development. The research aims to find out the role of self-efficacy and psychological well-being in students' choice of self-improvement strategies: acquisition, transformation, disposal or restriction. The diagnostic tools include the author’s Self-improvement Quadrangle technique, the questionnaire by M. Scheer, J. Maddux adopted by Boyarintseva. defining general and social self-efficacy, Riff’s Psychological Well-Being Scale adopted Shevelenkova and Fesenko. Mathematical processing of the results was carried out using the criterion φ* of the Fisher angular transformation and the Pearson dichotomous correlation coefficient. The research involved 277 students from universities of the Russian Federation and the Republic of Kazakhstan, the average age of 19.5 (SD = 1.5). The results reveal that students with a predominance of high self-efficacy prefer three strategies: acquisition, disposal and transformation. Students with low self-efficacy in subject activity more often use the acquisition strategy and do not use the transformation strategy. Such structural components of psychological well-being as autonomy, environmental management, life’s goal and personal growth play an essential role in choosing a particular self-improvement strategy. The results show the individual trajectory of students' self-development and help to carry out more purposefully the process of supporting the personality’s self-development. The obtained data can be used by teacher educators in a training process for students majoring in teacher education and psychology, by tutors and university’s psychological services.

1. Abulkhanova-Slavskaya, K. A. (1991). Strategy of Life. Mysl.

2. Armenta, C. N., Fritz, M. M., & Lyubomirsky, S. (2017). Functions of positive emotions: Gratitude as a motivator of self-improvement and positive change. Emotion Review, 9(3), 183–190. https://doi.org/10.1177/1754073916669596

3. Bandura, A. (2006). Toward a psychology of human agency. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 1(2), 164–180. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1745-6916.2006.00011.x

4. Bauer, J. J., Graham, L. E., Lauber, E. A., & Lynch, B. P. (2019). What growth sounds like: Redemption, self‐improvement, and eudaimonic growth across different life narratives in relation to well‐ being. Journal of Personality, 87(3), 546–565. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/jopy.12414

5. Breines, J. G., & Chen, S. (2012). Self-compassion increases self-improvement motivation. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 38(9), 1133–1143. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167212445599

6. Cannon, C., & Rucker, D. D. (2022). Motives underlying human agency: How self-efficacy versus self-enhancement affect consumer behavior. Current Opinion in Psychology, 46, 101335. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.copsyc.2022.101335

7. Chernyak-Hai, L., & Tziner, A. (2021). Attributions of Managerial Decisions, Emotions, and OCB. The Moderating Role of Ethical Climate and Self-Enhancement. Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, 37(1), 37–49. https://doi.org/10.5093/jwop2021a4

8. Chwyl, C., Chen, P., & Zaki, J. (2021). Beliefs About Self-Compassion: Implications for Coping and Self-Improvement. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 47(9), 1327–1342. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167220965303

9. Corry, M., & Stella, J. (2018). Teacher self-efficacy in online education: a review of the literature. Research in Learning Technology, 26, 1–12. DOI: https://doi.org/10.25304/rlt.v26.2047

10. Danilova, M. V., Rykman, L. V., & Danilova, Y. Y. (2019). Focus on Self-Development and SelfFulfillment in Psycho-Emotional Well-Being Structure of Adolescents. In A. Belousova (Ed.), Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Education Science and Social Development (ESSD 2019) (pp. 603–607). Changsha, China: Atlantis Press.

11. Demirtaş, A. S. (2020). Cognitive flexibility and mental well-being in Turkish adolescents: The mediating role of academic, social and emotional self-efficacy. Anales de Psicología, 36(1), 111– 121. https://doi.org/10.6018/analesps.336681

12. Garanina, Zh. G., Andronova, N. V., Lashmaykina, L. I., Maltseva, O. E., & Polyakov, O. Е. (2017). The structural model of future employees̕ personal and professional self-development. Integratsiya obrazovaniya – Integration of Education, 21(4), 596–608. https://doi.org/10.15507/1991- 9468.089.021.201704.596-608

13. Hepper, E. G., Gramzow, R. H., & Sedikides, C. (2010). Individual differences in self‐enhancement and self‐protection strategies: An integrative analysis. Journal of personality, 78(2), 781–814. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6494.2010.00633.x

14. Klassen, R. M., & Klassen, J. R. L. (2018). Self-efficacy beliefs of medical students: a critical review. Perspectives on Medical Education, 7(2), 76–82. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40037-018-0411-3

15. Krasnoryadtseva, O. M., Kabrin, V. I., Muravyeva, O. I., Podoynitsina, M. A., Chuchalova, O. N. (2014). Psychological practices of diagnosis and development of self-efficacy of students. Publishing House of TSU.

16. Kuanysheva, B. T., Aubakirova, R. Z., Pigovayeva, N. I., & Fominykh, N. I. (2019). Technologization of the Pedagogical Process as a Teacher Self-Improvement Factor. Journal of Social Studies Education Research, 10(3), 404–433.

17. Kudusheva, N., Amanova, I., Abisheva, E., Sabirova, Z., & Beisenova, Z. (2022). The development of individual self-efficiency among university students. Cypriot Journal of Educational Sciences, 17(2), 615–625. https://doi.org/10.18844/cjes.v17i2.6857

18. Lipińska-Grobelny, A., & Narska, M. (2021). Self-efficacy and psychological well-being of teachers. E-mentor, 3(90), 4–10. https://doi.org/10.15219/em90.1517

19. Maralov, V. G. (2017). Acquisition or Disposal: The Problem of the Choice of a Self-Improvement Strategy by Students. Integratsiya obrazovaniya – Integration of Education, 21(3), 477–488. https://doi.org/10.15507/1991-9468.088.021.201703.477-488

20. Maralov, V. G., & Nizovskikh, N. A. (2015). The strategy of the self-improvement in the personal selfdevelopment. Vestnik gumanitarnogo obrazovaniya – Herald of Humanitarian Education, 1, 34–39.

21. Marshman, E. M., Kalender, Z. Y., Nokes-Malach, T., Schunn, C., & Singh, C. (2018). Female students with A’s have similar physics self-efficacy as male students with C’s in introductory courses: A cause for alarm? Physical review physics education research, 14(2), 020123. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevPhysEducRes.14.020123

22. Matteucci, M. C, & Soncini, A. (2021). Self-efficacy and psychological well-being in a sample of Italian university students with and without Specific Learning Disorder. Research in Developmental Disabilities, 110, 103858. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ridd.2021.103858

23. Ryff, C. D., & Keyes, C. L. M. (1995). The structure of psychological well-being revisited. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 69(4), 719–727. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.69.4.719

24. Schaffner, A. K. (2021). The Art of Self-Improvement: Ten Timeless Truths. New Haven: Yale University Press. Sedikides, C., & Hepper, E. G. D. (2009). Self‐improvement. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 3(6), 899–917. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1751-9004.2009.00231.x

25. Sergienko, E. A. (2011). System-subject approach: grounds and perspectives. Psihologicheskij zhurnal – Psychological Journal, 32(1), 120–132.

26. Sharma, H. L., & Rani, R. (2013). Relationship of personal growth initiative with self-efficacy among university postgraduate students. Journal of Education and Practice, 4(16), 125–135.

27. Shchukina, M. A. (2015). Psychology of self-development of personality. Publishing House of St. Petersburg State University. Sherer, M., Maddux, J. E., Mercandante, B., Prentice-Dunn, S., Jacobs, B., & Rogers, R. W. (1982). The Self-Efficacy Scale: Construction and validation. Psychological Reports, 51(2), 663–671. https://doi.org/10.2466/pr0.1982.51.2.663

28. Shevelenkova, T. D., & Fesenko, P. P. (2005). Psychological well-being of the individual (review of the basic concepts and research methodology). Psihologicheskaja diagnostika – Psychological diagnostics, 3, 95–129.

29. Szczepańska-Gieracha, J, & Mazurek J. (2020) The Role of Self-Efficacy in the Recovery Process of Stroke Survivors. Psychology Research and Behavior Management, 13, 897–906. https://doi.org/10.2147/PRBM.S273009

30. Talsma, K., Schüz, B., & Norris, K. (2019). Miscalibration of self-efficacy and academic performance: Self-efficacy≠ self-fulfilling prophecy. Learning and Individual Differences, 69, 182–195. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lindif.2018.11.002

31. Troshikhina, E. G., Manukyan, V. R., & Danilova, M. V. (2019). The focus on self-development as a predictor of psycho-emotional wellbeing of adolescents and adults. Vestnik Permskogo Universiteta. Seriya Filosofia Psikhologiya Sotsiologiya Perm University Herald. Series: Philosophy. Psychology. Sociology, 1, 94–105. https://doi.org/10.17072/2078-7898/2019-1-94-105

32. Wimmer, L., von Stockhausen, L., Bellingrath, S. (2019) Improving emotion regulation and mood in teacher trainees: Effectiveness of two mindfulness trainings. Brain and Behavior, 9(9), e01390. https://doi.org/10.1002/brb3.1390

33. Wolf, T., Jahn, S., Hammerschmidt, M., & Weiger, W. H. (2021). Competition versus cooperation: How technology-facilitated social interdependence initiates the self-improvement chain. International Journal of Research in Marketing, 38(2), 472–491. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijresmar.2020.06.001