Sherer General Self-Efficacy Scale (SGSES)

Abstract

The Sherer General Self-Efficacy Scale (SGSES) is a widely utilized psychological instrument designed to measure an individual’s generalized belief in their capacity to exert control over their motivation, behavior, and social environment. Developed by Sherer and colleagues in 1982, the scale operationalizes the concept of general self-efficacy, which is considered a stable personality trait reflecting competence across various life domains, rather than domain-specific efficacy.

The scale assesses an individual’s global expectation that their efforts will lead to successful outcomes, encompassing persistence, effort initiation, and perceived ability to manage novel or stressful situations. It typically employs a 5-point Likert scale response format, ranging from “Strongly Disagree” (1) to “Strongly Agree” (5).

Keywords

Self-Efficacy, General Self-Efficacy Scale, SGSES, Psychological Assessment, Social Learning Theory, Resilience, Efficacy Beliefs, Construct Validation.

Authors

M. Sherer, J. E. Maddux, B. Mercandante, S. Prentice-Dunn, B. Jacobs, R. W. Rogers, C. H. Adams.

Purpose

The primary purpose of the Sherer General Self-Efficacy Scale (SGSES) is to provide a reliable and validated measure of generalized self-efficacy. This construct reflects a person’s global expectation that their efforts will lead to successful outcomes across different situations and tasks. The scale was initially developed to support research stemming from Bandura’s Social Learning Theory, specifically focusing on how generalized beliefs of competence influence motivation and persistence.

The SGSES allows researchers and clinicians to assess an individual’s overall sense of mastery and capacity to cope with unforeseen challenges and complex tasks. Unlike scales focusing on specific skills (e.g., academic efficacy), the SGSES aims to capture a fundamental, stable disposition that influences goal setting, performance, and coping mechanisms in various life domains.

Construct

The SGSES measures General Self-Efficacy. This construct is defined as the expectation that one can successfully perform the behaviors required to produce desired outcomes, regardless of the specific task or context. It is rooted in the work of Albert Bandura, who proposed that efficacy beliefs are crucial determinants of human agency and action.

The scale assesses several facets related to general competence, including the initiation of effort, persistence in the face of obstacles, and perceived ability to manage novel or stressful situations. The items are designed to capture behavioral intentions and cognitive appraisals related to goal pursuit and problem-solving across general life contexts, social interactions, and learning processes.

Validity

Construct validation of the SGSES has been reported across multiple studies since its introduction in 1982. Initial validation research by Sherer et al. demonstrated that the scale correlates significantly with established measures of related psychological constructs, such as self-esteem and locus of control, while maintaining discriminant validity from unrelated constructs.

The scale has shown predictive validity, successfully correlating with positive outcomes such as academic success, coping effectiveness, and career resilience in diverse populations, including adolescents and adults. Subsequent research, such as that by Sherer and Adams (1983), further supported the construct validity through additional empirical data, confirming that the SGSES measures the intended generalized efficacy belief.

Reliability

The internal consistency of the Sherer General Self-Efficacy Scale is consistently reported as high across various samples and cultural contexts. The original general factor derived from the scale items typically yields strong Cronbach’s alpha coefficients, demonstrating strong item coherence.

For the General subscale specifically, internal reliability has been documented with an Alpha coefficient of 0.86. The Social subscale, often extracted in multi-factor analyses, typically shows acceptable reliability, reported at Alpha 0.71. These figures indicate that the items within the respective subscales reliably measure the same underlying construct. Furthermore, studies have also supported the temporal stability (test-retest reliability) of the SGSES over time.

Factor Analysis

While the SGSES was initially developed to measure a single, generalized construct of self-efficacy, subsequent factor analyses have sometimes suggested a multidimensional structure, depending on the population and the specific version of the scale used. The most consistent finding suggests the existence of two primary factors: the General subscale and the Social subscale.

The General subscale typically captures competence related to task persistence, effort initiation, and coping with obstacles in non-social settings. The Social subscale focuses on confidence in initiating and maintaining social relationships and handling social difficulties. The reliability data provided supports the distinction between the General subscale (Alpha 0.86) and the Social subscale (Alpha 0.71), suggesting that while a strong general factor exists, specific domains of efficacy can be meaningfully extracted.

Instrument

Test Type: Self-Report Questionnaire / Psychological Scale

Format: Typically a 17-item or 30-item questionnaire utilizing a 5-point Likert scale response format, ranging from 1 (Strongly Disagree) to 5 (Strongly Agree).

Language Available: English (Original), widely translated into many languages for cross-cultural research.

Population Group: General population, including adolescents and adults.

Age Group: Applicable for older adolescents and adults (typically 16 years and older).

Population Details: Used across diverse educational, clinical, and organizational settings for research and assessment purposes.

Test Methodology: Summation of scores across relevant items, often after reverse-scoring negatively worded items (e.g., “I give up easily”). Higher total scores indicate higher levels of perceived general self-efficacy.

Keywords

Psychometrics, Likert Scale, General Ability, Persistence, Coping Mechanisms, Social Competence, Psychological Assessment, Internal Consistency.

Authors

Author ORCID Identifier: Not provided in source material.

Affiliation Email addresses: Not provided in source material.

Correspondence Address: Not provided in source material.

Permissions & Fee and Test Year

The scale was developed and published in 1982. It is often used freely for academic research purposes, though researchers should confirm specific permissions with the authors or the journal, Psychological Reports, for commercial use or modification.

The original PDF of related instrument documentation and research can be downloaded here: http://conference.nie.edu.sg/2007/paper/papers/COG664.pdf and here: https://etd.ohiolink.edu/!etd.send_file?accession=dayton1398289771&disposition=inline. An additional relevant academic paper is available here: http://groups.colgate.edu/cjs/student_papers/2003/Hamill.pdf.

Reference’s

• 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, 663-671.
• Sherer, M., & Adams, C. H. (1983). Construct validation of the Self-Efficacy Scale. Psychological Reports, 53, 899-902.
• Imam. Syed Sohail, (2007). Sherer et al. General Self-Efficacy Scale: Dimensionality, Internal Consistency, and Temporal Stability. Proceedings of the Redesigning Pedagogy: Culture, Knowledge and Understanding Conference, Singapore, May 2007.
• Hamill, S. K. (2003) Resilience and self-efficacy: The importance of efficacy beliefs and coping mechanisms in resilient adolescents. Colgate University Journal of the Sciences, 35, 115-146.

Items of the Sherer General Self-Efficacy Scale (SGSES)

IMPORTANT: The following scale items must be preserved in their original language and must not be changed in any way. The source material provided several overlapping lists; the following is a compilation of the core items identified in the provided content.

• I like to grow house plants.
• When I make plans, I am certain I can make them work.
• One of my problems is that I cannot get down to work when I should.
• If I can’t do a job the first time, I keep trying until I can.
• Heredity plays the major role in determining one’s personality.
• It is difficult for me to make new friends.
• When I set important goals for myself, I rarely achieve them.
• I give up on things before completing them.
• I like to cook.
• If I see someone I would like to meet, I go to that person instead of waiting for him or her to come to me.
• I avoid facing difficulties.
• If something looks too complicated, I will not even bother to try it.
• There is some good in everybody.
• If I meet someone interesting who is very hard to make friends with, I’ll soon stop trying to make friends with that person.
• When I have something unpleasant to do, I stick with it until I finish it.
• When I decide to do something, I go right to work on it.
• I like science.
• When trying to learn something new, I soon give up if I am not initially successful.
• When I’m trying to become friends with someone who seems uninterested at first, I don’t give up very easily.
• When unexpected problems occur, I don’t handle them well.
• If I were an artist, I would like to draw children.
• I avoid trying to learn new things when they look too difficult for me.
• Failure just makes me try harder.
• I do not handle myself well in social gatherings.
• I very much like to ride horses.
• I feel insecure about my ability to do things.
• I am a self-reliant person.
• I have acquired my friends through my personal abilities at making friends.
• I give up easily.
• I do not seem capable of dealing with most problems that come up in my life.

A commonly used 17-item version (SGSES-17) focuses on the core efficacy items:

1. When I make plans, I am certain I can make them work.
2. One of my problems is that I cannot get down to work when I should.
3. If I can’t do a job the first time I keep trying until I can.
4. When I set important goals for myself, I rarely achieve them.
5. I give up on things before completing them.
6. I avoid facing difficulties.
7. If something looks too complicated, I will not even bother to try it.
8. When I have something unpleasant to do, I stick to it until I finish it.
9. When I decide to do something new, I go right to work on it.
10. When trying to learn something new, I soon give up if I am not initially successful.
11. When unexpected problems occur, I don’t handle them well.
12. I avoid trying to learn new things when they look too difficult for me.
13. Failure just makes me try harder.
14. I feel insecure about my ability to do things.
15. I am a self-reliant person.
16. I give up easily.
17. I do not seem capable of dealing with most problems that come up in life.