Self-efficacy and academic achievement: Why do implicit beliefs, goals, and effort regulation matter?

We examined motivational orientations, cognitive-metacognitive strategies, and resource management in predicting academic achievement. Undergraduates (407) completed the Motivated Strategies Learning Questionnaire, Implicit Theories of Intelligence Scale, Achievement Goal Inventory, and self-reported grade point average. A MANCOVA (controlling for sex and age) indicated that low self-efficacy students tended to believe intelligence is innate and unchangeable and high self-efficacy students pursued mastery goals involving challenge and gaining new knowledge as well as performance goals involving good grades and outperforming others. Further, hierarchical multiple regression analysis indicated that self-efficacy, effort regulation, and help-seeking predicted 18% of the variance in GPA. Interestingly, effort regulation partially mediated the relationship between self-efficacy and GPA. Overall, self-efficacious students are able to achieve academically because they monitor and self-regulate their impulses and persist in the face of difficulties. We discuss implications of these findings for educators seeking to strengthen both self-efficacy and effort regulation towards increasing academic achievement. (C) 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.