Purpose

The scale assesses an individual’s evaluation of their abilities — that is, the degree of confidence in their capacity to organize and carry out actions required to achieve specific goals.

Brief Description

This is a self-report scale that includes subscales measuring various domains. The first subscale refers to generalized perceived self-efficacy and consists of 10 questions that assess the extent to which the individual believes they can effectively deal with unexpected situations and problems. Respondents rate themselves on a four-point scale (1 = not at all true, 2 = hardly true, 3 = moderately true, 4 = exactly true), with higher scores indicating greater perceived self-efficacy.
The second subscale focuses on healthy eating habits and consists of 10 items that assess the perceived ability of the individual to follow a healthy diet. Respondents rate themselves on a seven-point scale (1 = not at all confident, 7 = completely confident).
The third subscale addresses physical exercise and includes 12 items related to the perceived ability to follow a scheduled physical activity regimen in the face of various potential obstacles. Respondents rate themselves on a seven-point scale (1 = not at all confident, 7 = completely confident).
The fourth subscale relates to condom use and includes 12 questions that assess the perceived ability to use condoms under various pressure-inducing circumstances. Respondents rate themselves on a four-point scale (1 = not at all true, 4 = exactly true).
The fifth subscale pertains to cancer screening and includes 10 items that assess the individual’s belief in their ability to overcome specific obstacles that make cancer screening difficult. Respondents rate themselves on a seven-point scale (1 = not at all confident, 7 = completely confident).
The sixth subscale refers to providing support and consists of 10 items assessing the individual’s perceived ability to offer emotional support to others in difficult situations. Respondents rate themselves on a four-point scale (1 = not at all true, 4 = exactly true).

Sample

The Greek translation of the questionnaire was administered to 205 university students aged 18 to 22, from institutions of higher education (AEI and TEI).

Scoring Method

Scoring is done by summing the scores of the items in each subscale. A higher total score indicates a greater level of perceived self-efficacy. In the subscale for healthy eating habits, items 3, 4, 5, and 6 are negatively worded — meaning higher scores indicate lower perceived self-efficacy — and must be reverse-scored (i.e., 1 becomes 7, 2 becomes 6, 3 becomes 5, 4 remains the same, 5 becomes 3, 6 becomes 2, and 7 becomes 1). The same applies to the following items in other subscales: items 1, 4, 6, and 10 in the condom use subscale, and items 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 11 in the support provision subscale.

Key Bibliographic Sources

Pavlatou, E. (1999). The impact of perceived self-efficacy on general health. Undergraduate thesis, University of Athens.
Schwarzer, R. (1993). Measurement of Perceived Self-Efficacy. Psychometric Scales for Cross-Cultural Research. Forschung an der Freien Universität Berlin.