Relations of perceived social efficacy and social goal pursuit to self-efficacy for academic work

Successful functioning in a classroom setting requires students to interact effectively and form positive social relationships both with teachers and peers. Self-efficacy for success in schoolwork therefore, should depend in part on students' perceptions of their social efficacy and on their endorsement of goals to be responsible class members and to form intimate peer relationships. Survey data from 753 fifth-grade students indicated that girls felt more efficacious in their interactions with their teachers and endorsed both responsibility and intimacy goals more strongly than did boys. No gender difference was found for social efficacy with peers. Hierarchical regression analysis indicated that students' perceptions of their social efficacy both with teacher and peers and their endorsement of responsibility goals were related significantly to their academic efficacy after accounting for prior achievement and gender These findings indicated that such social perceptions are important for students' academic progress and that teachers should pay serious attention to students' social relationships in the classroom.