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Article Excerpt
Abstract
The Community Service Self-Efficacy Scale (CSSES) measures the person's confidence in his or her own ability to make clinically significant contributions to the community through service. In the first section, research supporting self-efficacy theory is reviewed, the relevance of self-efficacy to service-learning is discussed, and the rationale for developing the CSSES is provided. The second section reviews empirical research on the reliability and validity of this psychometric instrument. The third section provides recommendations for future research. A final section provides a summary and conclusion.
Introduction
The CSSES was developed and validated by Reeb, Katsuyama, Sammon, and Yoder (1998) to be used in service-learning research and program evaluation. This psychometric instrument (see Table 1) measures "...the individual's confidence in his or her own ability to make clinically significant contributions to the community through service" (p. 48). For each item on this 10-item scale, scores range from 1 (quite uncertain) to 10 (certain). In a critique of psychometric instruments in service-learning research, Bringle, Phillips, and Hudson (2004) conclude that "...the CSSES is significant as a scale developed for service learning with good theoretical rationale, promising psychometric characteristics, and potential utility as a moderator variable, mediating variable, and outcome variable" (pp. 101-102). See issue website http://rapidintellect.com/AEQweb/spr2006.htm
The first section of this paper provides an overview of theory and research pertaining to self-efficacy, discusses the relevance of the self-efficacy construct to service-learning, and presents the rationale for developing the CSSES. The second section reviews empirical research examining the reliability and validity of this psychometric instrument. The third section provides recommendations for future research examining the psychometric properties and practical utility of this measure. The fourth section provides a summary and conclusion.
I. Theoretical Background and Rationale
Self-Efficacy Construct: Research and Theory
Self-efficacy, a theoretical construct derived from Bandura's social-cognitive theory, is defined as follows: "an expectation of personal mastery..." (1977, p. 191); a "self-appraisal of operative capability" (1982, p. 123); "a conviction that one can successfully execute the behavior required to produce [desired] outcomes"(1977, p. 193); or "'...a belief in one's capabilities to organize and execute the courses of action required to manage prospective situations" (1995, p. 2). As reviewed by Bandura (1997), decades of research support his original hypothesis that "...expectations of personal efficacy determine whether coping behavior is initiated, how much effort will be expended, and how long it will be sustained in the face of obstacles and aversive experiences..." (1977, p. 191). In addition, across a variety of situations, circumstances, and populations, the following pattern of findings is obtained: First, self-efficacy for coping in a given situation tends to improve as an individual receives an intervention designed to enhance coping competence. Second, while post-intervention self-efficacy is positively correlated with future performance accomplishments in the situation, it is inversely related to anxiety (and other debilitating emotions) during performance. Third, relative to an individual's actual performance attainments during an intervention, the person's post-intervention self-efficacy level is a better predictor of subsequent performance accomplishments (Bandura, 1997), further suggesting that self-efficacy plays a major role in the initiation and persistence of coping behavior.
To conceptualize developmental changes in self-efficacy, Bandura (1978) proposed the principle of reciprocal determinism, which maintains that self-efficacy, behavior, and environmental factors transact and influence one another in a bidirectional fashion. Bandura (1978, p. 346) writes: "In the ... process of reciprocal determinism, behavior, internal personal factors, and environmental influences all operate as interlocking determinants of each other ... in a triadic reciprocal interaction ... For example, people's efficacy ... expectations influence how they behave, and the environmental effects created by their actions in turn alter their expectations..." Given the principle of reciprocal determinism, the following pattern would be expected in the area of community service-learning: a student with high self-efficacy for community service would be more likely than a student with low self-efficacy to pursue service-learning opportunities; once the student with high self-efficacy becomes involved in service, he or she would exhibit high levels of effort and perseverance, even when obstacles and failures are initially...
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