A review of educational research on self-efficacy and Social Cognitive Theory in Hispanic America

Abstract

INTRODUCTION. Educational research on the self-efficacy construct and the Social Cognitive Theory has been very abundant in the last three decades. The results obtained in the various lines of work have been summarized in qualitative and quantitative reviews, although primarily considering scientific production of Anglo-Saxon origin published in English. In the context of this background, this study intends to review research conducted in this area in Hispanic America, in order to determine the existence, volume and nature of the empirical studies carried out and to identify future lines of research. METHOD. A review of research published was conducted on the basis of a systematic search on the SciELO, RedALyc, Scopus and Dialnet Plus databases. 58 empirical studies were identified that covered the previously established criteria for inclusion. The studies were classified by thematic area, type of study and methodological design. Samples, socio-cognitive variables and measures, and analysis techniques were also analyzed. RESULTS. There is evidence of the existence in the region of studies in all the classic lines of research relating to the Social Cognitive Theory, albeit with an uneven degree of development. There is a clear predominance of work in the area of self-efficacy, performance and motivation (46%), followed by psychometric style studies (28%), studies in the area of teacher self-efficacy (17%) and studies on Vocational Self-Efficacy and SCCT (9%). DISCUSSION. Based on the results, the paper presents a general diagnosis of the state of the empirical research on self-efficacy and the Social Cognitive Theory in Hispanic America, which so far has not been available. This new systematic knowledge made it possible to identify, among other aspects, specific research areas requiring development in the region from a broad base of evidence.