The Differences In Self-Efficacy, Self-Confidence, And Life Satisfaction Among Young Adults By Gender And Their Relationships

Abstract

The phrase "people's perception of competence and skill, their perceived aptitude to deal effectively with varied situations" alludes to self-confidence (Shrauger & Schohn, 1995, p. 256). The definition of self-efficacy given by Bandura is "people's beliefs about their ability to generate specified levels of performance that exert control over events that impact their lives" (Bandura, 1994, p. 72). Life satisfaction is a term used to describe how people communicate their ideas, sentiments, and feelings about their future plans and decisions (Ritter, 2003). This study sought to examine the levels of self-efficacy, life satisfaction, and self-confidence among young people. Purposive sampling strategies were used to choose 120 young individuals between the ages of 18 and 25 for the study, of whom 60 were female and 60 were male. Data were gathered using the Self-confidence Scale (Manikandan, 2015), the General Self-Efficacy Scale (Schwerzer & Jerusalem, 1995), and the Satisfaction with Life Scale (Diener et al., 1985). ANOVA and the Pearson correlation coefficient were used in the data analysis. The results indicate that among young people of both sexes, there is no discernible difference in self-efficacy and self-confidence levels. Among young people of both sexes, there is a sizable disparity in the degree of life satisfaction.

Full text

The Investigator, Vol.8, No.4 (December 2022) ISSN 2454-3314 81
Sanjaly Jayesh
Post graduate student of Psychology
Yuvakshetra Institute of Management studies
Sannet Thomas
Former Assistant Professor,
Yuvakshetra Institute of Management studies
The Differences In Self-Efficacy, Self-Confidence, And Life Satisfaction
Among Young Adults By Gender And Their Relationships
The phrase "people's perception of competence and skill, their perceived
aptitude to deal effectively with varied situations" alludes to self-confidence
(Shrauger & Schohn, 1995, p. 256). The definition of self-efficacy given by
Bandura is "people's beliefs about their ability to generate specified levels
of performance that exert control over events that impact their lives"
(Bandura, 1994, p. 72). Life satisfaction is a term used to describe how
people communicate their ideas, sentiments, and feelings about their future
plans and decisions (Ritter, 2003). This study sought to examine the levels
of self-efficacy, life satisfaction, and self-confidence among young people.
Purposive sampling strategies were used to choose 120 young individuals
between the ages of 18 and 25 for the study, of whom 60 were female and 60
were male. Data were gathered using the Self-confidence Scale
(Manikandan, 2015), the General Self-Efficacy Scale (Schwerzer &
Jerusalem, 1995), and the Satisfaction with Life Scale (Diener et al., 1985)
. ANOVA and the Pearson correlation coefficient were used in the data
analysis. The results indicate that among young people of both sexes, there
is no discernible difference in self-efficacy and self-confidence levels.
Among young people of both sexes, there is a sizable disparity in the degree
of life satisfaction.
"Efficacy as being drawn from a personality that permits one to interact well
with the environment" is how self-efficacy is described (Barfield, 1974). It may
be characterized as self-assurance in one's capacity to accomplish a certain
objective. According to social cognitive theory, self-efficacy is a perceptual
indicator of one's own capacity to do a task effectively. Self-perception and
outside experiences are the two main aspects that influence a person's ability to
develop and evolve in this area. A person's self-perceived ability to deal with the
problems and difficulties they set out to address is the foundation of all
successful methods, and it is thought to be the primary mechanism for behavioral
changes. Self-efficacy has three components: magnitude, strength, and
generality (Bandura, 1997). Magnitude is characterized as a person's belief in
their capacity to carry out a task. A person's strength is determined by their
capacity to carry out a number of tasks of varied degrees of difficulty. Generality
is a measure of people's understanding of how self-efficacy generalizes across

The Investigator, Vol.8, No.4 (December 2022) ISSN 2454-3314 82
similar activities. A student's opinion of their capacity to direct their learning and
succeed in academic tasks is known as self-efficacy. Students with high levels
of self-efficacy are more adept at time management and problem-solving than
their classmates. Bandura claims that mastery experience, physiological
variables, social persuasion, and vicarious experience are the four key avenues
for the development of self-efficacy (Bandura, 1986). Mastery experience is the
key to learning from past successes and failures. Additionally, it is impacted by
the knowledge gleaned from prior experiences. To sustain high levels of self-
efficacy, a person's physiological condition might be described as their mood or
emotion. Social persuasion describes how society affects a person. A person's
self-efficacy could be impacted by comments from peers, teachers, and parents.
It is possible to gain vicariously by active observation and learning from the
experiences of others (Bandura, 1986).
Self-confidence is defined as an individual's respect for his or her own skills,
love for themselves, and general awareness of their own feelings. Another
explanation for self-esteem is feeling good as a result of intensifying pleasant
sentiments. Although it is present at birth, self-confidence grows over time as a
kid matures. Self-esteem comes in two flavors: inner confidence and exterior
confidence. Respecting oneself, knowing oneself, establishing clear goals, and
adopting a positive outlook all contribute to developing inner trust. Self-assured
thoughts and sensations are indicators of inner trust. Outer trust is influenced by
two factors: communication and emotional restraint. People who have a high
sense of self-worth and inner confidence are content with who they are. Self-
assured people frequently have clear objectives in mind, but self-assurance does
not ensure happiness in the face of difficulty. Making decisions, committing to
things, and interacting with others are challenging for those who lack self-
confidence. People who have a big number of close relatives live longer,
experience fewer physical and mental ailments, and are happier overall. These
people refrain from founding new businesses because they still feel guilty and
because failure, inadequacy, and unhappiness dominate their thoughts. On the
other side, those with high self-confidence are perceived as being enthusiastic
and engaged in new endeavors; they frequently have a strong communication
style. High self-confidence people will participate in social activities, adapt to
their surroundings, and uphold social norms.
The idea of life satisfaction has been extensively researched in social sciences
and psychological fields. Neugarten and colleagues referred to life satisfaction
as "an operational idea of effective ageing". (Neugarten and colleagues, 1961) A
judgement that, on average, compares well to your standards or expectations.
Sumner (1966) defined as "a favorable appraisal of your life's circumstances"
(Sumner, 1966). It is thought that personality characteristics, work-related
factors, and family-related factors are the antecedents of life satisfaction. Life
satisfaction is "the degree to which an individual positively assesses the
complete quality of his or her life," (Ruut Veenhoven, 1993) . According to
Diener (1984), it is one of the three key indicators of wellbeing together with life

The Investigator, Vol.8, No.4 (December 2022) ISSN 2454-3314 83
satisfaction, positive impact, and negative effect. (Diener, 1984). the three
elements of subjective well-being are negative affect (NA), positive affect (PA),
and life satisfaction (Diener, Emmons, Larsen, and Griffin, 1985), . According
to research, people evaluate value differently depending on their level of
happiness and fulfilment in life. The elements that affect happiness and life
satisfaction are incredibly personalized and subjective. It is everyone to their
own, according to their respective value orientations. (Emmons, 1991; Oishi,
Graessman, 1998). When we discuss life satisfaction, we're referring to how
certain individuals are that they are leading satisfying lives. It could help us
assess the level of societal complexity and, consequently, create strategies to deal
with it. By examining life satisfaction, we can keep track of societal progress.
The quality of people's lives in a particular community or nation is what defines
life, but when quality of life declines, it portends possible problems.
Definition of Concepts: “People’s perception of competence and expertise, their
perceived aptitude to deal well with varied situations" is referred to as "self-
confidence.” (Shrauger & Schohn, 1995).“Self-efficacy is defined as "people's
perceptions about their capacity to exert control over events that have an impact
on their lives at specified levels of performance.” (Bandura, 1994). “Life
satisfaction is the manner in which people communicate their ideas, sentiments,
and opinions regarding their choices and prospective courses of action” (Ritter,
2003).
Aim: Understanding the overall degree of self-efficacy, self-confidence, and life
satisfaction among young people across genders and researching the connections
between these aspects
Hypothesis:
1. There will be no significant difference in the level of self-efficacy among
young adults across gender.
2. There will be no significant difference in the level of self-confidence among
young adults across gender.
3. There will be no significant difference in the level of life satisfaction among
young adults across gender.
4. There will be no significant relationship between self-confidence and self-
efficacy among young adults.
5. There will be no significant relationship between self-confidence and life
satisfaction among young adults.
6. There will be no significant relationship between self-efficacy and life
satisfaction among young adults.
Research design: The study examined the connections between young people'
self-efficacy, life satisfaction, and self-confidence. It was quantitative in nature
and employed a correlational research approach. The study also employed a

The Investigator, Vol.8, No.4 (December 2022) ISSN 2454-3314 84
between-group research design to examine the variations in life satisfaction, self-
efficacy, and self-confidence between young people who are male and female.
Research sample: The study employed a purposive sampling technique. 60 males
and 60 girls from different regions of Kerala made up the study sample, which
included total 120 young adults with ages ranging from 18 to 25.The sample is
varied in terms of gender, place of worship, family structure, and ethnicity.
Tools: The aforementioned tools were used singly to get the necessary data.
Personal Demographic Data Sheet: Personal demographic sheet includes
participant name, gender, age and education. Self-confidence scale: Self-
confidence is two-dimensional scale which gives an estimate of an individual’s
self-confidence. It is a five-point Likert scale with response category are strongly
agree (5), agree (4). undecided (3), disagree (2) and strongly disagree (1). The
scale's items are all positively written and rated from 5 to 1. The total of the items
from 1 to 6 makes up the social dimension score, while the total of the items
from 7 to 13 makes up the personal dimension score. The sum of all item scores
serves as a measure of a person's level of confidence. Using the Cronbach Alpha
technique, the reliability of the two dimensions and the entire scale was
calculated. It was discovered to be 0.74 for the social dimension, 0.78 for the
personal dimension, and 0.84 for the entire scale. By comparing the results of
the self-esteem assessment, the external validity of the scale was calculated and
found to be 0.77.
Self-Efficacy Scale: GSE was developed by Matthias Jerusalem and Ralf
Schwarzer in 1979. It has ten things in it. Cronbach's alpha values for GSE range
from.76 to.90, indicating internal reliability. The General Self-Efficacy Scale is
correlated with emotion, optimism, and job satisfaction. Negative coefficients
were discovered for anxiety, burnout, stress, and health issues. Finding the sum
of each item results in the final score. The overall score on the GSE runs from
10 to 40, with a higher score indicating greater self-efficacy.
Satisfaction with Life Scale: In 1985, Ed Diener, Robert A. Emmons, Randy J.
Larsen, and Sharon Griffin developed the SWLS. The SWLS is a brief, seven-
point scale used to assess life satisfaction. The respondent typically needs just
one minute to complete the scale. The possible range of scores is 5-35, with 20
being the neutral value of the scale. Scores between 5 and 9 indicate that the
respondent is very unhappy with life, whereas scores between 31 and 35 show
that the respondent is very happy with life. The scale has a very high level of
internal consistency, as seen by its coefficient alpha, which has varied from 0.79
to 0.89. Strong test-retest correlations were also discovered for the scale (.84, .80
over a month interval).
Procedure: The participants' willingness to engage in the study was determined
once the purpose of the investigation was presented to them online. The sample
was provided with the sociodemographic data sheet, the Self-confidence scale
(Manikandan, K., 2015), the General Self-Efficacy Scale (Schwarzer, R., &

The Investigator, Vol.8, No.4 (December 2022) ISSN 2454-3314 85
Jerusalem, M., 1995), and the Satisfaction with Life Scale (Dinner et al, 1985)
through the online platform with the appropriate instructions for each. The
participants were asked for their response. The manual's instructions were
followed for grading the assessments.
Analysis of data: The following statistical tests were used to assess the collected
data. The Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) version 20 was used to
conduct the statistical analysis. Mean , One way ANOVA ,Pearson coefficient
correlation
Result :The study's primary goal is to look at young people' levels of self-
efficacy, confidence, and life satisfaction. Six hypotheses were developed by the
investigator for this purpose. The table below lists the results.
Table 1: Mean value of self-efficacy, self-confidence, and life satisfaction
among young adults across gender.
Category
N
M
General Self
Efficacy
Female
60
28.2000
Male
60
26.8167
Total
120
27.5083
Self
confidence
Female
60
49.2833
Male
60
51.7500
Total
120
50.5167
Life
Satisfaction
Female
60
23.3500
Male
60
20.2667
Total
120
21.8083
Figure 1: Graph of mean values
28.20 26.82 27.51
49.28 51.75 50.52
23.35 20.27 21.81
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
female
male
Total
female
male
Total
female
male
Total
General self efficacy Self confidence Life satisfaction

The Investigator, Vol.8, No.4 (December 2022) ISSN 2454-3314 86
Table 1 and figure shows the mean values of males and females in self efficacy,
self-confidence and life satisfaction. The mean score obtained by the males and
females in self efficacy are 26.8167 and 28.2000 respectively. The mean score
obtained by the males and females in self-confidence are 51.7500 and 49.2833
respectively. The mean score obtained by the males and females in life
satisfaction are 20.2667 and 23.3500 respectively. Hence, females have higher
self-efficacy and life satisfaction than males. Whereas self-confidence is higher
in males.
Table 2 - One-way ANOVA on self-efficacy, self-confidence, and life
satisfaction.
General Self
Efficacy
Sum of
squares
df
Mean
squares
F
s
i
g
.
Between
groups
57.408
1
57.408
1.941
.
1
6
6
Within groups
3490.583
118
29.581
Total
3547.992
119
Self
Confidence
Between
groups
182.533
1
182.533
3.104
.
0
8
1
Within groups
6939.433
118
58.809
Total
7121.967
119
Life
satisfaction
Between
groups
285.208
1
285.208
5.503
.
0
2
1
Within groups
6115.383
118
51.825
Total
6400.592
119
According to Table 2, the significant value for self-efficacy at the 0.05 level of
significance is 0.166, and the associated F value is 1.941, which is not
significant. The first null hypothesis is accepted, and among young people of
both sexes there is no observable difference in the level of self-efficacy. At the
0.05 threshold of significance, the significant value for self-confidence is 0.081,
and the associated F value is 3.104, which is not significant. The second null
hypothesis is accepted, as there is no discernible variation in young adults' levels
of confidence across gender. At the 0.05 level of significance, the significant
value for life satisfaction is 0.021, and the associated F value is 5.503. There is
a considerable variation in the degree of life satisfaction among young adults
across genders, and the third null hypothesis is thus rejected.
Table 3: correlation coefficient value between general self-efficacy, self-
confidence, and life satisfaction

The Investigator, Vol.8, No.4 (December 2022) ISSN 2454-3314 87
Variables
General
Self
efficacy
Self
Confide
nce
Life
satisfaction
General Self
Efficacy
Pearson correlation
1
.175
.140
Sig (2 tailed)
.056
.127
N
120
120
120
Self
Confidence
Pearson correlation
.175
1
.032
Sig (2 tailed)
.056
.729
N
120
120
120
Life
satisfaction
Pearson correlation
.140
.032
1
Sig (2 tailed)
.127
.729
N
120
120
120
Table 3 displays the results for the self-efficacy, self-confidence, and life
satisfaction correlation coefficients. Results indicate that self-efficacy and self-
confidence have a 0.175 correlation coefficient value and a 0.056 significant
value, which is not significant at the 0.05 level of significance. The fourth null
hypothesis is thus accepted, indicating that among young people there is no
substantial association between self-efficacy and self-confidence.
Self-efficacy and life satisfaction have a correlation coefficient of 0.140, with a
significant value of 0.127 that is not significant at the 0.05 level of significance.
The fifth null hypothesis is thus accepted, indicating that among young people
there is no substantial association between self-efficacy and life satisfaction.
Self-confidence and life happiness have a correlation coefficient of 0.032, with
a significant value of 0.729. This, at a 0.05 level of significance, is not significant
The sixth null hypothesis is thus accepted, indicating that among young people
there is no substantial link between self-confidence and life happiness.
Major findings:
1.Across genders, young people' levels of self-efficacy are not significantly
different.
2. The degree of self-confidence among young adults, regardless of gender, is
not significantly different.
3. The level of life satisfaction among young people varies significantly
depending on gender.
4. Among young adults, there is no discernible correlation between self-
confidence and self-efficacy.

The Investigator, Vol.8, No.4 (December 2022) ISSN 2454-3314 88
5. Among young adults, there is no correlation between life satisfaction and self-
efficacy.
6. Among young adults, there is no correlation between life satisfaction and self-
confidence.
Implications:
1. Intervention programmes can be created for women as the study's findings
show that women have much lower self-confidence than men.
2. Because of the finding that men had much lower levels of self-efficacy and
life satisfaction than women, intervention programmes can be designed
specifically for men.
References
A Srivastava. (2015). The Effect of Facebook Use on Life Satisfaction and Subjective Happiness
College Students. International Journal of Indian Psychology, 2 (4),
Bandura, A. (1997b). Self-Efficacy: The Exercise of Control. New York: Freeman.
Bandura, A. (1994). Self-efficacy. In V. S. Ramachaudran (Ed.), Encyclopedia of human
behavior (Vol. 4, pp. 71-81). New York: Academic Press. (Reprinted in H. Friedman [Ed.],
Encyclopedia of mental health. San Diego: Academic Press, 1998).
Bandura, A. (1986). The Explanatory and Predictive Scope of Self-Efficacy Theory. Journal of
Social and Clinical Psychology, 4(3), 359–373.
Barfield, V., & Burlingame, M. (1974). The Pupil Control Ideology of Teachers in Selected
Schools. The Journal of Experimental Education, 42(4), 6–11.
Diener, E. (Ed.). (2009). Assessing well-being: The collected works of Ed Diener (Vol. 39).
Springer Science & Business Media.
Diener, E. D., Emmons, R. A., Larsen, R. J., & Griffin, S. (1985). The satisfaction with life
scale. Journal of personality assessment, 49(1), 71-75.
Ellison, N. B., Steinfield, C., & Lampe, C. (2007). The benefits of Facebook “friends”: Social
capital and college students’ use of online social network sites. Journal of Computer-Mediated
Communication, 12(4), 1143–1168.
Emmons, R. A. (1991). Personal strivings, daily life events, and psychological and physical well‐
being. Journal of personality, 59(3), 453-472.
Gupta, R. (1987). Manual for Agnihotri's Self-confidence Inventory (ASCI). National
Psychological Centre, Agra.
Lyubomirsky, S., & Lepper, H. S. (1999). A measure of subjective happiness: Preliminary
reliability and construct validation. Social Indicators Research, 46, 137–155.