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Date of Award

Spring 2010

Document Type

Restricted Thesis: Campus only access

Degree Name

Bachelor of Science

Department

Psychology

First Advisor

Dr. Jane Barry

Abstract

The purpose of this experiment was to investigate the effect of self and team efficacy on athletic performance. Self-efficacy is one’s belief in their ability to accomplish a certain task (Bandura, 1982). There are four sources of efficacy expectations- performance accomplishments, verbal persuasion, emotional arousal, and vicarious experience (Bandura, 1977). Sixteen varsity swimmers ranging in age from 18-21 years old participated in the experiment. The participants completed both self and team efficacy questionnaires prior to four meets. Their performance times from each meet were also collected. The results of this study did not support the hypothesis that self-efficacy and team-efficacy affect athletic performance; however, both cognitive and somatic anxieties were negatively correlated with swimming self-efficacy, (r=-.64) and (r=-.72) respectively. As expected, self-efficacy and team-efficacy were highly correlated (r=.79). The biggest limitation to this study was the small sample size.

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