Abstract
In the first edition of this handbook, we laid the foundation for a self-efficacy approach to understanding learning in adulthood. We examined self-efficacy applications to learning in adulthood from two broad-based theoretical perspectives: KAPA (knowledge and appraisal personality architecture; Cervone, 2004a) and SOC (selective optimization with compensation, Baltes, Lindenberger, & Staudinger, 2006). Both perspectives emphasize the dynamic interplay between dispositional, motivational, situational, and developmental contexts for successful functioning and adaptation in life. In this edition, we build upon earlier claims with new evidence regarding the central role of self-efficacy to adult development, aging, and well-being in memory, health, work, and everyday problem-solving contexts. Of these, the work context is new in this edition, and the sections on memory, problem solving, and health are expanded and updated.The unifying theme of our chapter is the individual's ability to adapt flexibly to new learning opportunities that arise in adulthood and old age by relying on perceived self-efficacy as a coping resource for navigating the changing social, cognitive, and physical landscape of late adulthood.
Document Type
Book Chapter
Publication Date
2011
Publisher Statement
Copyright © 2011 Oxford University Press. This chapter first appeared in Handbook of Adult Development and Learning, 2nd edition.
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Recommended Citation
Artistico, Daniele, Jane M. Berry, Justin Black, Dan Cervone, Courtney Lee, and Heather Orom. "Psychological Functioning in Adulthood: A Self-Efficacy Analysis." In The Oxford Handbook of Reciprocal Adult Development and Learning, edited by Carol Hoare, 215-247. 2nd ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011.