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General Self-Efficacy and Psychological Resilience Promote Skill Acquisition Rate Under Psychological Pressure

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 August 2017

Monique F. Crane Open the ORCID record for Monique F. Crane [Opens in a new window] ,
Gareth Brabazon ,
Daniel F. Gucciardi ,
Thomas Loveday  and
Mark Wiggins
Monique F. Crane*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia
Gareth Brabazon
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia
Daniel F. Gucciardi
Affiliation:
School of Physiotherapy and Exercise Science, Curtin University, Perth, Australia
Thomas Loveday
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia
Mark Wiggins
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia
*
address for correspondence: Monique Crane, Building C3A, Department of Psychology, Macquarie University, North Ryde, Sydney 2109, Australia. Email: monique.crane@mq.edu.au
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Abstract

This study extends the limited body of research exploring the association between psychological resources and performance under pressure. It was anticipated that participants’ general self-efficacy and resilience would positively influence skill acquisition rate more under high pressure, than low pressure. Eighty-one undergraduate students (Mage = 22.93; SD = 7.53; 50.6% female) participated in a learning task: to fly a flight simulator. The within-subjects variable was the participant's ability to steadily control the aircraft roll across six trials. Psychological pressure was manipulated between-subjects and general self-efficacy and resilience were measured moderator variables. Findings indicated that under high pressure, higher levels of general self-efficacy and perceived resilience predicted faster initial skill acquisition compared to those with lower levels of these resources. In contrast, in the low-pressure condition, the skill acquisition rate was the same irrespective of psychological resources. This research highlights the importance of psychological resources in pressured training contexts.

Keywords

employee performancemental healthstress and burnouttrainingindustrial and organisational psychology
Type
Articles
Information
The Australasian Journal of Organisational Psychology , Volume 10 , 2017 , e3
Copyright
Copyright © Australian Psychological Society Ltd 2017 

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