Measuring optimistic self-beliefs: A Spanish adaptation of the General Self-Efficacy Scale

Perceived self-efficacy is an emerging psychological construct that has proven useful in the prediction of performance, emotions and health. Generalized self-efficacy is a global construct that pertains to one s belief of being capable to cope with a broad variety of life stressors by instrumental actions. A parsimonious 10-item scale has been developed to tap this psychological disposition. It has been examined in different cultures and appeared to be positively associated with optimism and negatively with anxiety and depression. The present paper describes a Spanish adaptation of the scale. Within a sample of 943 students of the University of Costa Rica, the internal consistency was .81. Preliminary norms are given to encourage further field testing of this scale.