Self efficacy among rural and urban adolescents

Introduction

Adolescence is a critical developmental period marked by significant physical, emotional, and cognitive changes. During this time, self-efficacy beliefs, the confidence in one's ability to succeed in specific situations or accomplish a task play a pivotal role in shaping an adolescent's behavior, motivation, and academic performance. These beliefs influence how adolescents approach goals, tasks, and challenges, impacting their overall development and future success. Self-efficacy theory by Albert Bandura (1977) [4] , posits that individuals with high self-efficacy are more likely to set challenging goals, persevere in the face of obstacles, and recover quickly from setbacks. In contrast, those with low self-efficacy may avoid challenging tasks, give up easily, and experience higher levels of stress and anxiety. For adolescents, developing a strong sense of self-efficacy can be crucial for navigating the complexities of their academic and social lives. The formation of self-efficacy beliefs during adolescence is influenced by various factors, including personal experiences, social interactions, and environmental conditions.

Mastery experiences, or successful performances, are the most potent source of self-efficacy. When adolescents achieve success through their efforts, their belief in their capabilities is strengthened. Vicarious experiences, such as observing peers succeed, can also enhance self-efficacy, particularly when adolescents identify with those peers. Additionally, verbal persuasion from parents, teachers, and mentors can provide the encouragement needed to boost self-efficacy. Physiological and emotional states, such as stress and mood, further impact these beliefs, with positive states promoting higher self-efficacy. Research has consistently demonstrated that self-efficacy beliefs are powerful predictors of motivation and performance across various domains, including academics, sports, and career development. Adolescents with high selfefficacy are more likely to engage in goal-setting, adopt effective learning strategies, and persist through difficulties. Conversely, those with low self-efficacy are at a greater risk of academic underachievement and disengagement In rural areas of India, adolescents often face unique challenges related to limited access to quality education, resources and academically stimulating environment compared to urban areas. Urban areas in India generally provide better infrastructure, educational facilities, and exposure to various opportunities. Urban adolescents may have greater access to information, technology, and career guidance, which can positively impact self efficacy. However, urban adolescents may also face different challenges such as intense competition, high academic expectations, and peer pressure, which can have both positive and negative effects on their self-efficacy. Research studies conducted in India have shown varying levels of self-efficacy among adolescents. Factors such as gender, socioeconomic status, cultural background, family support and educational environment can influence these self efficacy levels. Self-efficacy is highly individualized and can vary widely among adolescents within the same environment. Some rural adolescents may develop high self-efficacy due to close-knit communities, supportive social networks, and exposure to responsibilities or challenges in their www.extensionjournal.com surroundings. Similarly, urban adolescents may also have high self-efficacy due to access to diverse opportunities, mentorship, or exposure to a wide range of experiences. self-efficacy of females was higher than adolescent males. The self efficacious adolescents have a strong sense of selfawareness, which allows them to adapt and optimize their learning approach to maximize their academic performance. They are more likely to seek support when needed. They recognize that seeking help does not indicate weakness but rather a proactive step towards improvement. They actively engage with teachers, peers, tutors, or academic resources to enhance their learning experience and overcome any academic challenges they may encounter.

Materials and Methods

An exploratory and comparative study designs were adopted. The sample consisted of 120 rural and 120 urban adolescents thus, a total sample of 240 adolescents was taken for the investigation. The rural sample were selected from Alampur and Manopadu mandals of Jogulamba Gadwal district and urban sample was selected from various zones of Hyderabad city (GHMC). Random sampling technique was used to select the sample. Adolescents in the age group of 13-18 years were selected. Interview schedule was developed to collect information on general profile of adolescents and Self efficacy scale developed by Mathur and Bhatnagar (2004) [14] was used to study the levels of self efficacy. The data was analyzed by using frequency and percentage and t-test.

Results and Discussion

Levels of self regulatory skills among rural and urban adolescents Self-regulation skills are elements of emotional intelligence that relate how well one can manage their thoughts, actions, emotions, and behaviors effectively in various situations. Persons who have poor Self-regulation skills may lack in goal setting, poor self-monitoring, emotional instability, time management issues, easily discouraged by challenges and setbacks, unhealthy habits, avoidance of feedback and help. The data on levels of Self-regulatory skills among rural and urban adolescents are discussed below. The results from the table 1 shows that majority (73%) of the respondents had moderate levels of Self-regulatory skills. About only one-fifth (19%) were having high levels and meagre (8%) were having low levels of Self-regulatory skills. Majority of rural adolescents (82%) had moderate levels of self-regulatory skills when compared to urban (67%). Whereas higher number of urban adolescents had high self regulation skills than rural followed by low. This might be due to the reason that rural adolescents were more adjusting, goal directed and avoid impulsive decisions. They effectively manage stress and anxiety. Gajda et al., (2022) [8] also found that rural adolescents have better self regulatory capacities than urban. Comparatively children aged 13-16 years obtained higher scores in the emotional regulation strategies than the 9-12-year group. Individuals with low self-regulatory skills often struggle to control their impulses, have difficulty staying focused on tasks, and may frequently experience emotional outbursts or stress, giving up easily when faced with challenges, reacting impulsively without considering consequences, and difficulty managing time effectively. Those with moderate self-regulatory skills show some ability to manage their thoughts, emotions, and behaviors but may still encounter challenges in high-stress or complex situations, occasionally procrastinating but generally able to complete tasks, experiencing stress but managing it with some coping strategies. Individuals with www.extensionjournal.com high self-regulatory skills are adept at managing their thoughts, emotions, and behaviors across various situations. They can set realistic goals, create effective plans, and follow through with them. They are resilient in the face of challenges and maintain a balanced emotional state, maintaining focus and productivity, employing effective stress management techniques, and demonstrating strong impulse control.

Levels of self influence skills among rural and urban adolescents

Self-influence skills are the abilities that enable individuals to motivate and guide themselves toward achieving their goals and desired outcomes. The data on levels of influence skills among rural and urban adolescents are discussed below. The results from the table 2 shows that about half of the respondents are having moderate (46%) levels of Selfinfluence skills. About 41% were having high levels and 13% had low levels of Self-influence skills. Individuals with low self-influence skills often lack motivation, struggle with self-doubt, and find it challenging to set and pursue personal goals. Urban adolescents expressed that they face difficulty in starting tasks, gets easily discouraged by setbacks, have low self-confidence, and often avoid challenges. Majority of rural adolescents had moderate self-influence skills and show some ability to motivate themselves and set goals, but they may struggle with consistency and maintaining a positive attitude in the face of adversity. Sometimes they require external encouragement, and were moderately resilient to setbacks.

It can be inferred that irrespective of residence, adolescents have a deep understanding of their own emotions, strengths, weaknesses, values, and motivations. They can manage their impulses, emotions, and behaviors effectively. They regularly engage in self-reflection, evaluating their progress and learning from their experiences. They are proactive, disciplined, and capable of directing their actions toward meaningful and fulfilling outcomes.

Levels of self confidence skills among rural and urban adolescents

Self-confidence is a person's sense of his or her own competence and perceived capability to deal effectively with various situations. The data on levels of confidence skills among rural and urban adolescents are discussed below. It can be observed from the above table that nearly half of the respondents (44%) had moderate level of Selfconfidence skills followed by high (37%) and low (19%). Low levels of self efficacy in urban sample indicate self doubt about their abilities and decisions, avoiding challenges or new situations due to fear of not succeeding, relying on others' opinions and approval to feel confident, preferring to stay within their comfort zone and avoiding risks or new experiences, hesitating to take on new challenges or responsibilities, under estimating their capabilities and potential, Easily giving up when faced with obstacles or criticism. Moderately confident people exhibit confidence in some areas while doubting others, take on challenges but still cautious about certain risks, engage in a mix of positive and negative self-talk, and possess a feeling of insecure. Highly confident people firmly believe in their abilities and decisions, actively seek and thrive in new and challenging situations, bounce back quickly from setbacks and view failures as opportunities to learn. Rural adolescents were found to be more confident compared to urban. The reasons told were positive support from parents, peers and teachers. They experience less stress and anxiety and possess good coping mechanisms. The above results

were supported by Ballane (2019) [5] reported that selfconfidence had significant role in academic performance, development, learning and success.

The figure 3 depicts that majority of rural adolescents had high (51%) levels of Self-confidence skills when compared to urban.The above results were in contrast with Long et al., (2023) [9] who found that urban adolescents generally exhibited higher self-confidence. This difference was attributed to urban students having more access to educational resources and extracurricular activities that can boost self-confidence and rural adolescents often face more significant challenges due to limited access to resources and opportunities.

Levels of social achievement skills among rural and urban adolescents

Social achievement skills refer to the abilities and competencies that individuals use to effectively navigate social interactions and relationships in a way that supports their personal and professional goals.The data on levels of social achievement skills among rural and urban adolescents are discussed below. The results of the above table 4 clearly state that 40% of the respondents had moderate to high levels of social achievement skills followed by low levels (21%). This indicates that the adolescents with high levels of social achievement skills have Ability to convey thoughts and ideas clearly, Ability to mediate and resolve disputes, utilizing social connections for personal and professional growth, Understanding and respecting diverse backgrounds and perspectives, Interacting effectively with people, Prioritizing tasks and managing time efficiently. Whereas with low social achievement skills indicate difficulty in expressing thoughts and feelings clearly, limited awareness of own strengths and weaknesses, Poor at managing and resolving conflicts, often prefers to work alone and may not contribute effectively in group settings. Moderate social skills indicate Able to express thoughts and feelings with some clarity but may still struggle in more complex or stressful situations, occasionally miss social cues, may experience occasional conflicts or misunderstandings, can manage and resolve conflicts with some effectiveness, can work in teams and contribute, but may not always take a proactive role. The above figure 4 reveals that rural adolescents had high Social achievement skills when compared to urban.

Levels of self skills among rural and urban adolescents

Self-skills, also known as personal skills or intrapersonal skills, are the abilities and competencies that individuals use to manage themselves effectively. The data on levels of Self skills among rural and urban adolescents are discussed below. From the above table 5 it can be observed that half (51%) of the respondents had moderate levels of Self skills followed by high (36%) and low (13%). It was found that the majority of the urban adolescents had low levels of Self skills when compared to rural. Whereas rural adolescents had high level of Self skills due to more support and opportunities for positive self-development.

They promote more independence and responsibility at an earlier age, contributing to higher self-skills. Rural adolescents had ability to convey thoughts, feelings, and information clearly and effectively. They have the capacity to understand and share the feelings of others, ability to work well with others to achieve common goals, ability to handle disagreements and conflicts in a constructive manner, manage their behavior and make informed decisions. Whereas urban respondents were found to be more dependent and poor decision makers. (Ahmad et al.

Levels of self evaluation skills among rural and urban adolescents

Self-evaluation skills are the abilities and practices that individuals use to assess their own performance, behaviors, and personal attributes. The data on levels of Self-evaluation skills among rural and urban adolescents are discussed below. According to table 6 it was found that more than half of the respondents (62%) had moderate levels of Self-Evaluation followed by low (27%) only few of the respondents had a high level of Self-Evaluation. The figure 6 clearly depicts that majority of rural adolescents were having moderate to high self evaluation skills when compared to urban. This might be due to the reason that rural sample were good at assessing their performance in school, including grades, test scores, and other academic achievements, ability to learn and understand new concepts, compare themselves to their peers to gauge their own performance and attributes, take feedback from parents, teachers, and peers and learn from experiences than urban.

Levels of self esteem skills among rural and urban adolescents

Self esteem is one's attitude toward oneself, Self-esteem skills are the abilities and practices that help individuals build and maintain a positive perception of themselves. The data on levels of Self-esteem skills among rural and urban adolescents are discussed below. The above table 7 reveals that nearly two third (59%) of the respondents had moderate levels of Self-esteem followed by low (23%) and high (18%) Self-esteem. Majority of the rural adolescents had moderate self-esteem when compared to urban. This might be due to the reason that rural people have strong support system, fostering a sense of belonging and self-worth, less stressful environment, stronger emphasis on traditional values and close family bonds, providing a stable and nurturing environment that supports self-esteem development, greater Opportunities for involvement in community activities. The above results were in line with Min li et al., (2023) [10] who found that rural students had better self esteem than urban. Yu et al. (2022) [13] indicated that students in rural China had a higher prevalence of low self-esteem when compared urban.

High self-esteem indicates confidence in abilities and decisions, positive self-image and self-respect, resilience in the face of setbacks, healthy relationships and social interactions. Moderate levels of self-esteem indicate balanced view of strengths and weaknesses, generally positive self-image but with occasional doubts, moderate confidence and self-assurance. Low self-esteem indicates persistent self-doubt and lack of confidence, negative selfimage and feelings of worthlessness, difficulty in handling criticism and setbacks, tendency to compare oneself unfavourably to others.

Levels of self cognition skills among rural and urban adolescents

Self-cognition skills, also known as metacognitive skills or self-awareness skills, refer to the abilities and practices that individuals use to understand and manage their own cognitive processes. The data on levels of Self-cognition skills among rural and urban adolescents are discussed below. The above table 8 displays the Self-cognition skills of the respondents. It can be inferred that nearly (58%) of the respondents had high level of Self-cognition one fourth of them (26%) had moderate levels and very few (16%) had low levels of Self-cognition. Rural adolescents had high (75%) levels of Self-cognition skills when compared to urban. This might be due to the fact that rural adolescents better understand one's own emotions, strengths, weaknesses, and values, aware of innate powers, make informed decisions and set realistic goals. In contrary, urban sample failed to control their emotions and manage their behaviour in difficult situations. They fail to understand and acknowledge their innate abilities. Low selfcognitive skills in urban sample indicate Poor self-awareness and understanding of personal thoughts and emotions, difficulty in identifying and managing emotions, Limited insight into personal strengths and weaknesses, Ineffective problem-solving and decision-making skills, Frequent misunderstandings in social interactions, struggles with emotional regulation, leading to frequent mood swings or emotional outbursts. Whereas high self-cognition skills indicate strong self-awareness and understanding of personal thoughts and emotions, Clear insight into personal strengths and weaknesses, Smooth and effective social interactions, Consistent emotional regulation, even under stress, Reflective approach to situations, considering consequences before acting. Overall, It can be concluded from the above Figure 9 that rural adolescents had high level of self-efficacy when compared to urban. Similar findings were given by Sharma (2023) [15] who stated that urban students had low self efficacy than rural students Rural students had high positive attitude than urban students. The reason for the high levels of self-efficacy in rural adolescents was attributed to the supportive home environment and positive learning experiences in college. The mean differences in the overall self efficacy between rural and urban respondents revealed a significant difference at 0.01 level, In all the dimensions of self efficacy, rural sample scored better than urban. Sharma (2019) [16] in his study found significant differences in self-efficacy scores between rural, urban inhabitants.

Conclusion

The study concludes that the rural adolescents had better self efficacy levels compared to urban adolescents. Various personal factors, cultural and socio-economic factors play a significant role in developing self efficacy. The family and school/college environment also is crucial in enhancing the self efficacy in children. A supportive home environment and positive parenting practices contribute significantly for high self efficacy in adolescents.

References

1. Abdinoor NM. Socio-economic status, career decisionmaking self-efficacy, career maturity and gender with secondary school students in northern Kenya. International Journal of Multidisciplinary Curriculum Educational Research. 2020;2:160-167.
2. Ahmad M, Anwar MN, Khan S. Social adjustments and self-efficacy of university students. PUTAJHumanities and Social Sciences. 2017;24(2):21-32.
3. Ashraf MA, Sahar NE, Kamran M, Alam J. Impact of self-efficacy and perfectionism on academic procrastination among university students in Pakistan. Behaviour Science. 2023;13(7):537-545.
4. Bandura A. Self-efficacy towards a unifying theory of behavior change. Psychological Review. 1977;34(2):191-215.
5. Ballane G. Understanding of Self-Confidence in High School Students. Doctoral Dissertation. Walden University; 2019.
6. Cascio M, Botta V, Anzaldi V. The role of self-efficacy and internal locus of control in online learning. Journal of e-Learning and Knowledge Society. 2017;9(3):2329.
7. Gajda M, Małkowska-Szkutnik A, Rodzeń W. Selfregulation in adolescents: Polish adaptation and validation of the self-regulation scale. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2022;19(12):7432.
8. Long Z, Wang K, Wang H, Yao W, Liu C. Effect of a mental health education intervention on children's life satisfaction and self-confidence in rural China. Frontiers in Psychology. 2023;14:1277139.
9. Moksnes UK, Eilertsen MEB, Ringdal R, Bjørnsen HN, Rannestad T. Life satisfaction in association with selfefficacy and stressor experience in adolescents-selfefficacy as a potential moderator. Scandinavian Journal of Caring Sciences. 2019;33(1):222-230.