Speaker: Prof. Ralf Schwarzer

Time: 1pm-2:30pm, 24 October, 2019

Venue: 1206，wangkezhen Bldg

Abstract: Perceived self-efficacy is a powerful operative construct that refers to one’s capability to master challenging tasks in the future. Its eminent role in health behavior change programs is discussed with a focus on theory, assessment, construct validity, and change.

The construct of self-efficacy has become an essential part of most health behavior theories. Moreover, the Health Action Process Approach has made a further distinction between three stages of change in which the construct operates slightly differently: pre-action task self-efficacy, coping (or maintenance) self-efficacy, and recovery self-efficacy. This process-based distinction has implications for the assessment of self-efficacy. Measurement examples will be provided that were applied in various intervention settings targeting physical activity, dietary changes, and alcohol consumption. Moreover, examples of digital interventions will be given.

Convergent and discriminant validity has been examined using multiphase-multibehavior structural equation models. Further, in terms of self-efficacy changes, it has been found frequently that scores do not improve during treatment along with behavioral improvements, and possible reasons for this phenomenon will be discussed.

Bio: Ralf Schwarzer is Professor Emeritus of Psychology at the Freie University of Berlin, Germany, and Professor of Psychology at the University of Social Sciences and Humanities in Wroclaw, Poland. He was appointed Professor of Education in 1974, and Professor of Psychology in 1982. He has published more than 500 papers and co-founded three journals: (a) Anxiety, Stress, and Coping: An International Journal, (b) Zeitschrift für Gesundheitspsychologie, and (c) Applied Psychology: Health and Well-Being (currently Editor-in-Chief). He has been Past-President of the Stress and Anxiety Research Society (STAR), Past-President of the European Health Psychology Society (EHPS), and Past-President of the Health Psychology Division of the International Association for Applied Psychology (IAAP). His research focus lies on stress, social support, self-efficacy, and health behaviors. In 2007, he received the German Psychology Award. In 2010, he received the Award for Distinguished Scientific Contributions of the International Association of Applied Psychology (IAAP).

Host: Prof. Yiqun Gan, Dr. Guangyu Zhou

2019-10-17