The Relationship Between Self‐Efficacy Beliefs and Inventoried Vocational Interests

It has generally been assumed that a linear relationship exists between vocational interests and self‐efficacy. Bandura (1986) suggested, however, that persons require some amount of reasonable challenge in activities to sustain their interest, and that the relationship of interest to self‐efficacy thus may be curvilinear. This research extended and remedied previous literature and tested explicitly Bandura's concept of a threshold. Results suggest general support for a linear relationship between interest and self‐efficacy ( r s are .62–.68), although curvilinear self‐efficacy terms contributed significantly to two of three regression equations. Contrary to predictions, plots suggest interest may be stable at lower levels of self‐efficacy and may increase linearly at higher levels.