Are effect sizes in self-efficacy field changing over time? A meta-meta analysis.

Theories relating to self-efficacy have developed rapidly since Bandura first proposed the concept in 1977. In the past two decades, psychologists have carried out numerous studies to research the cultural and psychological changes in social development. The research topic of this study is whether self-efficacy changes over time. This study uses a meta-meta analysis and includes 13 meta-analyses, including 536 effect sizes, with a total sample size of 421,880. We find that individual self-efficacy increases over time, which may be related to social development trends. However, the effects of interventions on self-efficacy remain similar (Qmodel  = 1.807, df = 1, p > .05), and a possible explanation is that time effects of self-efficacy confuse the effects of intervention, because both in the intervention group and control group, the average of self-efficacy increases over time. And we find that a general decline in the predictive effects of self-efficacy (Qmodel  = 5.117, df = 1, p = .024), especially the ability to predict relatively objective variables (e.g. job performance, teaching effectiveness, and transfer of training). A possible explanation is that as social development people tend to overestimate their self-efficacy. Another possible explanation is that the effect sizes in the original studies being overrated, may due to intentional selective reporting or unintentional statistical errors.

The Relationship Between Academic Encouragement and Academic Self-Efficacy: A Moderated Mediation Model.

To explore the influence mechanism and boundary conditions of academic encouragement on college students' academic self-efficacy, this study did a questionnaire survey and used the four scales, namely, Academic Encouragement Scale (AES), Course Subscale of the College Self-Efficacy Inventory (CCSI), Adult Hope Scale (AHS), and Campus Connectedness Scale (CCS). The questionnaires were distributed both online and offline. A total of 355 questionnaires were distributed, with 267 valid returns. Among them, 139 were women (52.1%) and 128 were men (47.9%), and the age range is 18-24 years old. As for the grade level, 123 were first-year college students (46.1%), 58 were second-year college students (21.7%), and 86 were third-year college students (32.2%). The results of this study showed the following. (1) Campus connectedness or hope mediated the relations between (challenge-focused or potential-focused) encouragement and academic self-efficacy. (2) Academic engagement could not moderate the above mediation models.

Effects of personal growth initiative on occupational engagement of college students in the uncertain social context: A cross-lagged model and a moderated mediation model.

In recent years, the international social context has become increasingly volatile, uncertain, complex, ambiguous (VUCA), and college students need a high level of long-term occupational engagement to cope with the unpredictability of the current employment environment. In this context, this study used a longitudinal design to explore the relationship between personal growth initiative and occupational engagement among college students and, based on this, further explored the role of vocational identity and Big Five personality traits in it. This study used a questionnaire survey method and the study participants were 700 college students in Shandong, China. And the time interval between the two questionnaire measurements was 4 months, with 559 final valid participants (182 males and 377 females). The following results were found in this study: (1) The cross-lagged model found that personal growth initiative was a significant positive predictor of occupational engagement. (2) The moderated mediation model found that vocational identity mediated the relationship between personal growth initiative and occupational engagement, and that neuroticism among the Big Five personality traits played a moderating role, i.e., individuals with higher level of neuroticism personality trait had a relatively weaker positive predictive effect of vocational identity on occupational engagement. This study concludes that colleges and universities need to understand students' interests and personality traits and provide more targeted career education (e.g., intentional growth training and cognitive behavioral therapy) to promote their personal growth initiatives, reduce their neuroticism levels and in turn enhance their vocational identity in order to help college students achieve long-term sustainable occupational engagement in the uncertain social context.

The relationship between COVID-19-related restrictions and fear of missing out, problematic smartphone use, and mental health in college students: The moderated moderation effect of resilience and social support.

As one of the groups most affected by the epidemic, the mental health of college students during the epidemic is a focus of attention in multiple fields. Based on resource conservation theory, this study investigates the impact of COVID-19-related restrictions on college students' problematic smartphone use and mental health from two perspectives, students' individual factors and external environmental factors, and specifically explores the role of fear of missing out (FoMO), resilience and social support in this context. This study used a questionnaire method, and to control for common method bias, a multitemporal data collection strategy was used. The study used online questionnaire distribution, the final sample included 975 Chinese college students (497 males and 478 females), and of these, 10.3% were freshmen, 31.9% were sophomores, 31.6% were juniors, 12.3% were seniors, and 13.9% were postgraduates. The results of this study showed the following: (1) Perceived COVID-19-related strain was positively correlated with perceived FoMO, problematic smartphone use and mental health problems (depression, anxiety, stress) among college students. (2) FoMO partially mediated the relationship between perceived COVID-19-related restrictions and problematic smartphone use, and it fully mediated the relationship between perceived COVID-19-related restrictions and mental health problems. (3) Resilience and social support co-moderated the relationship between FoMO and problematic smartphone use or mental health problems (depression, anxiety, stress).

Does Resilience Help in Reducing Burnout Symptoms Among Chinese Students? A Meta-Analysis.

As society has evolved, student burnout has become a common problem in schools around the world, including in China. Therefore, the purpose of the current study is to explore whether resilience is related to student burnout in China and to examine the changing trend of resilience and student burnout. Moreover, we will assess gender differences and possible biases, including publication biases, small-study biases, gray literature biases, and decline effects. This meta-analysis included 34 studies, with a total of 81 effect sizes and a total sample size of 22,474. We found that resilience was negatively correlated with student burnout in the Chinese context. We also found evidence of gray literature bias in student burnout, which needs to be verified by subsequent studies. However, we found that there were decline effects in resilience, possibly because, as culture evolves, people become more focused on themselves; thus, their collective behaviors decline, leading to a decrease in their ability to adapt to the collective and the environment. We also found similar decline effects at the individual level; that is, resilience might decrease with individual age stages (from the primary to college stage), which might be related to the use of immature defense mechanisms against stress by students.

Are Effect Sizes in Emotional Intelligence Field Declining? A Meta-Meta Analysis.

Since Salovey and Mayer (1990) first proposed the emotional intelligence (EI) as an independent intellectual component, research on the field of EI has developed rapidly. A large number of studies have shown that emotional intelligence is an important predictor that affects our lives, such as job performance, mental health, and so on. However, we observed that some effect sizes in the field of emotional intelligence decreased over time. Is this kind of decline simply due to random errors, or is emotional intelligence field undergoing decline effects? The present study analyzed 484 effect sizes based on the responses of 102,579 participants from nine meta-analyses in emotional intelligence field to estimate the average effect size, and evidence for decline effects in this field. This study finds that the average effect size of EI is 0.244 (p < 0.001), and the average effect size of mixed EI (r = 0.272, p < 0.001) is significantly higher than that of ability EI (r = 0.160, p < 0.001). Effect sizes in the field of EI decrease with time, there are decline effects in emotional intelligence field. Furthermore, there are also decline effects in mixed EI field. However, we find no evidence that there are decline effects in ability EI field. Base on the significant average effect size of mixed EI, the most likely explanation for the decline in effect sizes is that effect sizes of mixed EI in the original studies were overestimate. This study considers decline effects in mixed EI research as inflated decline effects. To sum up, decline effects in the field of emotional intelligence are mainly due to the choice of emotional intelligence model and measurement method.