The Illusion of Competence: Increasing Self-Efficacy in Outdoor Leaders

Authors

  • Scott A. Schumann The University of Utah
  • Jim Sibthorp The University of Utah
  • Douglas Hacker The University of Utah

Keywords:

outdoor leadership training, self-efficacy, competence, metacognition

Abstract

The development of self-efficacy from participation in adventure education is consistently viewed as a positive and desirable outcome. However, outdoor leadership training is a context in which self-efficacy enhancement should be approached with caution. Recent research outside the field of outdoor leadership and adventure education has called into question the assumption of a consistently positive relationship between increased selfefficacy and subsequent behavior. Self-efficacy beliefs can be overinflated and result in inappropriate selection of behaviors, acceptance of risk, and decreased performance. This has particular relevance for outdoor leaders because of the dire consequences associated in outdoor settings. Several conditions in outdoor leadership training may contribute to inflated or inaccurate self-efficacy beliefs. These include the overprovision of success, isolated lessons of instruction, and inadequately processed experiences. Solutions to the conditions which create outdoor leaders' illusions of competence include providing a balance of opportunity for failure and success, combining skills in lessons to accurately represent future contexts of application, and the adaptation of metacognitive monitoring interventions to improve students' interpretations of experience and competence.

Downloads

Issue

Vol. 6 No. 2 (2014)

Section

Regular Papers

License

Sagamore Publishing LLC (hereinafter the “Copyright Owner”)

Journal Publishing Copyright Agreement for Authors

PLEASE REVIEW OUR POLICIES AND THE PUBLISHING AGREEMENT, AND INDICATE YOUR ACCEPTANCE OF THE TERMS BY CHECKING THE ‘AGREE TO THE TERMS OF THIS COPYRIGHT NOTICE’ CHECKBOX BELOW.

I understand that by submitting an article to Journal of Outdoor Recreation, Education, and Leadership, I am granting the copyright to the article submitted for consideration for publication in Journal of Outdoor Recreation, Education, and Leadership to the Copyright Owner. If after consideration of the Editor of the Journal of Outdoor Recreation, Education, and Leadership, the article is not accepted for publication, all copyright covered under this agreement will be automatically returned to the Author(s).

THE PUBLISHING AGREEMENT

Assignment of Copyright

I hereby assign to the Copyright Owner the copyright in the manuscript I am submitting in this online procedure and any tables, illustrations or other material submitted for publication as part of the manuscript in all forms and media (whether now known or later developed), throughout the world, in all languages, for the full term of copyright, effective when the article is accepted for publication.

Reversion of Rights

Articles may sometimes be accepted for publication but later be rejected in the publication process, even in some cases after public posting in “Articles in Press” form, in which case all rights will revert to the Author.

Retention of Rights for Scholarly Purposes

I understand that I retain or am hereby granted the Retained Rights. The Retained Rights include the right to use the Preprint, Accepted Manuscript, and the Published Journal Article for Personal Use and Internal Institutional Use.

All journal material is under a 12 month embargo. Authors who would like to have their articles available as open access should contact Sagamore-Venture for further information.

In the case of the Accepted Manuscript and the Published Journal Article, the Retained Rights exclude Commercial Use, other than use by the author in a subsequent compilation of the author’s works or to extend the Article to book length form or re-use by the author of portions or excerpts in other works.

Published Journal Article: the author may share a link to the formal publication through the relevant DOI.

Author Representations

  • The Article I have submitted to the journal for review is original, has been written by the stated author(s) and has not been published elsewhere.
  • The Article was not submitted for review to another journal while under review by this journal and will not be submitted to any other journal.
  • The Article contains no libelous or other unlawful statements and does not contain any materials that violate any personal or proprietary rights of any other person or entity.
  • I have obtained written permission from copyright owners for any excerpts from copyrighted works that are included and have credited the sources in the Article.
  • If the Article was prepared jointly with other authors, I have informed the co-author(s) of the terms of this Journal Publishing Agreement and that I am signing on their behalf as their agent, and I am authorized to do so.