The Relationship of Self-Efficacy, Identity Style, and Stage of Change with Academic Self-Regulation

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between academic self-regulation, self-efficacy, and two student self-belief systems, identity style and stage of change, for 210 college students enrolled at a private research university. High scores on the informational identity, contemplation stage, and action stage subscales and low scores on the diffuse/avoidant identity subscale were correlated with high self-regulation scores. The degree that the students have invested effort in establishing their identity as students (informational identity style) and their willingness to improve their study skills (action stage of change) significantly increased the proportion of variance explained in students' self-regulation scores. Implications for learning strategies instruction are discussed.