Academic self-efficacy as a determinant of the need for cognition, parental involvement, and extraversion among secondary school students in Oyo State, Nigeria

Abstract

This study investigated the need for cognition, parental involvement, and extraversion as factors determining academic self-efficacy among secondary school students in Oyo State, Nigeria. It adopted a correlational type of the descriptive research design. The study used a total sample of 300 secondary school students who were chosen based on a multistage sampling technique. Data were collected by means of a questionnaire focusing on the following variables (Need for Cognition r=0.84; Parental Involvement r=0.83; Extraversion r=0.86; and Self-Efficacy r=0.87). Data were analysed using Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient and Multiple Regression. The results revealed that the need for cognition (r=.804), and parental involvement (r=.788) had a strong positive correlation with academic self-efficacy while extraversion had a weak correlation with academic self-efficacy (r=-.203). Parental involvement was the most potent out of the predictor variables (β=.478), followed by the need for cognition (β=.365). Extraversion made a negative contribution to the predictor of academic self-efficacy (β=-.245). Regression analysis revealed that the three independent variables (need for cognition, parental involvement, and extraversion) jointly accounted for 55.2% (Adjusted R2=.552) variation in the prediction of self-efficacy. The study recommends that school counsellors should counsel students on the need to develop higher academic self-efficacy in order to bring about excellent results in their academics.