Self-efficacy training to speed reemployment: Helping people to help themselves.

Assessed the impact of training designed to boost general self-efficacy (GSE) on job-search activity and on reemployment among 66 persons unemployed for up to 18 wks. Randomly assigned experimental participants attended 8 behavioral-modeling workshop sessions over 2.5 wks. The manipulation check showed that training boosted GSE as intended. The workshop also increased job-search activity, confirming the hypothesis that raising GSE motivates intensification of effort. The treatment increased reemployment among participants low in initial GSE but not among those with high GSE. The greater plasticity of individuals low in GSE suggests that the practical utility of training is moderated by initial GSE. It is concluded that individuals of low GSE should be given priority access to scarce behavioral-modeling training resources. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)