Self-efficacy, interest, and task performance: Within-task changes, mutual relationships, and predictive effects

The aim of this study was to examine how possible changes in self-efficacy and interest during a task relate to each other and whether such changes independently predict overall task performance. To achieve this, the participants, one hundred ninth-grade students, were repetitively asked to rate their efficacy judgments and interest while they were working on a complex problem-solving task. The results from a series of latent growth curve models showed a significant overall increase in students' self-efficacy during the task. Changes in interest and self-efficacy were positively correlated, and, after controlling for the effects of prior mathematics achievement, both the initial level of self-efficacy and the rate of change in interest independently predicted final task performance.