Control+Beliefs

Most social cognictive theories of motivation include some construct that refers to individuals' beliefs about how much control they have over their behavior or the outcome of their performance (Pintrich, pg. 188).

Listed is the distinction between three types of perceived control beliefs (Pintrich, pg. 188):


 * Agency beliefs** refer to students' perceptions that they can perform the appropriate behavior for the task (this is congruent with self-efficacy from social cognitive throry: eg. "I can use this strategy.")


 * Means-ends beliefs** parallel the outcome-expectancy belief construct from cognitive theory and involve that belief that there is a contingent relation between performing a behavior and the outcome (e.g., "If I use this strategy, I will learn better.")


 * Control Beliefs** are a generalized expectancy for a relation between the agent and the outcome (e.g., "I can learn; I can get good grades.")