Effects of Conceptions of Ability on Anxiety, Self-Efficacy, and Learning in Training

A field experiment of 76 employees studied the effects of induced conceptions of ability as either an acquirable skill or fixed entity on computer anxiety, computer efficacy beliefs, and the acquisition of declarative knowledge, drawing from social cognitive theory. The setting was an introductory microcomputer training course. The findings indicate that trainees in the acquirable skill condition experienced a significant decrease in computer anxiety between the pre- and posttraining assessments; however, trainees in the entity condition did not experience a significant change in computer anxiety. Also, trainees in the acquirable skill condition experienced a significant increase in computer efficacy beliefs, and trainees in the entity condition experienced a significant decrease in computer efficacy between the pre- and posttraining assessments. Contrary to expectations, the effects of the training intervention on the acquisition of declarative knowledge were not mediated by computer anxiety and computer efficacy beliefs. The significant results are consistent with deductions made from social cognitive theory.