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.
Keywords: need for cognition, parental involvement, extraversion,
academic self-efficacy