Self-efficacy beliefs related to the performance of a task have been identified as strong predictors of performance success. Research has hypothesized that the most influential contextual factor in athlete self-efficacy development is the athlete-coach relationship, yet there is little research on this relationship. The purpose of this study was to examine collegiate athletes’ perceptions of the prevalence of transformative and destructive coaches, the teaching methods athletes perceive to be transformative (strengthening self-efficacy belief), and the influence of coaching methods on sport self-efficacy belief. Just over two-thirds of the athletes expressed having transformative coaches while over one-third experienced coaches they defined as destructive, with many of these coaches utilizing overtly abusive tactics. This positive and negative exposure was significantly related to athlete self-efficacy belief. Transformative coaching methods were highlighted which add to the body of sport management research by highlighting how coaches influence performance beliefs of their athletes.

Self-efficacy belief is a strong predictor of successful performance. Developmental differences in the acquisition of self-beliefs have been attributed to myriad individual and contextual factors, including teacher influence. The aim of this mixed-method study was to examine collegiate music students’ perceptions of teaching methods that strengthened or weakened music performance belief. A questionnaire was sent to music students enrolled in their third or fourth years of highly competitive collegiate music programs in the United States ( N = 83). Analysis of variance revealed that students who reported studying with a teacher who “influenced them to become greater than they imagined possible” indicated significantly higher music performance self-efficacy beliefs than those who had not. Participants most frequently mentioned belief-enhancing methods associated with verbal/social persuasion (e.g., demonstrated belief in student potential, encouragement, high expectations, accountability, and personalized, logical instruction). Reported mastery experience methods were frequently coupled with verbal/social persuasion and encompassed a collaborative approach to selecting repertoire, tools for self-analysis and practice maximization, opportunities and encouragement to perform often, and goal setting. Over one in three participants conveyed studying with a teacher who “influenced them to become a weaker performer,” highlighting the need to educate music teachers in belief-enhancing pedagogical practices.

Fostering accurate musical self-perceptions may be particularly challenging when developing singing technique, where self-assessment is complicated by the close physiological and emotional relationship between the performer and the body-instrument. The aim of the present study was to investigate how vocal students’ beliefs in their performance capabilities were influenced by the four sources of self-efficacy and other personal/contextual factors. Nine vocalists at a private university in the western United States completed the Vocal Performance Self-Efficacy Survey, participated in two follow-up interviews, and provided written reflections about experiences that fostered or hindered their performance belief. Participants reported that they moved from a reliance on external assessments of capability to self-appraisal as they (a) refined technique through practice and performance, (b) observed coping and master models, (c) managed feedback from others, (d) attuned to physiological and emotional sensations, and (e) exercised cognitive self-regulation. Eight of nine interview participants reported that physiological and affective states most affected their performance belief. Findings indicate the importance of nurturing vocal students’ performance beliefs by utilizing the four sources of self-efficacy, fostering qualities of persistence and resilience, teaching agentic causation, fostering productive student/teacher relationships, and creating emotionally safe learning and performance environments.

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