Focus on Outcomes or on Effort:  The Role of Self-efficacy on Influencing Expectations

In this dissertation, I investigate how differences in the manner via which individuals pursue goals (judging effort from outcome or outcome from effort) influences expectations (effort vs. outcome). In particular, I focus on the role of self-efficacy, and show that when individuals focus on outcomes, they take self-efficacy into consideration when assessing how much effort is needed. However, when focusing on effort, individuals do not take self-efficacy into consideration when making judgments of outcomes. Thus, I find that irrespective of differences in self-efficacy, individuals expect similar outcomes when effort invested is the same. I report findings from six studies, and discuss theoretical and managerial implications.