Self-efficacy test (General Self-Efficacy Scale)
See what the scale measures, how it is scored, and how a result is read against the population that actually fits you.
Self-efficacy is your belief in your own ability to organize and carry out the actions needed to handle difficult situations and reach your goals. It is not a measure of how skilled you actually are; it is your confidence that you can cope, solve problems and persist when things get hard. That belief matters because it shapes the goals you set, the effort you invest and how you respond to setbacks.
The model
What it measures
This scale measures one thing: generalized self-efficacy, the broad sense of competence that carries across many areas of life rather than confidence in one specific skill. It is deliberately unidimensional - there are no separate scored subscales, just a single overall result.
The aspects below are conceptual facets of how that confidence shows up - handling unexpected problems, finding solutions, and sticking with a goal under opposition - not separately scored dimensions. The eight short items combine into one score. Self-efficacy is best understood as belief, not capacity: two people of equal skill can differ sharply in how confident they feel, and that difference predicts real behaviour.
- SEGeneral Self-Efficacy
A stable confidence that you can deal with novel or demanding situations through effort and persistence.
Facets: Handling problems, Finding solutions, Persistence, Coping under pressure.
The evidence
Science and validity
Self-efficacy is central to Albert Bandura's social-cognitive theory, which holds that beliefs about personal capability are among the strongest determinants of motivation and action. Decades of research link higher self-efficacy to greater effort, persistence, resilience after setbacks and better performance and wellbeing across education, work, health-behaviour change and coping with stress. The construct is one of the most extensively studied in psychology.
This test follows the generalized self-efficacy tradition exemplified by the widely used General Self-Efficacy Scale of Schwarzer and Jerusalem, an 8-item measure translated into dozens of languages with consistently high internal consistency. You rate how true each of the eight statements is of you on a 4-point scale, and the items are combined into one overall score. There are no pass/fail cut-offs; the result is norm-referenced against a comparison group. Because it is a belief measure rather than a skills test, read it as a reflection of your current confidence, which can be higher or lower than your actual ability.
Where you stand
How a score becomes a percentile
A raw score only means something against a comparison group. For example, on the 1-4 item-mean metric a self-efficacy score of 3.3 sits a little above the typical adult average (near 2.9), placing it around the 75th percentile - stronger confidence in coping than roughly three in four adults. Drag the slider to see how a score maps to a percentile; your real result is matched to the population that fits you when you take the test.
The reference data
Benchmarked against the population that fits you
We benchmark your result against the population that actually resembles you, across 25 reference groups.
Each reference group is used as its own benchmark, not to rank one country against another.
How it works
What the questions feel like
Illustrative statements showing the style of the items. These are examples, not the official scored items.
If a problem looks complicated, I trust myself to find a way through it.
Illustrative self-efficacy-style item - answered on a not-true to exactly-true scale, not an official scored item.
When something unexpected comes up, I can usually handle it.
Illustrative example, not an official scored item.
I can stay with a goal even when other people are working against it.
Illustrative example, not an official scored item.
I can usually find several solutions when I am stuck on something.
Illustrative example, not an official scored item.
Honest strengths and limitations
Strengths
- Built on one of the most extensively studied constructs in psychology, with a large body of evidence behind its predictive value.
- Very short (about 3 minutes) and validated across dozens of countries and languages.
- A clear, single score that is easy to interpret and to track over time as you build confidence.
Limitations
- It gives one overall reading rather than breaking confidence down by life area, so it tells you the general level, not where it comes from.
- It measures belief, not capacity, and that belief can be miscalibrated in either direction relative to actual skill.
- Like all self-reports it can be shaped by mood and self-presentation, so percentiles are a guide, not a verdict.
See your full profile
A complete report, matched to the population that fits you, with plain-language interpretation of every trait.
Frequently asked questions
What does the self-efficacy test measure?
It measures generalized self-efficacy - your belief that you can handle difficult situations and reach your goals - with eight short statements. It is deliberately unidimensional: there is one overall score rather than separate subscales.
What is the difference between self-efficacy and self-esteem?
Self-efficacy is about capability - your belief that you can do specific things and handle challenges. Self-esteem is about worth - how much you value and like yourself overall. They are related but distinct: someone can feel highly capable in a domain yet have low global self-esteem, or vice versa. This test measures the capability side, generalized across situations.
Can I build my self-efficacy?
Yes, and the research is specific about how. The strongest source is mastery experience: succeeding at progressively harder tasks. Other reliable sources are watching similar people succeed, encouragement from credible others, and learning to read your stress signals as readiness rather than threat. Setting reachable sub-goals and accumulating small wins builds self-efficacy more durably than pep talks alone.
How long does it take?
About three minutes - eight statements on a 4-point scale.
Related tests
- Kankaraš, M. (2017). Personality matters: Relevance and assessment of personality characteristics. OECD Education Working Papers, No. 157, OECD Publishing, Paris.
- Bandura, A. (1997). Self-efficacy: The exercise of control. W. H. Freeman.
- Schwarzer, R., & Jerusalem, M. (1995). Generalized Self-Efficacy Scale. In J. Weinman, S. Wright, & M. Johnston (Eds.), Measures in health psychology (pp. 35-37). NFER-NELSON.
- Chen, G., Gully, S. M., & Eden, D. (2001). Validation of a new general self-efficacy scale. Organizational Research Methods, 4(1), 62-83.
The General Self-Efficacy Scale is the work of Ralf Schwarzer and Matthias Jerusalem; this independent informational page describes the instrument and is free for research and non-commercial use with attribution.