A Cross-Cultural Investigation of the Efficacy Beliefs of South Asian Immigrant and Anglo Canadian Nonimmigrant Early Adolescents.

The author explored the mathematics efficacy beliefs of 270 South Asian (Indo Canadian) immigrant and Anglo Canadian nonimmigrant Grade 7 students. Self-efficacy beliefs strongly predicted mathematics performance for both cultural groups, but there were differences between the 2 groups in the sources of self-efficacy, the predictiveness of the secondary motivation variables, and the vertical dimensions of individualism and collectivism. It is argued that the Indo Canadian students are more vertical or hierarchical than the Anglo Canadian students and that comparison with others strongly influences their motivation beliefs and the formation of their efficacy beliefs. Self-efficacy in some cultures may be more other-oriented than is typically seen in Western cultures. A caution against generalizing about Asian populations is given, and implications for school settings are explored.