Career development, collective efficacy, and individual task performance

The purpose of this paper is to test the hypothesis that perceived collective efficacy would mediate the effects of self‐efficacy on individual task performance.

An assessment center design with 147 participants in 49 three‐person groups was used.

It is found that for individuals working on an assigned group goal, perception of the group's collective efficacy, rather than self‐efficacy, has a direct influence on task performance.

Future researchers should examine the extent to which cognitive intelligence influences collective efficacy effects.

The research suggests that perceptions of collective efficacy and team support may influence early career developmental task performance.

This paper found that collective efficacy might be more important than individual efficacy in predicting individual task performance in some circumstances.