Abstract

Aim of this contribution is to present a new construct: perceived emotional self-efficacy, defined as the perceived ability to cope with a variety of situations that may produce different emotional reactions, i.e. the perceived ability to regulate one's own positive and negative affects. A scale has been developed to measure this construct and a study has been conceived to examine the role perceived efficacy plays with regard to psychological adjustment. To this aim we tested a structural equation model in which depressive social withdrawal, antisocial conduct and prosocial behavior were considered as dependent variables that were influenced by perceived emotional self-efficacy both directly and indirectly through perceived interpersonal self-efficacy. Results confirmed in part the direct influence of perceived emotional efficacy on the dependent variables, and fully corroborated its indirect influence through perceived interpersonal self-efficacy.