Mature versus traditional students : Does manipulating self-efficacy influence performance?

Abstract

A debate exists in the literature as to whether mature students fare better than traditional students in university. Research suggests an advantage for mature students, but the reason for this finding remains uncertain. Emotional regulation has been shown to increase with age. High self-efficacy is one of the strongest predictors of academic success and has been successfully manipulated in previous research. This study hypothesized that mature students would display higher emotional regulation and self-efficacy compared to traditional students and that higher emotional regulation would shield against attempts to lower self-efficacy. Twenty-four participants from a small Canadian university completed both an online survey and an experimental manipulation of self-efficacy. Half of the participants received false negative feedback and the other half received false neutral feedback. The experiment failed to manipulate self-efficacy and no significant differences were found between mature and traditional students; thus, all hypotheses were refuted. Suggestions for future research are discussed including limitations and procedure changes.