Examining the relationship between self-efficacy and irrational beliefs of adolescents

In this study, the relationship between self-efficacy of adolescents and their irrational beliefs and whether these variables differ or not according to some socio-demographic characteristics were examined. The population of the study consists of students studying in different types of schools of Izmir in 2014-2015 academic year. The sample of the study consists of a total of 292 students including 153 girls and 139 boys. In the study "Irrational Belief Scale", "General Self-Efficacy Scale" and "Personal Information Form" prepared by the reseacher were used as an assessment instrument. One Way Anova (One-Way Analysis of Variance) was used to find out whether the level of self-efficacy and irrational beliefs of adolescents differ from their sex, age and perceived socio-economic level or not. The scores in dependent variables were distrubuted both homogeneously and normally and the group numbers were more than two, so one-way analysis of variance (One Way ANOVA) was preferred. Pearson Product-Moment Correlation Coefficient was calculated to determine the direction and extent of the relationship between self-efficacy levels and irrational beliefs of adolescents. To calculate t-test, one-way analysis of variance (One Way ANOVA) and Pearson Product Moment Correlation, Coefficient Statistical Program for Social Sciences (SPSS 15.0 for Windows) was used. Research findings show that there is a significant and positive relationship between self-efficacy levels and irrational beliefs of adolescents (r = .128, P <.05). It was observed in the study that irrational beliefs and self-efficacy of adolescents do not differ according to their sex, age and perceived socio-economic status. Key Words: Adolescent, Irrational Beliefs, Self-efficacy