1. The Role of Core Confidence Higher-Order Construct in Self-Regulation of Performance and Attitudes: Evidence from Four Studies Alex Stajkovic, Dongseop Lee, Jessica Greenwald, Joseph Raffiee 1 Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes 2015

2. Core Confidence Higher-Order Construct Definition & its Four Manifest Variables Core confidence is defined as a certainty can-do belief that spans across related domains of activity. It is conceptualized as a trait, a stable individual characteristic. Core confidence is a higher-order construct representing a latent commonality underlying its four theorized dimensions of hope (Snyder, 2000), efficacy (Chen, Gully, & Eden, 2001), optimism (Peterson, 2000), and resilience (Coutu, 2002). These four variables manifest core confidence in a person who knows what and how to do (agency and pathways of hope), believes that s/he can perform those tasks (efficacy), keeps positive outcome expectations (optimism), and feels that s/he can psychologically “bounce back” if failure occurs (resilience). Widely researched variables in psychology and OB Together, referenced in more than 47,054 articles Assumed to be different variables in those studies 2

3. Control Theory and Modified Model of the Role of Trait Core Confidence in Adaptive Self-Regulation 3

4. Research Questions Examined 1.How correlated are four manifest variables on average? 2.Does higher-order, or core, confidence construct exist? 3.Validities of the core confidence higher-order construct? Is it predictive of individual performance and attitudes? 4

5. Four Studies, 33 Sets of Analyses Study 1: Six meta-analyses (s = 141, k = 226, N = 82,692) Average effect size for each pair, homogeneity analysis for each pair, moderator analysis (lab vs. field) for each pair Study 2: Students from the United States (n = 339) Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) + latent method factor Study 3: Students from South Korea (n = 181) CFA + latent method factor, prediction of student satisfaction with life and their academic performance (overall final grade & individual grade components – midterm, final exam scores) Study 4: Sales associates from an auto group (n = 142) 20 car dealerships in 16 cities in the United States and Canada CFA + latent method factor + unrelated factor, prediction of employees’ satisfaction with life, job satisfaction, sales volume (number of cars sold) and sales commission Supplemental analyses using data from the above four studies Parallel second-order test (meta-analytic SEM), measurement equivalence across cultures, regression commonality analysis, latent second-order vs. aggregate second-order construct comparison 5

6. Summary of Results 1.How correlated are four manifest variables, on average? The six correlations (Study 1) ranged from r =.62 to r =.74, and their average was r =.69, which is as high as the correlations between alternate measures of the Big Five traits Correlations remained high in both lab and field settings 2.Does higher-order, or core, confidence construct exist? CFA results from three independent samples (Studies 2, 3, 4) each provided evidence of a higher-order core controlling for method variance in multiple ways. 3.Is core confidence higher-order construct predictive of performance and attitudes? Core confidence predicted student life satisfaction and overall academic performance (Study 3) and sales associate life satisfaction, job satisfaction, and sales performance (Study 4) Core confidence failed to predict specific grades (midterm/final exam) in Study 3, providing evidence of its theorized bandwidth fidelity as a broad construct. 4.Supplemental Analyses Parallel second-order test of meta-analytic data Six factor correlation estimates in the first-order model ranged from.78 to.96, with mean of.86 Measurement equivalence across cultures Optimism reflects core confidence to a lesser degree than other variables in U.S. Regression commonality analysis Joint variance explained greater than unique variance Latent second-order vs. aggregate second-order construct comparison Supports latent second-order model over aggregate model structure 6

7. Visual Summary of Results 7

8. Those who believe achieve, those who doubt go without. 8