Perceived self-efficacy facilitates critical reflection on one's own group

Abstract Critical reflection on one's own group is beneficial for the group in the long run, yet critics addressing its wrongdoings are usually not welcomed and have to cope with hostility and ostracism from the ingroup. The present research tested whether the personal sense of control and perceived self-efficacy help one to speak out against one's own group and to endure its pressure to conform. The results across two studies (total N = 212) show that perceived self-efficacy (Study 1, correlational), or its experimental equivalent, perceived self-competence (Study 2, experimental), mediated the relationship between the sense of control and critical group reflection. The findings suggest that confidence in one's own abilities, which is the core of perceived self-efficacy and self-competence, is more important than the feelings of being in control and of having influence over reality. Confidence in one's own efficacy drives the individual to defend one's own ideas even when they are at odds with ingroup norms, and it allows one to cope with the adversity that may arise as a consequence of doing so.