EFFECTS OF MODEL SIMILARITY ON SELF-EFFICACY AND MUSCULAR ENDURANCE - A 2ND LOOK

This study examined the effects of model-similarity cues on motor performance and self-efficacy. Specifically, the study was designed to determine which characteristics of a model (sex or ability) subjects perceived as the more salient similarity cue. This study was a replication and extension of the no-talk model conditions employed in the Gould and Weiss (1981) study. Female college students (N=100) with limited or no athletic experience were randomly assigned to one of four modeling conditions (an athletic male model, an athletic female model, a nonathletic male model, or a nonathletic female model) or to a no-model (control) group. After viewing a videotaped demonstration of the model performing a leg-extension endurance task, each subject performed three trials. Subjects completed self-efficacy questionnaires on two occasions. Only those subjects indicating that it was moderately to very important for them to do well on the task were used in the analyses (N=69). Results replicated those in Gould and Weiss's study in that subjects in the nonathletic-model groups extended their legs significantly longer than subjects in the athletic-model groups. In addition, subjects in the nonathletic-model conditions reported higher levels of efficacy compared to subjects in the athletic-model conditions. Our finding extends Gould and Weiss's study in that it suggests that model ability is a more salient similarity cue than model sex for nonathletic or unskilled female observers.