13

Students’ self-efficacy and fear of failure

This chapter examines differences
between countries and economies
in students’ general self-efficacy and fear
of failure, and how they are associated
with student and school characteristics.
It also looks at how self-efficacy and
fear of failure are related to reading
performance, and explores whether
students who expressed greater fear
of failure are less satisfied with their lives.

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13 Students’ self-efficacy and fear of failure

Self-efficacy is the extent to which individuals believe in their own ability to engage in certain activities and perform specific tasks,
especially when facing adverse circumstances (Bandura, 1977[1]). PISA has traditionally asked students to judge their capabilities
in specific content areas, such as mathematics or science. In 2018 PISA asked students about their general sense of efficacy,
or competence, particularly in the face of adversity.

The other side of this coin is fear of failure, which is the tendency to avoid mistakes because they may be regarded as shameful and
could signal a lack of innate ability and perhaps even an uncertain future (Atkinson, 1957[2]; Conroy, Willow and Metzler, 2002[3]).
The level of fear is determined by the perceived risk of failure in a given activity or task, but also by the perceived (negative)
consequences associated with failing (Lazarus, 1991[4]; Warr, 2000[5]).

Consequently, fear of failure and self-efficacy go hand-in-hand: students who believe they are not capable of performing
adequately in certain situations are more likely to be fearful of such situations. Self-efficacy and fear of failure are also closely
related to other concepts in educational psychology, some of which have already been examined in previous PISA cycles, such as
achievement motivation, avoidance goals, anxiety and perfectionism.

How students judge their abilities, and how afraid they are of failing, can shape their feelings, motivation and behaviour (Bandura,
1991[6]). According to social cognitive theory, students are more likely to set challenging goals for themselves, try harder and
persist longer when they believe they will succeed (Bandura, 1977[1]; Ozer and Bandura, 1990[7]). Conversely, students lacking
self-confidence may wrongly assume that investing more effort in an activity is a waste of time, which, in a self-fulfilling prophecy,
undermines any incentive to persevere, making success less likely (Bandura, 1999[8]; OECD, 2013[9]). Students with less self‑efficacy
may thus not reach their full potential, and thwart their own education and career aspirations (Bandura et al., 2001[10]; Wigfield
and Eccles, 2000[11]).

What the data tell us

–– On average across OECD countries, 84% of students agreed or strongly agreed that they can usually find a way out of
difficult situations, and 56% agreed or strongly agreed that, when they fail, they worry about what others think about
them.

–– Students in many Asian countries and economies expressed the greatest fear of failure, while students in many European
countries expressed the least fear.

–– In every school system except Italy and the Netherlands, socio-economically advantaged students reported more self-
confidence in their abilities than their disadvantaged peers.

–– In almost every education system, girls expressed greater fear of failure than boys, and this gender gap was considerably
wider amongst top-performing students.

–– In a majority of school systems, students who expressed a greater fear of failure scored higher in reading and reported
less satisfaction with life than students expressing less concern about failing, after accounting for the socio-economic
profile of students and schools.

A rational and moderate sense of fear may urge students to expend greater effort on academic tasks. For instance, many students
complete their homework because they are afraid of upsetting the teacher; others show good behaviour in class so they are not
denied recess; yet others study for final exams to avoid repeating a grade. However, students who are overly concerned about
failing often find it difficult to concentrate on a given activity because their minds are too busy trying to cope with the associated
stress and anxiety (Ashcraft and Kirk, 2001[12]; Bandura, 1982[13]).These students also tend to avoid challenging situations that are
essential for their personal growth (Heckhausen, 1975[14]; Kaye, Conroy and Fifer, 2008[15]). These avoidance behaviours, such as
procrastinating, withholding effort and misbehaving, can result in students not performing in a given activity or task as would be
expected (Beilock et al., 2004[16]; Kaye, Conroy and Fifer, 2008[15]; Martin, Marsh and Debus, 2003[17]).

Even if fear of failure could be used to improve student conduct and performance in certain situations, it would still be problematic,
as it threatens the social and emotional well-being of students (Elliot and Sheldon, 1997[18]). Amongst other negative outcomes,
fear of failure has been associated with stress, anxiety, burnout and depression (Conroy, 2001[19]; Gustafsson, Sagar and Stenling,
2017[20]; Sagar, Lavallee and Spray, 2007[21]). Previous studies have also shown that girls often experience greater fear of failure
than boys do (Alkhazaleh and Mahasneh, 2016[22]; Mcgregor and Elliot, 2005[23]), and that girls’ fear translates more easily into
poorer learning outcomes in mathematics (Wach et al., 2015[24]).

188 © OECD 2019 » PISA 2018 Results (Volume III): What School Life Means for Students’ Lives
Figure III.13.1  Student self-efficacy and fear of failure

Based on students’ reports

OECD average
13
Students’ self-efficacy and fear of failure

Percentage of students who agreed or strongly agreed with the following

A
A I usually manage one way or another
B B I feel proud that I have accomplished things
C I feel that I can handle many things at a time
C
D My belief in myself gets me through hard times
D E When I’m in a difficult situation, I can usually find my way out of it

E F When I am failing, I worry about what others think of me

G When I am failing, I am afraid that I might not have enough talent
F
H When I am failing, this makes me doubt my plans for the future
G

H Percentage of students who agreed or strongly agreed

with the following statements:
0 20 40 60 80 100 %
Index of fear
Index of self-efficacy of failure
Partners A B C D E F G H
Percentage of students who agreed or strongly agreed Albania 93 92 78 92 95 52 45 46
with the following statements:
Argentina 87 84 61 78 82 41 57 51
Index of fear Baku (Azerbaijan) 84 87 82 84 86 64 56 58
Index of self-efficacy of failure Belarus 86 73 56 79 90 49 53 48
OECD A B C D E F G H Bosnia and Herzegovina 86 90 81 87 87 39 40 46
Australia 93 92 73 67 86 62 64 68 Brazil 76 88 57 75 77 55 59 57
Austria 85 85 71 73 84 51 43 41 Brunei Darussalam 87 87 56 77 78 74 70 73
Belgium (Flemish) 89 91 64 57 83 47 44 53 B-S-J-Z (China) 82 90 61 81 74 78 53 51
Canada 93 91 73 71 87 62 65 68 Bulgaria 82 82 74 77 84 54 51 51
Chile 92 91 78 75 84 51 64 59 Costa Rica 91 96 79 84 89 47 48 42
Colombia 89 93 75 91 90 48 51 44 Croatia 91 94 77 83 89 47 47 46
Czech Republic 91 70 68 63 82 59 52 55 Dominican Republic 85 87 77 84 86 60 56 50
Denmark 91 87 78 71 90 58 58 47 Georgia 82 72 69 84 83 48 44 42
Estonia 92 85 71 71 87 46 48 45 Hong Kong (China) 74 84 66 72 73 82 71 72
Finland 94 89 68 71 84 50 45 41 Indonesia 72 90 71 91 89 59 46 39
France 92 87 67 59 75 47 62 62 Jordan 80 86 79 87 80 47 46 49
Germany 85 82 69 68 84 48 38 37 Kazakhstan 78 60 77 85 88 45 43 34
Greece 88 84 75 78 86 55 53 50 Kosovo 88 90 76 91 92 53 55 61
Hungary 91 91 74 80 90 55 51 47 Lebanon 67 75 71 70 73 41 47 53
Iceland 91 83 76 69 84 64 54 50 Macao (China) 79 85 51 65 72 80 78 66
Ireland 94 90 72 66 85 64 63 65 Malaysia 63 85 55 80 80 75 69 67
Israel 84 82 69 80 85 m m m Malta 91 90 70 74 83 58 65 72
Italy 85 86 68 72 86 57 59 57 Moldova 87 85 72 86 88 64 55 50
Japan 65 69 41 56 59 77 74 61 Montenegro 87 91 83 84 90 39 39 40
Korea 86 91 55 77 81 75 66 54 Morocco 80 86 71 80 80 44 54 53
Latvia 83 79 70 72 84 55 50 49 North Macedonia 84 92 85 88 90 51 48 55
Lithuania 90 89 72 81 85 62 53 50 Panama 87 92 74 87 88 53 56 50
Luxembourg 87 83 73 68 81 50 49 54 Peru 89 93 74 88 90 49 49 42
Mexico 91 95 78 86 89 54 63 57 Philippines 84 89 76 83 83 72 60 63
Netherlands 90 89 66 69 88 45 35 36 Qatar 80 87 74 69 82 50 53 58
New Zealand 94 93 68 66 85 65 63 68 Romania 93 87 68 85 91 46 48 41
Poland 88 90 73 69 83 54 57 58 Russia 67 76 61 75 82 53 48 49
Portugal 91 92 68 73 85 56 56 54 Saudi Arabia 83 87 74 86 80 47 43 41
Slovak Republic 80 77 65 66 79 59 60 53 Serbia 84 91 80 82 88 42 41 48
Slovenia 89 79 75 77 85 63 55 54 Singapore 94 95 62 77 86 72 73 78
Spain 85 92 82 73 84 51 53 48 Chinese Taipei 85 86 57 73 80 89 84 77
Sweden 93 74 74 66 83 53 56 53 Thailand 89 94 67 90 86 66 68 64
Switzerland 88 86 71 71 85 43 44 45 Ukraine 90 88 59 80 86 51 50 39
Turkey 87 91 79 84 86 66 57 64 United Arab Emirates 88 89 76 82 85 55 58 64
United Kingdom 90 86 66 59 80 63 63 70 Uruguay 90 90 73 76 85 46 57 54
United States 94 92 74 75 88 58 60 65 Viet Nam 88 93 30 90 79 67 53 52

Source: OECD, PISA 2018 Database, Tables III.B1.13.1 and III.B1.13.2.

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13 Students’ self-efficacy and fear of failure

This chapter examines students’ self-efficacy and fear of failure. PISA asked students to report the extent to which they agree
(“strongly disagree”, “disagree”, “agree”, “strongly agree”) with the following statements about themselves: “I usually manage
one way or another”; “I feel proud that I have accomplished things”; “I feel that I can handle many things at a time”; “My belief in
myself gets me through hard times”; and “When I’m in a difficult situation, I can usually find my way out of it”. These statements
were combined to create the index of self-efficacy whose average is 0 and standard deviation is 1 across OECD countries. Positive
values in this index mean that the student reported higher self-efficacy than the average student in OECD countries.1

Students were also asked to report the extent to which they agree (“strongly disagree”, “disagree”, “agree”, “strongly agree”) with the
following statements about themselves: “When I am failing, I worry about what others think of me”; “When I am failing, I am afraid
that I might not have enough talent”; and “When I am failing, this makes me doubt my plans for the future”. These statements
were combined to create the index of fear of failure whose average is 0 and standard deviation is 1 across OECD  countries.
Positive values in this index mean that the student reported a greater fear of failure than the average student in OECD countries.

HOW STUDENTS’ SELF-EFFICACY AND FEAR OF FAILURE VARY ACROSS COUNTRIES, SCHOOLS
AND STUDENTS
The 15-year-olds who sat the PISA test expressed confidence in their ability to get things done, even when facing difficult
situations (Figure III.13.1). For instance, on average across OECD countries, 89% of students agreed or strongly agreed that they
usually manage one way or another; 86% agreed or strongly agreed that they feel proud when they accomplish things; and 84%
agreed or strongly agreed that they can usually find a way out of difficult situations. However, fewer students agreed or strongly
agreed that their belief in themselves gets them through hard times (71%) and that they can handle many things at a time (70%).

Interestingly, on average across OECD countries a majority of students expressed a fear of failure (Figure III.13.1). For instance,
56% of students agreed or strongly agreed that, when they fail, they worry about what others think about them; and 55% of
students agreed or strongly agreed that, when they fail, they are afraid of not having enough talent. Even the percentages
of students who strongly agreed with the three statements were sizeable. For instance, almost one in five students across
OECD countries strongly agreed that failing makes them doubt about their plans for the future.

Students’ self-efficacy varies considerably across countries and economies, and often in unexpected ways (Table III.B1.13.1).
For instance, 15-year-old students in countries and economies whose average reading performance is below the OECD average,
such as Albania, Baku (Azerbaijan), Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Kosovo, Mexico, Montenegro, the Republic of North
Macedonia, Panama, Serbia, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates (Table I.B1.4), expressed more self-confidence in their general
abilities than the average student across OECD countries. By contrast, many of the education systems where students reported the
lowest self-efficacy were high performers, such as Hong Kong (China), Japan, Macao (China), Chinese Taipei and the United Kingdom.

Students in many Asian countries and economies expressed the greatest fear of failure while students in many European
countries expressed the least fear (Figure III.13.1 and Table III.B1.13.2). For instance, 84% of students in Chinese Taipei agreed
or strongly agreed that, when they fail, they are afraid of not having enough talent, whereas less than 40% of students in Bosnia
and Herzegovina, Germany, Montenegro and the Netherlands reported so.

In every school system except Italy and the Netherlands, socio-economically advantaged students reported more self-confidence
in their abilities than their disadvantaged peers (Figure  III.13.2). And in almost every education system, and consistent with
findings from previous studies, girls expressed greater fear of failure than boys, and markedly so in Canada, Denmark, Finland,
Iceland, the Netherlands, Sweden and the United Kingdom. However, boys reported higher self-efficacy than girls in just over
one in three school systems, while girls expressed more confidence in their general abilities than boys in just over one in four
school systems. Moreover, in a majority of education systems, students with an immigrant background expressed similar levels
of self‑efficacy and fear of failure as those without an immigrant background.

In the analysis of schools, PISA finds that just under 2% of the variation in the indices of self-efficacy and fear of failure lie
between schools, on average across OECD countries, which is a lower proportion than for the other indices analysed in this
report (Tables III. B1.13.7 and III.B1.13.8). Students in socio-economically advantaged, city and private schools reported greater
self‑efficacy and fear of failure than students in disadvantaged, rural and public schools, respectively.

HOW STUDENTS’ SELF-EFFICACY AND FEAR OF FAILURE ARE RELATED TO READING PERFORMANCE
Greater self-efficacy is associated with stronger reading performance in a majority of countries and economies, even after
accounting for the socio-economic profile of students and schools (as measured by the PISA index of economic, social and
cultural status) (Figure III.13.3). Specifically, across OECD countries a one-unit increase in the index of self-efficacy was associated
with an increase of six score points in the reading assessment, on average. The strongest positive associations between general
self-efficacy and reading performance were observed largely in countries and economies whose average reading performance

190 © OECD 2019 » PISA 2018 Results (Volume III): What School Life Means for Students’ Lives
was below the OECD average, whereas the weakest associations were observed often in education systems whose reading
performance was at or above the OECD average. In Beijing, Shanghai, Jiangsu and Zhejiang (China) and Japan, students who
expressed more self-confidence in their ability to succeed and accomplish tasks scored lower than students who expressed less
self-confidence.
13
Students’ self-efficacy and fear of failure

Figure III.13.2  Student self-efficacy and fear of failure, by student characteristics

Based on students’ reports

Positive difference Negative difference Difference is not significant Missing values

A Girls - boys
Difference in the index Difference in the index
B Advantaged - disadvantaged students
of self-efficacy: of fear of failure:1
C Immigrant - non-immigrant students
Partners A B C A B C
Albania            

Difference in the index Difference in the index Argentina            

of self-efficacy: of fear of failure:1 Baku (Azerbaijan)            
OECD A B C A B C Belarus            
OECD average             Bosnia and Herzegovina            
Australia             Brazil            
Austria             Brunei Darussalam            
Belgium (Flemish)             B-S-J-Z (China)            
Canada             Bulgaria            
Chile             Costa Rica            
Colombia             Croatia            
Czech Republic             Dominican Republic            
Denmark             Georgia            
Estonia             Hong Kong (China)            
Finland             Indonesia            
France             Jordan            
Germany             Kazakhstan            
Greece             Kosovo            
Hungary             Lebanon            
Iceland             Macao (China)            
Ireland             Malaysia            
Israel             Malta            
Italy             Moldova            
Japan             Montenegro            
Korea             Morocco            
Latvia             North Macedonia            
Lithuania             Panama            
Luxembourg             Peru            
Mexico             Philippines            
Netherlands             Qatar            
New Zealand             Romania            
Poland             Russia            
Portugal             Saudi Arabia            
Slovak Republic             Serbia            
Slovenia             Singapore            
Spain             Chinese Taipei            
Sweden             Thailand            
Switzerland             Ukraine            
Turkey             United Arab Emirates            
United Kingdom             Uruguay            
United States             Viet Nam            

A B C A B C
20 74 12 69 30 7 Countries/economies with a positive difference
23 2 43 6 37 46 Countries/economies with no difference
33 0 15 1 9 16 Countries/economies with a negative difference

1. Higher values in the index indicate a greater fear of failure.

Source: OECD, PISA 2018 Database, Tables III.B1.13.5 and III.B1.13.6.
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13 Students’ self-efficacy and fear of failure

Perhaps more surprisingly, in a majority of school systems, students who expressed a greater fear of failure scored higher in
reading than students expressing less concern about failing, after accounting for the socio-economic profile of students and
schools (Table III.B1.13.10). Even after accounting for gender (remember that girls tended to express greater fear of failure and
tended to perform better in reading) the relationship still holds in 35 out of 75 education systems. In this case, the strongest
positive associations with reading performance were observed in many countries and economies whose reading performance
was at or above the OECD average, whereas the weakest and negative associations were largely observed in education systems
whose reading performance was below the OECD average.

Amongst the items that are components of the indices of self-efficacy and fear of failure, those that were more positively
associated with reading performance were “I usually manage one way or another” and “I feel proud that I have accomplished
things”, on average across OECD countries and after accounting for students’ and schools’ socio-economic profile. By contrast,
students who agreed with the statement “When I am failing, this makes me doubt my plans for the future” scored similarly in
reading to those who disagreed with the statement (a difference of one score point, after accounting for socio-economic status).

Figure III.13.3  Student self-efficacy and reading performance

Before accounting for students' and schools' socio-economic profile¹

After accounting for students’ and schools’ socio-economic profile

Lebanon Colombia
Jordan Albania
Saudi Arabia Sweden
Philippines Austria
Israel OECD average
Morocco Denmark
Georgia Argentina
Estonia Ukraine
Qatar Italy
United Arab Emirates Baku (Azerbaijan)
Bulgaria Korea
North Macedonia Brazil
Thailand Hungary
Iceland Canada
Finland Mexico
Latvia Germany
Brunei Darussalam Kazakhstan
Malta Croatia
Greece Macao (China)
Dominican Republic Australia
Luxembourg Costa Rica
Lithuania Uruguay
Panama Czech Republic
Chinese Taipei Netherlands
Bosnia and Herzegovina New Zealand
Peru Russia
Malaysia United States
Serbia Portugal
Kosovo Ireland
Romania France
Poland United Kingdom
Turkey Chile
Montenegro Belgium (Flemish)
Moldova Hong Kong (China)
Slovenia Singapore
Slovak Republic Indonesia
Switzerland Japan
Belarus B-S-J-Z (China)

-10 -5 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 -10 -5 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45
Score-point difference in reading Score-point difference in reading
associated with a one-unit increase associated with a one-unit increase
in the index of self-efficacy in the index of self-efficacy

1. The socio-economic profile is measured by the PISA index of economic, social and cultural status (ESCS).
Note: Statistically significant values are shown in darker tones (see Annex A3).
Countries and economies are ranked in descending order of the score-point difference associated with the index of self-efficacy, after accounting for students’ and
schools’ socio-economic profile.
Source: OECD, PISA 2018 Database, Table III.B1.13.9.
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192 © OECD 2019 » PISA 2018 Results (Volume III): What School Life Means for Students’ Lives
Moreover, students who agreed that their belief in themselves gets them through hard times scored considerably lower
(a difference of 11 score points) than students who disagreed with the statement, probably because the students who agreed
with this statement were implicitly admitting that they often go through “hard times”.

At the system level, the greater the fear of failure expressed by students, the higher the reading scores in that education system,
13
Students’ self-efficacy and fear of failure

on average (Figure III.13.4). However, many countries and economies did not conform to this observed pattern. For instance,
in Estonia, Finland and, to a lesser extent, in Germany, students expressed less fear of failure than the typical OECD student, but
scored above the OECD average in reading. By contrast, in Brunei Darussalam, Malaysia, Malta, the Philippines and Thailand,
students expressed more fear of failure than the typical OECD student, but their reading scores were below the OECD average.
Interestingly, a large number of English-speaking and East Asian education systems were amongst those whose students were
both more likely to report a fear of failure and to be high performers in reading.

Figure III.13.4  Fear of failure and average reading performance

Average reading score

580

OECD average Singapore

B-S-J-Z (China)

Hong Kong
530 Estonia (China) Macao (China)
Ireland Canada
Finland Poland Korea
Sweden New Zealand R2 = 0.13
Germany Denmark Slovenia Japan
Portugal United Australia
Czech Republic States United Kingdom Chinese Taipei
France
Netherlands Russia Latvia OECD average
480 Switzerland Italy
Austria Croatia Belarus Turkey
Lithuania Iceland
Ukraine
Hungary
Luxembourg Greece
Slovak Chile
Malta
Republic
Serbia
Costa Rica Uruguay
430 Montenegro United Arab Emirates
Romania Jordan Malaysia
Moldova Mexico
Saudi Colombia Bulgaria
Bosnia and Arabia Argentina Brazil Brunei Darussalam
Herzegovina Albania Qatar
Peru Thailand
Kazakhstan North Macedonia
380 Baku (Azerbaijan)
Georgia Panama
Indonesia
Lebanon Morocco
Kosovo Dominican Republic
Philippines
330
Greater fear of failure

-0.5 -0.3 -0.1 0.1 0.3 0.5 0.7

Mean index of fear of failure

Source: OECD, PISA 2018 Database, Tables III.B1.13.2 and I.B1.4.

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IS FEAR OF FAILURE A BETTER PREDICTOR OF ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE AMONGST GIRLS

THAN AMONGST BOYS?
In virtually every country and economy, girls expressed a greater fear of failure than boys did (Figure  III.13.2) and, on
average across OECD countries, the gender gap in the index of fear of failure was the largest amongst all the indices
analysed in this report. This is not the only way in which fear of failure acts differently amongst boys and girls: fear of
failure is a much better predictor of academic performance amongst girls than amongst boys. In the reading assessment,
for instance, girls scored nine points higher for every one-unit increase in the index of fear of failure, on average across
OECD  countries and after accounting for students’ socio-economic status and the index of self-efficacy, whereas boys
scored only three points higher (Figure III.13.5). A gender gap, in favour of girls, in the association between fear of failure
and reading performance was observed in a majority of school systems, particularly in Chile, Croatia, Estonia, Romania,
the Russian Federation and Serbia.

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13 Students’ self-efficacy and fear of failure

Figure III.13.5  Association between fear of failure and reading performance, by gender

Based on students’ reports

Change in reading performance associated

with a one-unit increase in the index of fear Students scored higher Students scored higher
of failure¹ amongst: in reading when in reading when
they expressed greater they expressed greater
Boys Girls
fear of failure fear of failure
Romania OECD average
Estonia France
Serbia Costa Rica
Croatia Canada
Russia Poland *
Chile Brunei Darussalam
Bulgaria Luxembourg
Singapore United Kingdom *
Portugal Argentina *
Germany Macao (China) *
Qatar Colombia *
Dominican Republic Baku (Azerbaijan)
Kazakhstan B-S-J-Z (China) *
Hungary Korea *
Thailand Panama *
Bosnia and Herzegovina Mexico *
Lithuania Malaysia *
Switzerland North Macedonia *
Greece Hong Kong (China) *
Slovak Republic Morocco *
Moldova Indonesia *
Sweden Ukraine *
Finland Italy *
United Arab Emirates Saudi Arabia *
Latvia Georgia *
Montenegro Ireland *
Brazil Kosovo *
Peru Iceland *
Czech Republic Jordan *
Philippines Japan *
Students scored lower Students scored lower
Lebanon * in reading when Austria * in reading when
Slovenia they expressed greater Turkey * they expressed greater
Belarus fear of failure Denmark * fear of failure
Albania Chinese Taipei *
Australia Malta *
United States Netherlands *
New Zealand Belgium (Flemish) *
Uruguay

-20 -15 -10 -5 0 5 10 15 20 -20 -15 -10 -5 0 5 10 15 20

Score-point difference Score-point difference

1. Higher values in the index indicate a greater fear of failure.

Notes: Countries and economies where the difference between boys and girls is not statistically significant are marked with an asterisk (see Annex A3).
The results are based on linear regression analysis, after accounting students’ socio-economic profile and the index of self-efficacy. The socio-economic profile
is measured by the PISA index of economic, social and cultural status (ESCS).
Countries and economies are ranked in descending order of the difference between girls and boys.
Source: OECD, PISA 2018 Database, Table III.B1.13.13.
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Similar results were observed in relation to mathematics and science performance (Table III.B1.13.13). While girls who expressed
a greater fear of failure scored considerably higher in mathematics and science than girls who expressed less fear of failure
(differences of five and eight points, respectively, per one-unit increase in the index of fear of failure), boys who expressed a
greater fear of failure scored only marginally higher in the two subjects than boys who expressed less fear of failure (a difference
of one point in mathematics and two points in science). In 21 countries and economies, boys scored lower in mathematics when
they expressed greater fear of failure, while in only 5 countries and economies did girls who expressed a greater fear of failure
score lower in mathematics. Overall, these results suggest that girls generally expressed a greater fear of failure than boys did,
and that this gender gap was considerably wider amongst top-performing students, as shown in Figure III.13.6. More precisely,
amongst low achievers in reading (those scoring below Level 2), the gender gap, in favour of girls, in the index of fear of failure
was about 0.3 of a unit; amongst top-performing students (those scoring at Level 5 or above) the gender gap was 0.5 of a unit.

194 © OECD 2019 » PISA 2018 Results (Volume III): What School Life Means for Students’ Lives
identical amongst boys and girls, and across subjects (Table III.B1.13.13). Regardless of the subject and gender examined, test
scores always rose between six and seven points for every one-unit increase in the index of self-efficacy. The results across
countries were also more stable than for the index of fear of failure. The index of self-efficacy and test scores were positively
associated in a majority of school systems across the three subjects and amongst both boys and girls. The only country where
13
Students’ self-efficacy and fear of failure

Interestingly, the relationship between the index of self-efficacy and performance was, on average across OECD countries, almost

a negative relationship between self-efficacy and test performance was observed was Japan (only for boys’ scores in reading
and science).

Figure III.13.6  Fear of failure, by proficiency levels in reading and gender

OECD average
Boys Girls Girls - boys
Mean index
0.6
0.5
0.4
0.3
0.2
0.1
0.0
-0.1
-0.2
-0.3
Students who scored Students who scored Students who scored
below Level 2 in reading at Levels 2, 3 or 4 in reading at Level 5 or above in reading Index of fear of failure,¹
(low-achievers) (top-performers) by proficiency levels in reading

1. Higher values in the index indicate a greater fear of failure.

Note: All differences between girls and boys are statistically significant (see Annex A3).
Source: OECD, PISA 2018 Database, Table III.B1.13.14.
12 http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/888934030705

ARE STUDENTS WHO EXPRESSED A GREATER FEAR OF FAILURE LESS SATISFIED WITH THEIR LIVES?
In the introduction to this chapter, it was suggested that a moderate fear of failure may prompt students to expend greater effort
on academic tasks, and could therefore help improve their performance – a hypothesis that is in line with the results described in
the preceding section. However, previous studies have also pointed out that a greater fear of failure may threaten an individual’s
social and emotional well-being (Elliot and Sheldon, 1997[18]; Gustafsson, Sagar and Stenling, 2017[20]). Do PISA 2018 results show
that a greater fear of failure is negatively associated with life satisfaction?

PISA 2018 asked students to rate their satisfaction with life on a scale from 0 to 10, where 0 indicates the least satisfaction with life
and 10 indicates the greatest satisfaction with life. In 69 out of 71 school systems, students reported less satisfaction with life when
they expressed a greater fear of failure, after accounting for students’ and schools’ socio-economic profile (Table III. B1.13.15).
The countries with the strongest negative associations were Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Ireland, Korea, Poland, Slovenia, Sweden
and the United Kingdom, all OECD countries, while the only countries where the negative association was not significant were
Lebanon and the Philippines. Figure III.13.7 shows that in 37 out of 68 education systems with available data, fear of failure is
both positively associated with reading performance and negatively associated with life satisfaction.

Do PISA 2018 results show any gender disparities in the negative association between fear of failure and life satisfaction?
Table III. B1.13.15 reveals that, in a clear majority of countries and economies, the negative relationship between fear of failure
and life satisfaction was stronger amongst girls than amongst boys. In Korea, for instance, a one-unit increase in the index of
fear or failure was associated with a decrease in the life-satisfaction scale of about 0.7 of a point amongst 15-year-old boys and
of around one point amongst girls.

PISA 2018 Results (Volume III): What School Life Means for Students’ Lives » © OECD 2019 195
13 Students’ self-efficacy and fear of failure

Figure III.13.7  How fear of failure is related to reading performance and life satisfaction

Change associated with a one-unit increase in the index of fear of failure1

Life satisfaction Reading performance

Korea
Slovenia
United Kingdom
Finland
Ireland
Poland
Sweden
Iceland
Estonia
Czech Republic
Germany
B-S-J-Z (China)
Malta
Italy
Austria
Croatia
Hungary
OECD average
Netherlands
Latvia
United States
Switzerland
Slovak Republic
Greece
Brazil
Portugal
Luxembourg
Serbia
Lithuania
Russia
Chile
Hong Kong (China)
Japan
Chinese Taipei
Macao (China)
Romania
Colombia
France
Belarus
United Arab Emirates
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Morocco
Argentina
Costa Rica
Peru
Qatar
Bulgaria
Montenegro
Uruguay
Ukraine
Thailand
Mexico
Kazakhstan
Dominican Republic
Brunei Darussalam
Saudi Arabia
Turkey
Moldova
Panama
Malaysia
Indonesia
North Macedonia
Albania
Jordan
Georgia
Baku (Azerbaijan)
Kosovo
Philippines
Lebanon

-1.0 -0.8 -0.6 -0.4 -0.2 0.0 -10 -5 0 5 10 15 20

1. Higher values in the index indicate a greater fear of failure.

Notes: Statistically significant values are shown in darker tones (see Annex A3).
The results are based on linear regression analysis, after accounting for students’ and schools’ socio-economic profile. The socio-economic profile is measured
by the PISA index of economic, social and cultural status (ESCS).
Countries and economies are ranked in ascending order of the change in the index of life satisfaction associated with a one-unit increase in the index of fear of failure.
Source: OECD, PISA 2018 Database, Tables III.B1.13.10 and III.B1.13.15.
12 http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/888934030667

196 © OECD 2019 » PISA 2018 Results (Volume III): What School Life Means for Students’ Lives
Note 13
Students’ self-efficacy and fear of failure

1. While the term general self-efficacy is used widely amongst researchers and practitioners in the field of education, Bandura has argued that
there is no such thing as an “all-purpose measure of perceived self-efficacy” as self-efficacy encompasses the capacity to perform well-defined
tasks (Bandura, 2006[25]).

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