Paper Title
ARE STUDENTS’ PRO-SOCIALNESS AND SELF-EFFICACY REFLECTED IN THEIR ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE?

Abstract
Undergraduate students’ future professional success rests not only on being knowledgeable and competent in their chosen area of study (cognitive performance) but also on possessing the ability to work effectively individually and with others. The present study examined the extent to which academic performance (i.e., a cognitive measure) in a course requiring both individual and cooperative work is related to motivational dispositions, such as self-efficacy (i.e., confidence in one’s ability) and pro-socialness (i.e., interest in helping others). Participants were selected from an understudied population of female undergraduate students of Saudi Arabian descent. These students had only recently been granted the opportunity to pursue educational and professional paths equal to those of men. Thus, understanding the sources of their academic performance is critical to the effective implementation of gender equity standards at the university level. In the study, students who completed self-efficacy and pro-socialness scales fell into two groups. There was a high-performing group whose desirable grades were accompanied by self-efficacy and pro-socialness. There was also a low-performing group whose grades were accompanied by poor self-efficacy and pro-socialness. These findings suggest that students’ motivational dispositions are reflected in cognitive measures, such as grades. They further suggest that remedial instruction in the low-performing group may be successful only if the instruction includes means to foster motivational dispositions. Keywords - Pro-socialness, self-efficacy, academic performance, Middle East