Although it has been established that college students with higher levels of mathematics
self-efficacy tend to perform better in mathematics, the correspondence between mathematics
self-efficacy and mathematics performance is still not completely understood. Studying college
undergraduates enrolled in an introductory psychology course, Hackett and Betz (1989) found
that students’ levels of mathematics self-efficacy are a better predictor of their educational and
career choices than the students’ previous mathematics performance. Students’ previous
performance in mathematics contributes to their mathematics self-efficacy, but how students
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perceive that performance is more indicative of future performances than their actual
achievement.