Scholarship of Teaching and Learning in Psychology, Vol 12(3), Sep 2026, 404-420; doi:10.1037/stl0000446
The goals of the present study were to ascertain, within the context of high-quality research training environments (RTEs), whether self-efficacy outcome expectations, motivations toward research (including an interaction effect between internal and external motivations), and achievement goals toward research significantly explained undergraduate psychology students’ efficacy expectations toward research. We also examined whether research outcome expectations partially mediated the direct effect between higher quality RTEs and research efficacy expectations, in line with expectations from social cognitive theory (Bandura, 1986). We found a significant relation between higher quality RTEs and student research efficacy expectations. Research efficacy expectations were also significantly related to outcome expectations, intrinsic and extrinsic motivations, and a mastery approach goal orientation. In addition, we found higher quality RTEs and research outcome expectations to be significantly related. Research outcome expectations also had significant direct relations with intrinsic and extrinsic motivations, mastery approach goal orientations, and a performance avoidance goal orientation. In terms of best predicting research efficacy expectations, only higher quality RTEs and intrinsic motivation did so. Higher quality RTEs, mastery goal orientations, and extrinsic motivation best predicted research outcome expectations. The interaction between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation did not significantly explain variance in either research efficacy or outcome expectations. Finally, we found that research outcome expectations partially mediated the direct effect between high-quality RTEs and research efficacy expectations. We discuss the implications of our findings for future research in this area and for the research training of undergraduate psychology students. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved)