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Academic Self-Efficacy Studied from the Students’ Attribution of Junior High Schools

Muhammad Asrori, Awaluddin Tjalla*

Department of Guidance and Counseling, Faculty of Education, State University of Jakarta, Indonesia

Abstract: This study aimed to develop a new hypothesis, contribute new ideas, or correct the attribution theory. In other words, this study aimed to enrich the Bernard Weiner’s attribution theory. Based on the new hypothesis, it was recommended the “Attribution Guidance Model to Increase Academic Self-Efficacy.” There were 400 Junior High School students in West Borneo who participated in this study. An inventory of attribution, emotional reaction, and success hope was used as a research instrument. The research data were analyzed by frequency distribution, t-test, variance, and factor analysis. The findings of this study indicate that (1) Junior High School students’ attribution to success tends to refer to internal, unstable, and controlled dimensions, and (2) their attribution to failure also consistently refers to internal, unstable, and controlled dimensions.

Keywords: academic self-efficacy, attribution, guidance model

Received August 20, 2024; Revised September 22, 2024; Accepted September 29, 2024

Citation: Muhammad Asrori, Awaluddin Tjalla, Academic Self-Efficacy Studied from the Students’ Attribution of Junior High Schools. American Journal of Educational Research, 12 (9). 368-375. January 2024. doi:10.12691/education-12-9-5

1. Introduction

Various studies have reported the importance of self-efficacy in supporting the maximum achievemen of learning outcomes. Wilma conducting research in a secondary school, reported that the students with high self-efficacy generally performed better academically than those with low self-efficacy. The students with high self-efficacy were typically able to control their learning behaviors, participate in class more actively, and choose more positive learning experiences. Conversely, the students with low self-efficacy commonly avoided various forms of academic interaction, especially if the academic interaction concerned a high level of difficulty [1].

One of the self-efficacy acquisition sources is a cognitive process, which considers as the processes involved in acquiring, organizing, and using information [2]. The influence of self-efficacy on cognitive processes takes various forms. Various human behaviors are governed by the thoughts that build valuable goals for them. The self-assessment of abilities influences the formulation of individual personal goals. The stronger one's self-efficacy perception within himself, the higher the challenges the individual goals are formulated for him and the higher his commitment to realizing these goals.

One of the contemporary cognitive process theories is known as attribution theory. Etymologically, "attribution" refers to an individual's cognitive process in understanding his social reality in the form of an individual's understanding, assumption, interpretation, and perception of the causes of an event in his life. "Attributions” are defined as “… common, everyday speculation about the cause of behavior to make behavior meaningful and understandable" [3] and as “an individual's perceived causes of an event or outcome" [4].

The attribution theory assumes that individuals tend to search for the causes of an event that befalls them, both in the form of success and failure events. The efforts to find the causes of the concerned event are the source of action for the relevant individual. Concerning this attribution assumption, Bernard Weiner claims: “A central assumption of attribution theory, which sets it apart from pleasure-pain theories of motivation, is that the search for understanding is the (or a) primary "spring of action"… In the school setting, the search for understanding often leads to the attributional question, "Why did I succeed or fail?” [5,6,7].

Bernard Weiner's assumption implies other assumptions, namely, that an event does not directly affect behavior but is mediated by "the search for understanding (attribution)", showing that the attribution theory is included in the cognitive flow [8]. Attribution, which is one’s view or interpretation to the causes of the life events that an individual experienced, also influences his self-efficacy, including the academic self-efficacy in students.

Based on the background and problem identification mentioned above, the research questions were formulated as follows: (1) How is the academic self-efficacy of junior high school students in West Kalimantan?; (2) How is the attribution of junior high school students in West Kalimantan?; (3) How is the academic self-efficacy of junior high school students whose attributions tend to be internal?; (4) How is the academic self-efficacy of junior high school students whose attributions tend to be external?; (5) How is the academic self-efficacy of junior high school students whose attributions tend to be stable?; (6) How is the academic self-efficacy of junior high school students whose attributions tend to be unstable?; (7) How is the academic self-efficacy of junior high school students whose attributions tend to be controllable?; (8) How is the academic self-efficacy of junior high school students whose attributions tend to be uncontrollable?; and (9) Is there any significant difference in the academic self-efficacy of junior high school students between those whose attributions are internal, external, stable, unstable, controllable, and uncontrollable?

The ultimate goal of this research is to develop an attributional guidance model to increase academic self-efficacy based on the attributional tendencies of junior high school students to increase students' academic self-efficacy.

To achieve this ultimate goal, the specific objectives were formulated in accordance with the formulation of the research problems, namely obtaining the objective and descriptive information about: (1) The academic self-efficacy of junior high school students in West Kalimantan; (2) The attribution of junior high school students in West Kalimantan; (3) The academic self-efficacy of junior high school students whose attributions tend to be internal; (4) Academic self-efficacy of junior high school students whose attribution tends to be external; (5) The academic self-efficacy of junior high school students whose attributions tend to be stable; (6) The academic self-efficacy of junior high school students whose attributions tend to be unstable; (7) Academic self-efficacy of junior high school students whose attributions tend to be controllable; (8) Academic self-efficacy of junior high school students whose attributions tend to be uncontrollable; and (9) Differences in academic self-efficacy of junior high school students between internal, external, stable, unstable, controllable, and uncontrollable attributions.

The present research is advantageous, theoretically contributing to the discipline of guidance and counseling, especially in contemporary motivational studies and academic self-efficacy studies concerning attribution. In the educational context, this research contributes to a scientific-scientific concept, especially about the "science of prevention and development", of which there are still very few in-depth discussions on the repertoire of Indonesian education. This research enriches the discipline of the "science of prevention and development" in the repertoire of guidance and counseling.

The practical benefits of this research cover: (1) offering a self-efficacy academic guidance model as a new alternative model in changing positive behavior, which can enrich the existing behavior modification models, (2) contributing a practical manual on the use of the academic self-efficacy guidance model to make it easier for guidance and counseling teachers or subject teachers in schools, and (3) providing inputs for educational institutions, particularly the Guidance and Counseling Study Program, to include the academic self-efficacy model as a field of study in the curriculum.

2. Theoritical Review

One of the contemporary cognitive process theories is known as attribution theory. Etymologically, "attribution" refers to an individual's cognitive process in understanding his social reality in the form of an individual's understanding, assumption, interpretation, and perception of the causes of an event in his life. "Attributions” are defined as “… common, everyday speculation about the cause of behavior to make behavior meaningful and understandable" [3] and as “an individual's perceived causes of an event or outcome" [4].

The attribution theory assumes that individuals tend to search for the causes of an event that befalls them, both in the form of success and failure events. The efforts to find the causes of the concerned event are the source of action for the relevant individual. Concerning this attribution assumption, Bernard Weiner claims: “A central assumption of attribution theory, which sets it apart from pleasure-pain theories of motivation, is that the search for understanding is the (or a) primary "spring of action"… In the school setting, the search for understanding often leads to the attributional question, "Why did I succeed or fail?”[5,6,7].

Bernard Weiner's assumption implies other assumptions, namely, that an event does not directly affect behavior but is mediated by "the search for understanding (attribution)", showing that the attribution theory is included in the cognitive flow [8].Attribution, which is one’s view or interpretation to the causes of the life events that an individual experienced, also influences his self-efficacy, including the academic self-efficacy in students.

The development of Weiner’s attribution theory there is an importance dimension that is causal attribution. Causal attribution refers to factors that perceived by individuals as factors that affect to their life, while causal dimensions refers to the traits of the factors. In the Weiner’s works states that there are four prominent causal attributions on the context of achievement, they are ability, effort, task difficulty and luck [5]. The four factors classifiyed into the two dimensions, they are locus of control (internal vs external) and stability (fixed vs variable)[6]. The next development of Weiner’s attribution theory there is a drastic reformulation theory in the causal dimension, that is additional of controllability dimension[7]. So, the whole dimension of attribution theory of Weiner, they are locus dimension, stability dimension and controllability dimension such as can be seen in the Table 1.

Table 1. Taxonomy of Causal Attribution Based on the Dimensions of Locus, Stability and Controllability

Self-efficacy was developed by a well-known psychologist named Albert Bandura. His theory emphasizes the role of observational learning, social experience, and reciprocal determinism in personality development. Albert Bandura elaborates that attitudes, abilities, and cognitive skills are all summarized in what is known as the self-system. This system significantly influences how people perceive and respond to different situations. Self-efficacy is an essential part of the self-system [2].

The fundamental question is, “What is self-efficacy?” Albert Bandura defines self-efficacy as one's belief that he can display the behaviors required for the desired goals [2,9]. In addition, self-efficacy to a person's belief in organizing and carrying out a number of actions required to manage situations in the future [2]. In other words, self-efficacy is a person's belief in his ability to succeed in a given situation. This belief is a determinant of the ways a person thinks, feels, and behaves. In his articles published in the Encyclopedia of Human Behavior 1994 and then republished in the Encyclopedia of Mental Health, Bandura 1998 defines self-efficacy as one's belief in his ability to achieve the level of performance to influence various events that are very influential in his life [10,11]. Bandura explicitly emphasizes that self-efficacy determines how one feels, thinks, and motivates oneself to behave. Self-efficacy leads a person to various kinds of results through four main processes: cognitive, motivational, affective, and selection.

Strong self-efficacy can increase one's ability to resolve and deal with various kinds of situations so that he will always feel competent [10]. When facing difficult tasks, the ones with strong self-efficacy will turn the difficulty into a challenge that must be resolved, and they do not see the difficulty as a threat that must be avoided [26]. Instead, they manage and prepare to try hard to achieve goals and maintain a strong commitment to achieving that purpose. They try to increase their hard work in the face of failures and immediately rebuild their confidence and self-ability after experiencing failures [27]. They will incline to think that failures are caused by a lack of hard work, knowledge and skills required to achieve success, so they will immediately improve their efforts, knowledge, and skills. It is important to emphasize here that people with strong self-efficacy tend to avoid stress and depression [10].

In this context, Ormrod urges that self-efficacy measures one's ability to complete various tasks and efforts to achieve various goals in their life [12]. Furthermore, he emphasizes that self-efficacy greatly influences every effort one makes in various fields [13]. Completing Ormrod's statement, Luszczynska and Schwarzer urge that determining one's belief in their ability to influence various situations will significantly affect their ability to face each challenge competently and choose the proper behavior to overcome these challenges [14]. This kind of ability causes one always to maintain their psychological health. They further claim that understanding and developing self-efficacy is vital for policymakers, educators, and other leadership positions to build a more enjoyable and productive life.

Self-efficacy covers two dimensions: they are efficacy expectancy-- the belief that they can display certain behaviors to achieve specific goals; and outcome expectancy-- the belief that the behavior displayed can lead to achieving the desired goals [9,15]. Self-efficacy significantly influences one's thinking, affective, and behavior patterns [16]. Self-efficacy is vital for Bandura, who firmly claims, "Self-efficacy affects choice, initiation, effort, persistence, and hence the level of performance accomplishment"[9]. It also means that self-efficacy can influence students' beliefs, persistence, and effort in the education and learning process [26]. Moreover, Bandura also emphasizes, "Efficacy expectations are a major determinant of people's choice of activities, how much effort they will expend, and how long they will sustain effort in dealing with stressful situations"[10].

In the context of academic activities, self-efficacy refers to the belief of individuals (students) that they can display certain behaviors required to achieve maximum learning outcomes and the individual beliefs (students) that the behavior displayed can lead to the achievement of optimal learning outcomes that they want [1,12]. Self-efficacy in the academic field is then known as academic self-efficacy [15,26].

Several previous studies have reported the importance of self-efficacy in achieving maximum learning outcomes. Research in high schools, reported that students with high self-efficacy generally performed better academically than those with low self-efficacy. Students who have high self-efficacy tend to have the ability to control their learning behaviors, to be more adaptable in participating in class actively, and to choose more positive learning experiences. Conversely, students with low self-efficacy tend to avoid various forms of academic interaction, especially with a high level of difficulty [1,26].

Other studies were conducted examining the effect of self-efficacy on academic performance in mathematics [17], investigating the effect of self-efficacy on career considerations and the ability to make career decisions [18,19,20]; and investigating the effect of self-efficacy on academic effort, academic perseverance, and academic performance of underachievers and low achievers [29,21,26]. The findings of these studies reinforce the urgency of self-efficacy to develop in academic activities for its significant influence on academic performance [21,26].

3. Method

3.1. Research Variables and Opera-tional Definition

The present research involved the variables of attribution and academic self-efficacy. The operational definition of each variable applied in this research is presented below to clarify the terms.

The attribution referred to in the present study is the interpretation of public junior high school students in West Kalimantan regarding the causes of their learning success and failure. This research focused on the dimensions of causal factors (attribution dimensions). They refer to Weiner's theory, including (1) the locus dimension, that is, whether the causal factors of success are internal or external; (2) the stability dimension, that is, whether the causal factors are stable or unstable; and (3) the controllability dimension, that is, whether the causal factors are controllable or uncontrollable.

Academic self-efficacy referred to in this study is the belief of public junior high school students in West Kalimantan that they can perform certain behaviors required to achieve academic achievement and the belief that the behavior displayed can lead to the achievement of academic achievement. In this study, self-efficacy is measured from two dimensions, namely: (1) efficacy expectancy, the belief of junior high school students that they can perform certain behaviors required to achieve specific goals; and (2) outcome expectancy, the belief of junior high school students that the behavior displayed can lead to the achievement of the desired goals.

3.2. Research Subjects and Locations

The subjects of this study were the public junior high school students in Pontianak City, Singkawang City, and Landak Regency. The subjects were studying in the public junior high schools accredited "A" (one school), accredited "B" (one school), and accredited "C" (one school). Thus, the research involved nine schools in total, comprising three schools accredited "A", three schools accredited "B", and three schools accredited "C". They were SMP Negeri 2 Pontianak, SMP Negeri 3 Pontianak, SMP Negeri 7 Pontianak, SMP Negeri 1 Sedau, SMP Negeri 5 Singkawang, SMP Negeri 1 Singkawang, SMP Negeri 1 Sengah Temila, SMP Negeri 1 Mandor, and SMP Negeri 1 Ngabang. Due to the many students in these cities and district, the research samples were selected using area proportional random sampling.

3.3. Data Collection Technique

The data were collected using the following instruments: The Academic Self-Efficacy Inventory employed in this study was based on an inventory developed by Sanna [15]. This inventory covered a number of statements describing the student's academic self-efficacy, and the students were instructed to choose one of the alternative options ranging from "very confident, confident, less confident, unsure, and very unsure".

The Attribution Inventory was based on the inventory developed by Bernard Weiner [5]. This inventory provided a number of causal factors experienced by the students when having learning success and failure. The students were asked to choose the causal factors for their learning success and failure.

3.4. Data Analysis Technique

Factor Analysis, specifically Confirmatory Factor Analysis was utilized for data analysis to determine the junior high school students' attributions of academic success and failure [22]. The procedure of this analysis was (a) compiling correlation matrix, (b) testing assumptions, (c) conducting communality analysis with Principal Component Analysis, (d) compiling factor matrix without rotation, (e) factor rotation with varimax procedure, and (f) compiling rotated factor load matrix structure [23].

The data analysis to determine the student's academic self-efficacy profile was computed by the percentage of actual scores from the ideal maximum score based on the normal curve. Furthermore, Two Way Analysis of Variance was utilized to analyze the data to determine the differences in academic self-efficacy based on the students' attribution tendencies [24,25]. The data analysis was done using the SPSS for Windows Version16.00.

4. Research Results

4.1. The Attributions of West Kalimantan State Junior High School Students When Obtaining Academic Success

The factor analysis was employed to find the attributions of West Kalimantan State Junior High School students when obtaining academic success. They are shown in Table 2.

Table 2. The Factor Matrix of Students' Attributions to Obtaining Academic Success

Using a coefficient of >0.40 as a criterion to establish the content of a factor [26], it was identified that the internal and external items had a factor load of 1 (locus) and were smaller than that criterion on the other factors. Therefore, it could be interpreted that the items measured the same dimension or factor, namely the locus dimension, and not other dimensions. Therefore, the items contained the three dimensions as intended. The factor load coefficients also indicated high or low factorial validity.

Table 2 shows that students' attributions consist of three dimensions, namely, the dimensions of locus, stability and controllability. It provided an empirical basis for determining the scores on each dimension by reversing the scores on items with negative factor loading so that they became unipolar and then summing them up with the scores with positive factor loading. For example, in the locus dimension, the locus dimension score was obtained by inverting the scores of the external items and then summing them with the scores of internal items. Therefore, the higher the locus score, the more internal it is. The same was true for the controllability dimension by reversing the scores of the uncontrollable items.

For the stability dimension, it is different from the locus and controllability dimensions. In this dimension, what is reversed is the score of stable items and then summed with the score of unstable items. Thus, the higher the score on this stability dimension, the more stable it is. In this way, the higher the score obtained for all items on all dimensions, the more internal, controlled, and stable. The higher the score, the more fantastic the attributions of public junior high school students in West Kalimantan when obtaining academic success.

Based on the results of the factor analysis above, then applied to the research subjects totaling 400 public junior high school students in West Kalimantan, the students' attributions when experiencing academic success are obtained, as shown in Table 3.

Table 3. Students' Attributions to Obtaining Academic Success

Table 3 shows that when the students experience academic success, most of them tend to attribute that the cause of success is within themselves, can be controlled by them, and depends on them. In the face of academic success, the students' attributions tend to be internal, controllable, and unstable. This kind of attribution effectively increases motivation and is conducive to emotional reactions for future learning processes. However, it must also be examined more carefully because such attributions may arise. After all, the event faced is successful and pleasant.

4.2. The Attributions of West Kalimantan State Junior High School Students When Experiencing Academic Failures

Using the factor analysis, it was found that the attributions of West Kalimantan State Junior High School students when experiencing academic failure are as shown in Table 4.

Using a coefficient of >0.40 as the criterion to establish the content of a factor [26], it can be identified that the internal and external items have a factor load of 1 (locus) and are smaller than the criterion on the other factors. Therefore, it can be interpreted that the items measure the same dimension or factor, namely the locus dimension, and not the other dimensions. Thus, the items contain the dimensions as intended. The factor load coefficients also indicate high-low factorial validity.

Table 4. The Factor Matrix of the Students’ Attributions in Obtaining Academ Failure

The higher the score, the more internal, controlled, and stable. The higher the score obtained means, the more fantastic the attributions of public junior high school students in West Kalimantan when experiencing academic failure.

Based on the results of the factor analysis above, then applied to the research subjects totaling 400 public junior high school students in West Kalimantan, the attributions of the students when experiencing success in learning are obtained, as shown in Table 5.

Table 5. Students’ Attribution in Experiencing Academis Failure

Table 5 shows that when the students experience academic failures, their attributions also tend to perceive that the cause is within them, controllable, dependent on them, and temporary. It means that when they experience failure in learning, their attributions also tend to be internal, controllable and unstable.

The findings of this study also mean that the attributions of public junior high school students in West Kalimantan show the consistency of attributions, both when experiencing academic success and failure. Their attributions tend to be internal, controllable, and unstable. Such attributions, according to Weiner's theoretical framework, are beneficial for the development of achievement behaviors in the future. In addition, it is also conducive to increasing motivation for positive behaviors in the future, including improved behaviors and academic achievement in a better direction.

4.3. Academic Self-Efficacy of State Junior High School Students in West Kalimantan

The data analysis to determine the level of academic self-efficacy of public junior high school students in West Kalimantan was carried out by estimating the percentage trend of actual scores from the ideal maximum score based on the normal curve. Assuming that 20% belong to the "low" group and 20% belong to the "high" group, it means that the "medium" group is 60% for the left and right areas of the normal curve or 30% for the left/right areas only.

Furthermore, to determine the benchmarks for the "low", "medium", and "high" categories, first determine the "medium" category area. Meanwhile, the "low" category is below the lower limit of the "medium" category range, and the "high" category is above the upper limit of the "medium" category range.

Using the above procedure, the benchmarks of academic self-efficacy categories were found as listed in Table 6.

Table 6. Benchmarks of Academic Self-Efficacy Categories

Using the category benchmarks shown in Table 6, the academic self-efficacy of public junior high school students in West Kalimantan can be seen in Table 7.

Table 7. The Academic Self-Efficacy Tendency of Public Junior High School Students

Table 7 shows that the academic self-efficacy of public junior high school students in West Kalimantan is still classified as "low". Likewise, if examined in more detail into its aspects, it appears that its aspects, namely efficacy and outcome expectancy, are also classified as "low".

4.4. Differences in Students' Academic Self-Efficacy between Junior High Schools

Before testing the differences using analysis of variance, the homogeneity of variance test was first carried out, the results of which are shown in Table 8.

Table 8. Results of Homogeneity of Variance Tests of Students' Academic Self-Efficacy

The homogeneity of variance test results in Table 7 shows that neither the overall nor each aspect shows a significant difference at p<0.05. It means that the variance of each aspect and the whole is homogeneous, so the statistical test assumptions are met.

The average difference test of the student's academic self-efficacy was done using analysis of variance to see the difference between junior high schools. The results are shown in Table 9.

Table 9. Differences in Students' Academic Self-Efficacy Between Junior High Schools

The results of the variance analysis in Table 9 show that in terms of differences in junior high schools, there is no significant difference in students' academic self-efficacy, meaning that the academic self-efficacy of all junior high school students participating in this study was categorized as "low".

To see in more detail, the variance analysis was also conducted on each aspect of students' academic self-efficacy. The results of the analysis are shown in Table 10.

Table 10. Differences in Each Aspect of Students' Academic Self-Efficacy between Junior High Schools

Table 10 shows that when viewed in more detail into its aspects, the academic self-efficacy of students from several junior high schools also still shows no significant differences. Of the two self-efficacy aspects, namely efficacy expectancy and outcome expectancy, both show no significant differences between the participating public junior high schools. It further strengthens that the student's academic self-efficacy is categorized as "low".

5. Discussion

The discussion of the results of this study is based on the analysis of Bernard Weiner's attribution theory. It is a common view among psychologists and psychotherapists that Weiner's theoretical explanations are logical, highly relevant to educational endeavors, and have inspired many other motivational interventions [8,30]. However, Weiner's theory also contains something often complicated for students. Weiner's attribution theory focuses on success and failure events, particularly on the motivational consequences of both events. In its context with success events, Platt claims, "Given success... Weiner's model does not provide a clear conclusion as to which specific internal attribution(s) will best facilitate future performance."[36]

Weiner's attribution theory also claims that attribution occurs less with success than failure. However, this claim is refuted by McFarland and Ross, by arguing that success is more complex than failure [32]. The uncertainty of Weiner's attribution theory in explaining the consequences of success attribution as refuted by Murdock and Fremont is relevant to discuss in this study because one of the themes of this attribution research is related to success [33]. It means that determining the adjustive attribution for success events in this study is carried out using Weiner's attribution theory which has the conditions described above.

In the context of attributions that apply to failure conditions, the determination of Weiner's attribution theory to be used in this study is also open to problems. This study defines that the attributions are internalized, unstable, and controllable by the individual. Although this stipulation is justified by Weiner's theory and is also used by many motivational intervention models, some experts reject it. For example, Russell and McAuley reject such attributions because they may lead to feelings of shame and regret in individuals. Although further discussion reinforces that there is no need to be overly concerned about such feelings of shame and regret, such concerns are important to note [34]. The reason is that the regret, which is not conducive to developing reparative behavior in the future, is excessive regret because it will cause psychological difficulties. Meanwhile, the regret in the moderate category is still conducive to the development of reparative behavior in the future [34].

Concerning the success conditions, Weiner does not explicitly mention which attributions are adjustive [36]. Based on conceptual exploration and empirical results, this study finally establishes the attributions that are internalized, unstable, and controllable as adjustive attributions. However, this definition is also a dilemma, especially in the last two dimensions. According to, the dimensions of unstable and controllable attributions help avoid the emergence of overconfidence. However, this dimension of attribution is not optimal for maintaining success expectancy [36].

In contrast, the stable and uncontrollable dimensional attributions can optimally maintain success expectations but at the risk of generating excessive self-belief. The choice of attributions that are adjustive to the success condition is complicated because Weiner does not explicitly indicate it and because the attributions in the success condition are more complex than in the failure condition. In the context of this success condition, although Weiner is an expert who has seriously explored the study of attribution, according to Vallerand and Richer, he still needs to fully succeed in deciphering the complexity of attribution in the success condition [37].

6. Conclusion and Suggestions

Based on the results of the research and discussion, it can be concluded: (1) Overall, the academic self-efficacy of junior high school students is categorized as still "low". Likewise, if examined in more detail into its aspects, it appears that the two aspects contained in it, namely efficacy expectancy and outcome expectancy, are also classified as still "low". (2) Regarding differences between junior high schools, there are no significant differences in students' academic self-efficacy. That is, the student's academic self-efficacy is equally in the "low" category of all public junior high schools participating in this research. (3) The difference between junior high schools, if viewed in more detail, also shows no significant difference; namely, both are classified as "low”. (4) Most students, when experiencing academic success, attribute that the cause of success is within themselves, controllable by them, and dependable on them. In the face of academic success, the students' attributions tend to be internal, controllable, and unstable. Such attributions significantly increase motivation and conduciveness for future academic processes. However, it also needs to be examined more carefully because such attributions may arise since the event faced is a successful and pleasant event. (5) When students experience academic failure, it turns out that their attributions also tend to view that the cause is within them, controllable, dependent on them, and temporary. It means that their attributions tend to be internal, controllable, and unstable when they experience academic failure. It implies that the students' attributions show consistency when experiencing academic success and failure. Their attributions tend to be internal, controllable, and unstable. Such attributions, according to Weiner's theoretical framework, are beneficial for the development of achievement behaviors in the future. In addition, it is also conducive to increasing motivation for positive behaviors in the future, including increasing academic self-efficacy.

Based on the research conclusions, suggestions can be made: (1) Because the students' academic self-efficacy is still categorized as "low", both overall, its aspects, and differences between junior high schools, it is essential to carry out motivational interventions more seriously, planned, and supported with a scientific basis, so that they can increase the students' academic self-efficacy. It is imperative because it often happens that before learning and completing learning tasks, especially subjects that are considered difficult, the students already feel incapable at first. In other words, they do not have high academic self-efficacy and self-confidence and tend to feel defeated before competing. Consequently, their learning achievement also becomes low. (2) The attempt to increase academic self-efficacy should be made through an integrated approach to the learning process so that teachers can handle and monitor it more continuously. The motivational intervention designed to improve academic self-efficacy with scientific legitimacy is a guidance model called the "Attributional Guidance Model".

References

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