自信感形成要因および自信感の発達的変化

──青年期から高齢期を対象として──

抄録

Factors related to confidence building were investigated from adolescence to late adulthood in male and female participants (n = 1,741: age 18-92 years). A scale to measure confidence was developed based on the free descriptions given by the participants regarding their confidence. Factor analysis of the Confidence Scale scores identified four essential factors for developing confidence: “self-affirmation” “ability to build interpersonal relationships” “sense of capability” and “ability to recover” suggesting that confidence encompassed not only factors pertaining to competence and self-evaluation, but also the ability to build interpersonal relationships and recover from difficult situations. The study also investigated confidence in seven age groups ̶ university students and individuals excluding students who were in their twenties, thirties, forties, fifties, sixties, and seventies and above. The investigations were also carried out on the basis of gender. Results indicated a tendency for the mean scores of confidence to increase with age. Moreover, the mean scores for both males and females were significantly higher at the age group of 50-59 than that of 40-49. Females had more confidence-building factors than males in each age group. Furthermore, there was a significant and positive correlation between an individual's confidence and high motivation, autonomous lifestyle and attitudes, sense of fulfillment, and positive future prospects, whereas confidence was negatively correlated with the fear of failure.