Adolescents' beliefs in their personal control affect their psychological well-being and the direction of their lives. Self-efficacy in Changing Societies analyzes the diverse ways in which beliefs of personal efficacy operate within a network of socio-cultural influences to shape life paths. The chapters, by internationally known experts, cover such matters as development of personal agency in infancy, competency through the life span, and the role of familial, educational, and cross-cultural factors in the social construction of personal and collective efficacy. The volume addresses important issues of human adaptation and change that will be of considerable interest to people in the fields of developmental psychology, education, health, and sociology.