Salient sources of early adolescents' self-efficacy in two domains

•Mastery experience and social persuasion were the most frequently reported sources.•Students also cited social comparison and teacher practices as important sources.•Many students cited a different source of self-efficacy across academic domains.•Girls described social sources more often than did boys.•Sources of self-efficacy differed by level of self-efficacy. The purpose of this study was to use a mixed methodological approach to investigate upper-elementary and middle school students' (N = 2511) descriptions of what makes them feel more confident in math and in reading. Qualitative methods were used to code students' responses to open-ended prompts according to Bandura's hypothesized sources of self-efficacy and other emergent themes. Quantitative analyses revealed that mastery experience and social persuasion were the most frequently reported sources. Responses also referred to social comparative information, teacher practices, and help availability. Fifty percent of respondents indicated a different primary source of self-efficacy in reading than in math, suggesting the domain-sensitivity of self-efficacy development. Girls described social sources more often than did boys. Responses differed according to students' previous level of self-efficacy (i.e., high or low). Implications for educators and future research are discussed.