Abstract
Previous research assessing the impact of Adventure Education Programme’s (AEP’s), has
revealed that youth taking part in such programmes often report increased levels of efficacy.
Few studies, have however sought to examine the processes by which such outcomes emerge.
In an attempt to understand this issue the research conducted as part of the present thesis,
subsequently sought to examine the extent to which social identification and collective
efficacy contributed to the development of personal (i.e., intrapersonal and interpersonal)
self-efficacy over the course of an AEP. Two studies were conducted in the context of a 10-
day AEP that utilizes a large sailing vessel as a medium for inducing change amongst youth.
Study one (n = 157) revealed that young people who took part in the programme reported
increased levels of personal efficacy from the first to the last day of the voyage. Study two (n
= 153) replicated these effects and further demonstrated that increased levels of efficacy
remained 9-months following the voyage. In both studies, the effects of social identity on
heightened levels of personal efficacy were mediated by collective efficacy, so that positive
social identity was associated with higher personal efficacy to the extent that the in-group
was perceived to be more efficacious.