General Self-Efficacy Scale

GSE

psychologyhealthFree for research use

Permission: Free for research use. Free for non-commercial academic research, with no license fee. Cite the original publication.

A 10-item, unidimensional measure of general perceived self-efficacy: the belief that one can cope with difficult demands, daily hassles, and stressful life events.

Items

Response format

4-point scale

Version

1.0

Ready-to-cite methods sentence

General self-efficacy was measured with the 10-item General Self-Efficacy Scale (GSE; Schwarzer & Jerusalem, 1995), rated from 1 (not at all true) to 4 (exactly true) and summed to a total of 10-40; the authors report Cronbach's alphas of .76 to .90 across samples from 23 nations.

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Reliability & validation

Notes

The authors report that most alphas fall in the high .80s. Scores are summed to a total of 10-40, with no reverse-scored items.

Validation population

Samples from 23 nations (authors' documentation)

Cronbach's α

0.76–0.90

Response anchors

Not at all true · Hardly true · Moderately true · Exactly true

Known limitations

Because it is a general measure, the authors note that it does not tap specific behavior change, so studies of a particular behavior usually add domain-specific items. The authors advise against testing children under 12.

Original citation

Schwarzer, R., & Jerusalem, M. (1995). Generalized Self-Efficacy scale. In J. Weinman, S. Wright, & M. Johnston (Eds.), Measures in health psychology: A user's portfolio. Causal and control beliefs (pp. 35-37). NFER-NELSON.

Questions researchers ask

What does the GSE measure?

A 10-item, unidimensional measure of general perceived self-efficacy: the belief that one can cope with difficult demands, daily hassles, and stressful life events.

How many items does the GSE have?

The General Self-Efficacy Scale (GSE) has 10 items.

Is the GSE free to use?

The GSE is free to use for non-commercial academic research. You don't need to pay a license fee, but you should always cite the original publication.

Is the GSE reliable?

Validation studies report Cronbach's α of 0.76–0.90. See the reliability section for the population studied and full statistics.

Who developed the GSE, and how do I cite it?

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Library entry verified November 2026. Metadata is provided for reference. Questionnaires are built in Folio Surveyor, subject to each instrument's licensing, and can be taken to Qualtrics, Google Forms or Microsoft Forms, with their CSV responses brought back for scoring.