Common experience and intuition tells us self-efficacy judgments are generally associated with performance. In other worlds, how we judge ourselves when performing a certain task colors our expectation of the outcome. In relation to the bar exams, if we feel or perceive we did well in a certain subject, we expect to pass that subject. This is a natural human reaction.
Thus, in my previous post on the 2008 Philippine bar exams, Wilfred Magz posted a comment in which he expresses a common anxiety among bar takers and illustrates a phenomenon I’ve observed over the years in examinees of other licensure exams aside from the bar. With his permission, I am quoting a part of his comment here:
I am one of those 6530+ bar examiness who just finished taking the second bar exam subject ( Labor Law and Social Legislation, the “love” of my life in law school…too bad it did not love me back ) of the first day of the Bar examination month.
What can I say? I feel like the whole world just fell smack on my head. Although the booklets have not yet been officially corrected, the results for me were really abysmal. If I checked my own examination booklet on Labor Law and Social Legislation I would give it a grade of 50, and I am being rather merciful. Political Law wasn’t too bad and I would grade myself 60.
Wilfred thinks he fared badly in labor law and did better in constitutional law. His evaluation is based on the degree of difficulty he had while taking the tests. But from my own experience, the actual results did not match my self-perception of how well I did. In fact, it was the exact opposite. I did well in the subjects I thought I would fail because I had a hard time and got lower grades in the ones that I was confident I aced. And this was the experience of others as well. What gives ? Read the rest of this entry »
