Does attending elite colleges matter in the relationship between self-esteem and general self-efficacy of students in China?

This study analyzed the reciprocal relationship between self-esteem and general self-efficacy among students from both the elite and non-elite universities in China. Descriptive statistics showed that the levels of general self-efficacy remained stable among Chinese college students albeit with minor fluctuations, while their self-esteem continuously declined during the four academic years; students from elite universities had higher self-esteem than their counterparts from non-elite universities. Moreover, the general self-efficacy of students was significantly and positively correlated with their self-esteem at college. Using a four-wave cross-lagged model, we found that the self-esteem and general self-efficacy among elite university students reinforced each other from the freshman to the junior years, whereas the self-esteem of their equivalents from non-elite universities monodirectionally predicted their subsequent general self-efficacy levels from the sophomore to the senior years. The study adds to the literature by (1) exploring the directionality of the relationship between self-esteem and generalized self-efficacy with four-wave panel data, and (2) discussing the heterogeneity of the relationship among sub-groups of the college students. The study proposed that institutions of different tiers should take targeted interventions to boost students’ self-esteem and general self-efficacy.