Modeling Galatea: Boosting self-efficacy to increase volunteering

Abstract

The Galatea effect is a boost in performance caused by raising workers' self-expectations. Hypothesizing that self-efficacy is central to one's expectations for success and motivation to perform, vicarious experience and verbal persuasion were used to strengthen the self-efficacy of candidates and to increase the rate of volunteering for special-forces service. 556 qualified candidates were assigned at random to the routine information program or to the experimental program. General self-efficacy (GSE) was analyzed as a moderator, and specific self-efficacy (SSE) was measured as a manipulation check. Analysis revealed that the experimental program raised SSE and willingness to volunteer, as hypothesized. 8% more experimental candidates actually volunteered ( p < .02), confirming the Galatea hypothesis. The practical importance of the effect was that it reduced the loss of volunteers by a third, compared with the volunteer rate both in the control condition and throughout the preceding year. Analysis detected significant interactions between the treatment and GSE, evidencing the behavioral plasticity effect. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved)