Full length article Accuracy and bias of ICT self-efficacy: An empirical study into students’ over- and underestimation of their ICT competences Koen Aesaert a, * , Joke Voogt b , Els Kuiper b , Johan van Braak a a Department of Educational Studies, Ghent University, Henri Dunantlaan 2, B9000, Ghent, Belgium b Department of Educational Sciences, University of Amsterdam, Nieuwe Achtergracht 127, 1001 NG, Amsterdam, The Netherlands article info Article history: Received 2 March 2017 Received in revised form 4 May 2017 Accepted 6 May 2017 Available online 7 May 2017 Keywords: ICT self-efficacy Bias Accuracy Primary education ICT competences abstract Most studies on the assessment of ICT competences use measures of ICT self-efficacy. These studies are often accused that they suffer from self-reported bias, i.e. students can over- and/or underestimate their ICT competences. As such, taking bias and accuracy of ICT self-efficacy into account, would improve the validity of these studies and the predictive power of the ICT self-efficacy measures used. Consequently, the general aim of this study is twofold. First, to explore the degree to which primary school students are under- and/or overestimating their ability in digital information processing and communication. Second, to identify student characteristics that are possibly related to the accuracy of ICT self-efficacy. Infor- mation on accuracy and bias of ICT self-efficacy was gathered by comparing students’ results on an ICT self-efficacy scale and a performance based ICT competence test. Both instruments were administered to 378 sixth grade students from 58 primary schools in Flanders (the Dutch speaking part of Belgium). Information on the explanatory student characteristics was gathered through a questionnaire that was administered to the same students. The results indicate that primary school students make relatively accurate and positively biased judgments about their ability in digital information processing and communication. Further, the results indicate that primary school students’ actual ICT competences and previous ICT experience are related to their accuracy of ICT self-efficacy. As this study is one of the first to investigate primary school students’ accuracy and bias of ICT self-efficacy and to identify potential explanatory variables, it provides new insights into the nature of ICT self-efficacy. © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction In general, ICT self-efficacy comprises computer and Internet self-efficacy (Papastergiou, 2010) and is defined as a person’s judgment regarding his or her ability in using the computer and the Internet (Papastergiou, Gerodimos, & Antoniou, 2011; Torkzadeh, Chang, & Demirhan, 2006). In most research, ICT self-efficacy is operationalized as a measure of strength. Similar to other types of self-efficacy strength such as math self-efficacy strength (Chen, 2003), ICT self-efficacy strength refers to the level or extent of one’s belief of using the computer and the Internet. As such, ICT self-efficacy strength can vary from low levels (weak belief) to high levels (strong belief). The relation between variation in strength of ICT self-efficacy and regulation of students’ emotions, choices, and courses of actions towards using ICT, as well as the determination of their actual ICT competences, has been intensively acknowledged in the research literature (Aesaert, Van Nijlen, Vanderlinde, Tondeur, Devlieger and van Braak, 2015; Barbeite & Weiss, 2004; Sam, Othman, & Nordin, 2005; Sun, 2008). These studies succinctly indicate the importance of elevating students’ level of ICT self- efficacy in order to develop their ICT competences and improve their use and feelings towards ICT. For example, results of Tsai and Tsai (2003) revealed that students with higher ICT self-efficacy tend to have better online information processing strategies. Aesaert et al. (2015) found that primary school students’ ICT self-efficacy is positively related to their actual competence in locating and processing digital information, and communicating using a com- puter. Similarly, results of the international ICILS 2013 study indi- cate that the higher students’ basic ICT elf-efficacy, the higher their computer and information literacy (Fraillon, Ainley, Schulz, Friedman, & Gebhardt, 2014). Further, ICT self-efficacy is posi- tively related to perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness of technology, and to behavioral intention to use technology (Aesaert et al., 2015; Courtois et al., 2014; Ong & Lai, 2006). A study of * Corresponding author. E-mail address: koen.aesaert@ugent.be (K. Aesaert). Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Computers in Human Behavior journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/comphumbeh http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2017.05.010 0747-5632/© 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Computers in Human Behavior 75 (2017) 92e102