The inhibitory mechanism of english self-efficacy on actual language usage in a confucian-heritage context: A complementary mediation analysis via language anxiety

This study challenges the conventional view in Second Language Acquisition that self-efficacy invariably promotes engagement. It argues that within a Confucian-heritage context, high English self-efficacy can paradoxically function as an inhibitory mechanism suppressing self-reported English engagement. Adopting an explanatory sequential mixed-methods design, the study analyzed survey data from 450 English-major undergraduates using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM), followed by semi-structured interviews with 20 purposively selected participants. The quantitative analysis yielded robust evidence supporting the proposed inhibitory mechanism. Rather than reporting detailed path coefficients, the findings indicate that English self-efficacy is negatively associated with English engagement, both directly and indirectly through language anxiety. High self-efficacy was found to be strongly associated with elevated language anxiety, which in turn was negatively associated with engagement. These results support the central argument that strong competence beliefs in face-sensitive academic cultures generate a psychological “competence burden.” Qualitative findings corroborate the quantitative results by revealing how high-achieving students strategically avoid English use to protect their “good student” image. Participants described perfectionism, reputational pressure, and fear of negative evaluation as key psychological constraints that discourage communicative risk-taking despite high perceived competence. The study makes both theoretical and methodological contributions. Theoretically, it identifies cultural boundary conditions under which self-efficacy may inhibit rather than facilitate language engagement, extending social cognitive theory beyond its traditionally facilitative assumptions. Methodologically, the study validates a culturally sensitive questionnaire with strong reliability and construct validity for examining the anxiety–efficacy nexus among advanced EFL learners. Pedagogically, the findings suggest the need to decouple language errors from reputational loss in order to unlock the communicative potential of capable students.