Validating the multi-dimensional structure of self-efficacy beliefs in peer feedback for L2 writing: A bifactor-exploratory structural equation modeling approach

The present study aims to validate a new scale, i.e., self-efficacy beliefs in peer feedback (SEBPF),using an advanced method of bifactor ESEM. Informed by sociocognitive theory and self-regulated learning, the SEBPF was designed to measure five distinct factors: self-incentives forpeer feedback, perceived use of peer feedback, confidence in peer feedback, managing stress inpeer feedback, and setting proximal goals for peer feedback. The items for the SEBPF scale weredeveloped by extracting relevant themes from published studies and conducting interviews with asample of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) student writers in China. This paper provides acomprehensive account of the developing and validating process of the SEBPF scale. Comparisonsof confirmatory factor analysis and exploratory factor analysis support the criterion-related validityof a coherent 5-factor structure comprising 22 items, indicating the reliability and multifacetednature of the SEBPF scale. The findings demonstrate the robustness and practicalapplicability of the SEBPF scale in assessing EFL writers’ self-efficacy beliefs associated with peerfeedback, as well as its predictive effects on different sub-scores of writing performance. Thispaper is an empirical application of validating a new scale through bifactor ESEM. Implicationswere proposed based on the findings.