Introduction:

Some students manage to advance their thesis projects much easily than others. Thus, reasons arise for the increase in predisposition and satisfactory performance, as well as the increase in the skills developed during the undergraduate course. This performance is associated with greater motivation for research activities and the feeling of self-efficacy to carry out tasks.

Objective:

To evaluate the relationship between the levels of self-efficacy and the disposition to carry out the degree thesis.

Methods:

A cross-sectional analytical study was carried including113 students from the last two years of the School of Dentistry of Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, Lima, Peru. The survey technique was used with two scales: self-efficacy to achieve the thesis (two dimensions and 14 questions) and willingness to achieve the thesis (four dimensions and 44 questions). Pearson's correlation test was used to analyze the scores for each variable.

Results:

Self-efficacy obtained a general score of 1.61 ± 0.53. No significant differences were found between fifth and boarding school students. The disposition had an overall score of 4.04 ± 0.34. A significant correlation was found between the variables for all the respondents (p < 0.05; r = 0.283). However, no correlations were found when each academic year (p > 0.05) was analyzed. Scores in women showed a correlation, significante between self-efficacy to achieve the thesis and willingness to do so (p < 0.01; r = 0.430). There was no such correlation in the male group.

Conclusions:

There is relationship between the scores of “self-efficacy to do the thesis” and the “willingness to do the thesis” in a group of dentistry students. This correlation is maintained in women and is not present in men. Fifth-year students showed higher average scores regarding both variables.

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