It has become commonplace to speak of the accelerated rate of social, economic, technological, and cultural changes that our world is undergoing. Genetic engineering, global multimedia communication, superhighways of information, and other breathtaking innovations no longer belong to the domain of science fiction. They are now part of our daily lives. Navigating between the reefs of the uncharted waters of our assailed present and daunting future is disconcerting for the best-prepared adults but even more so for the youth of our society.

Much ink has flowed on the subject of whether tomorrow's world will be a true or false El Dorado. Less effort has been invested in preparing ourselves, and particulary our youth, to cope with the extraordinary changes they face.

For this reason, I am especially pleased to introduce Albert Bandura's volume, Self-efficacy in Changing Societies. It is a great honor for the Johann Jacobs Foundation that the various contributions presented in this volume originated from the conference held on November 4–6, 1993, at our Communication Center, Marbach Castle (Germany), with the participation of 45 international social scientists and young scholars.

In his preface, Albert Bandura summarizes the structure of this volume, which is built around the central theme that young people's beliefs in their personal efficacy to manage the demands of rapidly changing societal conditions help them to meet these challenges.

Convinced of the fruitful applications of many of the ideas presented at the Marbach Conference on self-efficacy, the Johann Jacobs Foundation organized a follow-up policy conference on January 28–30, 1994, with the participation of some of the contributors to this volume, as well as prominent policy makers and field workers involved in youth work, particularly school systems.