In this blog post, executive coach and author Julie Hickton, looks in more depth at Bandura, self efficacy, and the four sources from which we draw it.
When Gandhi talked about the power of his own self-belief, it wasn’t just an inspirational soundbite, it was good psychology too. We all know that self-confidence is crucial in life, but what about self-efficacy? Our faith in our own abilities to succeed play a major part in whether we actually do… so Gandhi’s is, to some extent, is a self-fulfilling prophecy. According to Albert Bandura self efficacy is “the belief in one’s capabilities to organise and execute the courses of action required to manage prospective situations.” In other words, self-efficacy is a person’s belief in his or her ability to succeed in a particular situation. Bandura described these beliefs as determinants of how people think, behave and feel. Self-efficacy can have an impact on everything from psychological states to behaviour to motivation. To Bandura self efficacy has been found that an individual’s self-efficacy plays a major role in how goals, tasks and challenges are approached. People with a strong sense of self-efficacy:
And, conversely, people with a weak sense of self-efficacy:
And, according to Bandura, there are four major sources of self-efficacy. Mastery experiencesThe most effective way of developing a strong sense of efficacy is through mastery experiences.” Performing a task successfully strengthens our sense of self-efficacy. However failing to adequately deal with the task or challenge can undermine or weaken self-efficacy. The small steps and incremental goals of achievement support this development. Social modellingWitnessing other people successfully completing a task is another important source of self-efficacy. “Seeing people similar to oneself succeed by sustained effort raises observer’s beliefs that they too possess the capabilities to master comparable activities.” Social persuasionBandura’s self efficacy report also asserted that people could be persuaded to believe that they have the skills and capabilities to succeed. Getting verbal encouragement from others helps people overcome self-doubt and instead focus on giving their best effort to the task in hand. Psychological responsesOur own responses and emotional reactions to situations also play an important role in self-efficacy. Moods, emotional states, physical reactions and stress levels can all impact on how a person feels about their personal capabilities to a particular situation. Bandura self efficacy notes “it is not the sheer intensity of emotional and physical reactions that is important but rather how they are perceived and interpreted.” By learning how to minimise stress and elevate mood when facing difficult or challenging situations, people can improve their sense of self-efficacy. So to help develop this aspect of your resilience, spend time with people who will encourage and support you, set your self some goals that do stretch but you are able to achieve. Find out how others do it, go and have a conversation with them and get ideas and approaches to what it is that you are wanting to achieve, over come. And finally, manage your mood; you can control your response to things it does however take a determined effort and focus. Self-efficacy is the belief that one is capable of performing in a certain manner or attaining certain goals.[1] It is a belief that one has the capabilities to execute the courses of actions required to manage prospective situations. Unlike efficacy, which is the power to produce an effect (in essence, competence), self-efficacy is the belief (whether or not accurate) that one has the power to produce that effect. For example, a person with high self efficacy may engage in a more health related activity when an illness occurs, whereas a person with low self efficacy would harbor feelings of hopelessness.[2] It is important here to understand the distinction between self-esteem and self-efficacy. Self-esteem relates to a person’s sense of self-worth, whereas self-efficacy relates to a person’s perception of their ability to reach a goal. For example, say a person is a terrible rock climber, they would likely have a poor self-efficacy in regard to rock climbing, but this wouldn’t need to affect their self-esteem; most people don’t invest much of their self-esteem in this activity.[3] The concept of self-efficacy is the focal point of Albert Bandura's social cognitive theory. By means of the self-system, individuals exercise control over their thoughts, feelings and actions. Among the beliefs with which an individual evaluates the control over his/her actions and environment, self-efficacy beliefs are the most influential arbiter of human activity. Self-efficacy – the belief in one's capabilities to organize and execute the courses of action required to produce given attainments – is constructed on the basis of the four most influential sources: enactive attainment, vicarious experience, verbal persuasion and physiological as well as emotional factors. Self-efficacy plays the central role in the cognitive regulation of motivation, because people regulate the level and the distribution of effort they will expend in accordance with the effects they are expecting from their actions. How self-efficacy affects human functionChoices regarding behaviorPeople will be more inclined to take on a task if they believe they can succeed. People generally avoid tasks where their self-efficacy is low, but will engage in tasks where their self-efficacy is high. People with a self-efficacy significantly beyond their actual ability likely overestimate their ability to complete tasks, which can lead to irreversible damage. On the other hand, people with a self-efficacy significantly lower than their ability are unlikely to grow and expand their skills. Research shows that the ‘optimum’ level of self-efficacy is a little above ability, which encourages people to tackle challenging tasks and gain valuable experience.MotivationPeople with high self-efficacy in a task are more likely to expend more effort, and persist longer, than those with low efficacy.[4] On the other hand, low self-efficacy provides an incentive to learn more about the subject. As a result, someone with a high efficacy may not prepare sufficiently for a task.Thought patterns & responsesLow self-efficacy can lead people to believe tasks are harder than they actually are.[5] This often results in poor task planning, as well as increased stress. Observational evidence shows that people become erratic and unpredictable when engaging in a task in which they have low efficacy. On the other hand, people with high self-efficacy often take a wider picture of a task in order to take the best route of action. People with high self-efficacy are shown to be encouraged by obstacles to greater effort. Self-efficacy also affects how people respond to failure. A person with a high efficacy will attribute the failure to external factors, where a person with low self-efficacy will attribute failure to low ability. For example; a person with high efficacy in regards to mathematics may attribute a poor result to a harder than usual test, feeling sick, or lack of effort. A person with a low efficacy will attribute the result to poor ability in mathematics.The Destiny IdeaBandura successfully showed that people of differing self-efficacy perceive the world in fundamentally different ways.[6][7] People with a high self-efficacy are generally of the opinion that they are in control of their own lives; that their own actions and decisions shape their lives. On the other hand, people with low self-efficacy may see their lives as somewhat out of their hands.Factors affecting self-efficacyBandura points to four sources affecting self-efficacy; 1. Experience"Mastery experience" is the most important factor deciding a person's self-efficacy. Simply put, success raises self-efficacy, failure lowers it.2. Modeling - a.k.a. "Vicarious Experience"“If they can do it, I can do it as well.” This is a process of comparison between a person and someone else. When people see someone succeeding at something, their self-efficacy will increase; and where they see people failing, their self-efficacy will decrease. This process is more effectual where the person sees themselves as similar to his or her model. If a peer who is perceived as having similar ability succeeds, this will likely increase an observer's self-efficacy. Although not as influential as past experience, modeling is a powerful influence when a person is particularly unsure of him- or herself.3. Social PersuasionsSocial persuasions relate to encouragements/discouragements. These can have a strong influence – most people remember times where something said to them significantly altered their confidence. Where positive persuasions increase self-efficacy, negative persuasions decrease it. It is generally easier to decrease someone's self-efficacy than it is to increase it.4. Physiological FactorsIn unusual, stressful situations, people commonly exhibit signs of distress; shakes, aches and pains, fatigue, fear, nausea, etc. A person's perceptions of these responses can markedly alter a person's self-efficacy. If a person gets 'butterflies in the stomach' before public speaking, a person with low self-efficacy may take this as a sign of their own inability, thus decreasing their efficacy further. In contrast, a person with high self-efficacy is likely to interpret such physiological signs as normal and unrelated to his or her actual ability, which will continue to be seen as a disregard for trembling hands etc. Thus, it is the person's belief on the implications of their physiological response that alters their self-efficacy, rather than the sheer power of the response. Theoretical modelsA theoretical model of the effect of self-efficacy on transgressive behavior was developed and verified in research with school children.[8] Prosociality and moral disengagementFeelings of self-efficacy with respect to school work, interpersonal interactions, and self-regulation influenced prosocial behavior and whether or not a child could avoid moral responsibility. These two factors influenced whether a child was preoccupied with grievances and feelings of anger, regardless if a child engaged in transgressions (aggression, cheating, etc.) was influenced by each of these factors. Self-regulatory self-efficacy and academic self-efficacy have a negative relationship with moral disengagement which is making excuses for bad behavior, avoiding responsibility for consequences, blaming the victim.[9] Social Self-Efficacy has a positive relationship with prosocial behavior which is helping others, sharing, being kind and cooperative. On the other hand, moral disengagement and prosocial behavior has a negative relationship.[10] The three types of self-efficacy are positively related. When we are talking about a negative relationship, it simply means that the higher the individual’s academic self-efficacy, the less his or her moral disengagement. When we are talking about a positive relationship, it means that the higher the individual’s academic self-efficacy, the more he or she engages in prosocial behavior. Over-Efficaciousness in LearningResearch on learning has indicated that in certain circumstances, having less self-efficacy for a subject may be helpful, while more negative attitudes towards how quickly/well one will learn, can actually prove of benefit. One study[11] uses the foreign language classroom to examine students' beliefs about learning, perceptions of goal attainment, and motivation to continue language study. Survey and interview results indicated students’ attributions for success and failure and their expectations for certain subjects’ learning ability played a role in the relationship between goal attainment and volition. It appears that over-efficaciousness negatively affected student motivation. For other students who felt they were "bad at languages," their negative beliefs increased their motivation to study. See also
ReferencesCitations
External articles and further reading
Template:WikiDoc Sources
What has been defined as the beliefs in one's capabilities to organize and execute the courses of action required to produce given results and outcomes?Self-efficacy “refers to beliefs in one's capabilities to organize and execute the courses of action required to produce given attainments” (Bandura, 1997).
What is it called when an individual has the belief in his or her ability to perform a task?Self-efficacy refers to an individual's belief in his or her capacity to execute behaviors necessary to produce specific performance attainments (Bandura, 1977, 1986, 1997). Self-efficacy reflects confidence in the ability to exert control over one's own motivation, behavior, and social environment.
What are the 4 types of selfBandura (1997) proposed four sources of self-efficacy: mastery experiences, vicarious experiences, verbal persuasion, and physiological and affective states.
How well one can execute courses of action required to deal with prospective situations?Self-Efficacy is a person's particular set of beliefs that determine how well one can execute a plan of action in prospective situations (Bandura, 1977). To put it in more simple terms, self-efficacy is a person's belief in their ability to succeed in a particular situation.
|
