Self-Efficacy READING: Maddux and Kleiman Flashcards
What is self-efficacy? HISTORY
in philosophy and psychology
Defining: SELF-EFFICACY IS NOT…
- not perceived skill
- not predictions about behavior
- not causal attributions
- not intentions to behave or intentions to attain a particular goal
- not self-esteem
- not a motive, drive, or need for control
- not outcome expectancies
- not a personality trait
Self-efficacy is not perceived skill
Defining: SELF-EFFICACY IS NOT…
…it is what you believe you can do with your skills under certain conditions
Self-efficacy beliefs are not simply predictions about behavior
Defining: SELF-EFFICACY IS NOT…
Self-efficacy is concerned, not with what you believe you will do, but with what you believe you can do.
Self-efficacy beliefs are not causal attributions.
Defining: SELF-EFFICACY IS NOT…
Causal attributions are explanations for events, including your own behavior and its consequences. Self-efficacy beliefs are your beliefs about what you are capable of doing.
Self-efficacy beliefs are not intentions to behave or intentions to attain a particular goal
Defining: SELF-EFFICACY IS NOT…
An intention is what you say you will probably do; and research has shown that intentions are influenced by a number of factors, including, but not limited to, self-efficacy belief
Self-efficacy is not self-esteem
Defining: SELF-EFFICACY IS NOT…
- Self-esteem is what you believe about yourself, and how you feel about what you believe about yourself.
- Efficacy beliefs in a given domain will contribute to your self-esteem only in direct proportion to the importance you place on that domain.
Self-efficacy is not a motive, drive, or need for control
Defining: SELF-EFFICACY IS NOT…
You can have a strong need for control in a particular domain and still hold weak beliefs about your efficacy for that domain.
Self-efficacy beliefs are not outcome expectancies (Bandura, 1997) or behavior–outcome expectancies (Maddux, 1999a).
Defining: SELF-EFFICACY IS NOT…
A behavior–outcome expectancy is your belief that a specific behavior may lead to a specific outcome in a specific situation. A self-efficacy belief is the belief that you can perform the behavior or behaviors that produce the outcome.
Self-efficacy is not a personality trait
Defining: SELF-EFFICACY IS NOT…
It is a set of beliefs about the ability to coordinate skills and abilities to attain desired goals in particular domains and circumstances. Measures of “general” self-efficacy have been developed and are used frequently in research, but they have not been as useful as more specific self-efficacy measures in predicting what people will do under more specific circumstances
Self-ecacy is best understood in the context of…
social cognitive theory
Social cognitive theory’s four basic premises, shortened and simplied, are as follows
- We have cognitive capabilities that enable the creation of internal models of experience, the development of innovative courses of action, the hypothetical testing of such courses of action through the prediction of outcomes, and the communication of complex ideas and experiences to others.
- Environmental events, inner personal factors (cognition, emotion, and biological events), and behaviors are interactive influences.
- “Self” and “personality” are socially embedded
- We are capable of self-regulation
The 4 assumptions suggest that the early development of self-ecacy beliefs is inuenced primarily by two interacting factors:
1: influenced by the development of the capacity for symbolic thought - particularly, the capacity for understanding cause-and-effect relationships and the capacity for self-observation and self-reflection
2: influenced by the responsiveness of environments to the infant’s or child’s attempts at manipulation and control
Why is self-efficacy important?
- Psychological well-being: low efficacy associated with. depression, anxiety, eating disorders, substance abuse, PTSD…
- Physical health: self-efficacy beliefs influence the adoption of healthy behaviors
- Self-efficacy beliefs influence a number of biological processes, which, in turn, inuence health and disease
Self-regulation (simplied) depends on three interacting components:
- goals or standards of performance
- self-evaluative reactions to performance
- self-efficacy beliefs
Self-efficacy theory suggests that formal interventions should not simply resolve specic problems, but…
- …should provide people with the skills and sense of efficacy for solving problems themselves.
- Some basic strategies for enhancing self-ecacy are based on the ve sources of self-ecacy previously noted
Collective Efficacy
- Thus, in self-ecacy theory, it is recognized that no person is an island and that there are limits to what individuals can accomplish alone.
- This idea is captured in the notion of “collective efficacy”: the extent to which we believe that we can work together eectively to accomplish our shared goals.
