Albert Bandura’s Self-Efficacy: do you believe in yourself?

Bandura's conception of self-efficacy, under examination.

To understand what is meant by the self-efficacy theoryI am going to ask you a question. First, think of a goal you would like to achieve.

When faced with the challenge, do you feel that you are up to the challenge and can achieve the goal? If you are one of those people who represent the famous phrase Barack Obama used for his political campaign that brought him to power in 2008, "Yes, we can!" (We can), you probably have a high self-efficacy for that specific goal or task and you are confident in your abilities to achieve that goal.

If, on the other hand, you think that the challenge is too big for you or you do not trust in your abilities to achieve it, you have a weak self-efficacy perception.

• Self-efficacy is part of the axial components of axial components of the personality, according to Bandura. To learn more about it you can read: "Albert Bandura's Personality Theory".

What is Self-Efficacy?

Self-efficacy is a concept that was introduced by Albert Banduraa Ukrainian-Canadian psychologist born in 1925. In 1986, he elaborated the Social Learning Theory, concerning the regulation of human motivation and action, which involves three types of expectations: situation-outcome expectations, action-outcome expectations and perceived self-efficacy. Today I will talk to you about self-efficacy.

Self-efficacy, or the beliefs in your abilities to deal with the different situations that arise, plays an important role not only in the way you feel about a goal or task, but will be determinant in whether or not you achieve your life goals.

The concept of self-efficacy is a central aspect in psychology, as it emphasizes the role of observational learning, social experience, and the impact on a person's personal development. It can be defined as the set of beliefs we associate with our abilities and aptitudes, and is closely related to self-esteem, although it is not exactly the same thing. While self-esteem is fundamentally how we feel about who we believe we are, self-efficacy is what we think we know about what we can achieve if we set our minds to it.In other words, the latter has a more practical facet and is applicable to concrete situations of everyday life, although it is not totally devoid of a certain emotional charge (it is difficult to be satisfied with ourselves if we believe we are incapable of doing anything remarkable).

Its relationship with motivation

Albert Bandura's theory argues that self-efficacy is a main construct for performing a behavior, since the relationship between knowledge and action will be significantly mediated by self-efficacy thinking. Self-efficacy beliefs, i.e., the thoughts a person has about his or her ability and self-regulation to perform such behavior, will be decisive.

Thus, people will be more motivated if they perceive that their actions can be effective, i.e., if there is the conviction that their actions can be effective.that is, if there is the conviction that they have personal abilities that allow them to regulate their actions. Bandura considers that it influences at the cognitive, affective and motivational levels. Thus, high perceived self-efficacy is related to positive thoughts and aspirations about performing the behavior successfully, lower stress, anxiety and perceived threat, along with adequate planning of the course of action and anticipation of good outcomes.

The Role of Self-Efficacy

Everyone can identify the goals they want to achieve or the aspects of their life they would like to change. However, not everyone thinks that putting these plans into action is an easy thing to do. Research has shown that each individual's self-efficacy plays an important role in meeting a goal, task or challenge.

Individuals with high self-efficacy are very interested in the tasks in which they participate, see problems as stimulating challengesThey experience a high commitment to their interests and activities, and recover quickly from failures. In contrast, individuals with low or weak self-efficacy: avoid challenging tasks or goals, think that difficult goals are beyond their reach, and interpret failures as personal.

Development of Self-Efficacy

Self-efficacy beliefs develop early in childhood while experiencing different experiences or situations. However, the development of self-efficacy does not end in childhood or adolescence, but continues to evolve throughout life as people acquire new skills, knowledge, or experiences.

Self-efficacy beliefs are formed from input from a total of four sources:

1. Performance achievements

Past experiences are the most important source of self-efficacy information, as they are based on the verification of actual mastery of the actual mastery testing. Repeated success in certain tasks increases positive self-efficacy evaluations while repeated failures decrease them, especially when failures cannot be attributed to external circumstances.

2. Vicarious experience or observation

The modeling is important because by watching (or imagining) other people successfully executing certain activities, a person may come to believe that he or she possesses sufficient capabilities to perform with equal success. This source of self-efficacy becomes particularly relevant in cases in which individuals do not have a great knowledge of their own capabilities or have little experience in the task to be performed.

3. Verbal persuasion

Verbal persuasion is another important source of self-efficacy, especially for those who already have a high level of self-efficacy and need just a little more confidence to go the extra mile to achieve success.

4. Physiological state of the individual

Multiple indicators of autonomic activation, as well as pain and fatigue can be interpreted by the individual as signs of his or her own inadequacy. In general, people tend to interpret elevated states of anxiety as signs of vulnerability and as indicators of poor performance. The mood or emotional states will also have an impact on how one will interpret experiences.

Conclusion

In summary, self-efficacy is the appreciation of one's capabilities and focuses on the beliefs of having the necessary resources and ability to succeed in a given context. It is an important concept for psychology and personal development as it reinforces the idea that human beings can select or eliminate future activities through their own cognitive mechanisms, and provides a non-reductionist view of human beings and the complexity of influences that affect their behavior.

Individuals are seen as proactive y self-regulators of their behavior rather than reactive and controlled by environmental or Biological forces.