ENGLISH 200

Hello and welcome to the GPS 200 Module 4 presentation, "Self-Efficacy.” As we began to see in the Theory of Planned Behavior presentation, if people have low perceived behavioral control or self-efficacy, they probably will have low intentions to engage in a behavior even if their beliefs, attitudes, normative beliefs, and subjective beliefs are high. Therefore, the notion of self-efficacy deserves closer examination. In this presentation, we will examine Albert Bandura’s theories about what self-efficacy is, why it is important, and how it is developed. Dr. Bandura is a world-renowned professor at Stanford University.

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A short way of defining self-efficacy is "task specific self-confidence." A person with high self-confidence can have low self-efficacy regarding a specific endeavor or task. For example, a person who is generally confident in most of his or her roles in life might have low confidence in his or her ability to drive a car when he or she first begins to learn.

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Again, self-efficacy is about how we perceive our abilities. Henry Ford put it well: “Whether you think you can, or think you can’t—you’re right.”

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In this quote, “Self-efficacy is the belief in one’s capabilities to organize and execute the course of action required to manage prospective situations,” Dr. Bandura is saying one who has high self-efficacy is able to function as an agent of change in one’s own life.

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Perceived self-efficacy is defined as people's beliefs about their capabilities to produce designated levels of performance that exercise influence over events that affect their lives. Again, this is what Dr. Bandura calls “human agency.” Dr. Bandura asserts that people who believe they have the power to exercise some measure of control over their lives are healthier, more effective, and more successful than those who lack faith in their ability to effect changes in their lives. Pay close attention to the word “perceived.” It is important to reiterate that self-efficacy is about perceptions, how we view our abilities. Notably, our actual ability is often of little importance. However, what we think (perceive) about our abilities is of great importance.

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Before we move on, an important distinction needs to be made. Self-efficacy is not the same as self-esteem or self-respect or self-concept. One’s self-esteem is one’s overall appraisal of one’s worth as a person, a very broad concept. Similarly, self- respect and self-concept also pertain to worth. Conversely, self-efficacy does not pertain to worth; rather, self-efficacy pertains to perception of ability as it relates to a specific task. A person can have high self-esteem and have low self-efficacy about a specific task.

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Now that we have defined self-efficacy, we will move on to establishing why it is important. As you can see here, Gandhi understood why it is important when stating, ”If I have the belief that I can do it, I shall surely acquire the capacity to do it even if I may not have it at the beginning.” In 1994, Bandura wrote, “Self-efficacy beliefs determine how people think, feel, motivate themselves, and behave.” This is important because a strong sense of efficacy enhances human accomplishment and personal well-being in many ways.

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Why is self-efficacy important? People with high self-efficacy sustain their efforts in the face of failure. They quickly recover their sense of efficacy after failures or setbacks. They recognize that if they are not failing, they are not taking risks and that likely means they are not learning and growing. Importantly, instead of attributing failure to a character flaw, they attribute failure to insufficient effort or deficient knowledge and skills, which are acquirable. They approach threatening situations with assurance that they can exercise control over them. This is the human agency factor alluded to earlier. As Bandura noted in 1994, you can imagine, such an efficacious outlook produces personal accomplishments, reduces stress, and lowers vulnerability to depression. Therefore, we can see the importance of self-efficacy in our journeys toward becoming lifelong learners.

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People with high assurance in their capabilities approach difficult tasks as challenges to be mastered rather than as threats to be avoided. Such an efficacious outlook fosters intrinsic interest. People with high self-efficacy set challenging goals and maintain strong commitment to them. According to Dr. Bandura, “We find that people's beliefs about their efficacy affect the sorts of choices they make in very significant ways. In particular, it affects their levels of motivation and perseverance in the face of obstacles. Most success requires persistent effort, so low self-efficacy becomes a self-limiting process. In order to succeed, people need a sense of self- efficacy, strung together with resilience to meet the inevitable obstacles and inequities of life.” This is true in many area of our lives, but it is especially true in the academic and professional arenas. Now it is clear why self-efficacy is a part of Fishbein & Ajzen’s Theory of Planned Behavioral model, as well as Confessore & Park’s Simple Behavioral Model (that we talked about in the Learner Autonomy lecture). In addition, some leadership scholars assert that leaders should develop their followers’ self-efficacy. Indeed, self-efficacy is an important aspect of our life.

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Bandura states that there are four ways to develop self-efficacy: Mastery Experiences. This is about having successful experiences. Success breads success. However, there is a caveat. Easy successes are not sufficient to build self-efficacy. There needs to be a struggle, an opportunity to overcome obstacles, for mastery experiences to be most effective. Vicarious Experiences. This is observational learning. Bandura says we learn most of what we know by watching others. “Learning would be exceedingly laborious, not to mention hazardous, if people had to rely solely on the effects of their own actions to inform them what to do. Fortunately, most human behavior is learned observationally through modeling.” There is a caveat with this point as well. We must consider ourselves to be similar to the person or people we are watching to benefit from the observational learning. Social Persuasion. This is verbal encouragement. Again, there is a qualifier. Verbal encouragement is not sufficient if the correct structure is not in place. Encouragement is insufficient if the learner is placed in a situation where failures are likely to occur too early. A structure wherein success is likely is best. This means teachers, leaders, coaches, and parents must know their students, followers, players, and children well, and four, reduce people's stress reactions and alter their negative emotional interpretations of their physical and emotional states. This is because people rely on their physiological and emotional states when judging their abilities. If we do not feel good about our physical or

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emotional state, it impacts our self-efficacy.

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We believe that teachers should build the self-efficacy of their students, leaders should build the self-efficacy of their followers, coaches should build the self-efficacy of their players, and parents should build the self-efficacy of their children. Whether you are a new or continuing student at Stevenson, one of our goals is to help build your self-efficacy as a learner. You also can take steps to increase your own self- efficacy by creating mastery experiences for yourself, by surrounding yourself with good social models and people who will encourage you, and by taking care of yourself physically and emotionally.

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Should you be interested in learning more about these theories, please check out the above website.

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Thank you for your time and attention. Have a great day!

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