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The Importance of Self-Efficacy

The concept of self efficacy was originally developed by Dr. Albert Bandura, a Canadian-American psychologist at Stanford University. Many psychologists contend that our sense of self-efficacy can influence whether we actually succeed at a task. Research on self-efficacy and education has shown that self-efficacy is linked to factors such as the goals students choose for themselves, the strategies they use, and their academic achievement. Psychologists have also found that we are more likely to engage in healthy and productive behaviors when we feel confident in our ability to successfully carry out those behaviors. According to Dr. Bandura, there are two factors that influence whether or not someone engages in a particular behavior: outcome expectancy and self-efficacy. In other words, our ability to achieve a goal or complete a task depends on whether we think we can do it (self-efficacy), and whether we think it will have good results (outcome expectancy). Self-efficacy has important effects on the amount of effort individuals apply to a given task. Someone with high levels of self-efficacy for a given task will be resilient and persistent in the face of setbacks, while someone with low levels of self-efficacy for that task may disengage or avoid the situation. For example, a student who has a lower level of self-efficacy for math might avoid signing up for challenging math classes. Importantly, our level of self-efficacy varies from one domain to the next. For example, you might have high levels of self-efficacy about your ability to navigate your hometown, but have very low levels of self-efficacy about your ability to navigate a foreign city where you do not speak the language. Generally, an individual’s level of self-efficacy for one task cannot be used to predict their self-efficacy for another task.

How We Develop Self-Efficacy

• personal experience
• observation
• persuasion
• emotion

Personal Experience: When predicting their ability to succeed at a new task, individuals often look to their past experiences with similar tasks. This information generally has a strong effect on our feelings of self-efficacy, which is logical: if you’ve already done something many times, you’re likely to believe that you can do it again. The personal experience factor also explains why increasing one’s self-efficacy can be difficult. When an individual has low levels of self-efficacy for a certain task, they typically avoid the task, which prevents them from accumulating positive experiences that might eventually build up their confidence. When an individual attempts a new task and succeeds, the experience can build up their confidence, thus producing greater levels of self-efficacy associated with similar tasks.

Observation: We also make judgments about our own capabilities by watching others. Imagine that you have a friend who is known for being a coach potato, and then that friend successfully runs a marathon. This observation might lead you to believe that you can become a runner too. Researchers have found that our self-efficacy for a given activity is more likely to increase when we see someone else succeed at that activity through hard work, rather than natural ability. For example, if you have low self-efficacy for public speaking, watching a timid person develop the skill may help increase your own confidence. Watching a naturally charismatic and outgoing person give a speech is less likely to have the same effect. Observing others is more likely to affect our own self-efficacy when we feel that we are similar to the person we are observing. However, in general, watching other people doesn’t affect our self-efficacy as much as our personal experience with the task.

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