There are many pathways through life and, at any given period, people vary substantially in how efficaciously they manage their lives. Infants’ exploratory experiences enable them to understand the effects by their actions. This forms the initial basis for developing a sense of efficacy. Individuals are influenced by familial sources, peers and school. Early exploratory and play activities, which occupy much of children 's waking hours, provide opportunities for enlarging their repertoire of basic skills and sense of efficacy.
The initial efficacy experiences are centered in the family. But as the growing child 's social world rapidly expands, peers become increasingly important in children 's developing self-knowledge of their capabilities. Peers serve several important efficacy functions. Those who are most experienced and competent provide models of efficacious styles of thinking and behavior. School is the place where children develop the cognitive competencies and acquire the knowledge and problem-solving skills essential for participating effectively in the larger society. Here, their knowledge and thinking skills are continually tested, evaluated, and socially compared. As children master cognitive skills, they develop a growing sense of their intellectual efficacy.
Each period of development brings with it new challenges for
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Adolescence has often been characterized as a period of psychosocial turmoil. While no period of life is ever free of problems, contrary to the stereotype of ‘storm and stress’, most adolescents negotiate the important transitions of this period without undue disturbance or discord. However, youngsters who enter adolescence beset by a disabling sense of inefficacy transport their vulnerability to distress and debility to the new environmental demands. The ease with which the transition from childhood to the demands of adulthood is made similarly depends on the strength of personal efficacy built up through prior mastery