Bandura's Theory Of Self Efficacy Behavior

Of all the thoughts that affect human functioning, and standing at the very core of social cognitive theory, are self-efficacy beliefs, "people's judgments of their capabilities to organize and execute courses of action required attaining designated types of performances". Self-efficacy beliefs provide the foundation for human motivation, wellbeing, and personal accomplishment. This is because unless people believe that their actions can produce the outcomes they desire, they have little incentive to act or to persevere in the face of difficulties. Much empirical evidence now supports Bandura's contention that self-efficacy beliefs touch virtually every aspect of people's lives— whether they think productively, self-debilitatingly, pessimistically

For the former, the B will be received with disappointment; for the latter, the B is likely to be received with elation. The student accustomed to A's is likely to have his writing confidence bruised; the C-acquainted student is sure to have his confidence boosted.

Bandura's (1997) key contentions as regards the role of self-efficacy beliefs in human functioning is that "people's level of motivation, affective states, and actions are based more on what they believe than on what is objectively true". For this reason, how people behave can often be better predicted by the beliefs they hold about their capabilities than by what they are actually capable of accomplishing, for these selfefficacy perceptions help determine what individuals do with the knowledge and skills they have. This helps explain why people's behaviors are sometimes disjoined from their actual capabilities and why their behavior may differ widely even when they have similar knowledge and skills. For example, many talented people suffer frequent (and sometimes debilitating) bouts of self-doubt about capabilities they clearly possess, just as many individuals are confident about what they can accomplish despite possessing a

Belief and reality are seldom perfectly matched, and individuals are typically guided by their beliefs when they engage the world. As a consequence, people's accomplishments are generally better predicted by their self-efficacy beliefs than by their

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previous attainments, knowledge, or skills. Of course, no amount of confidence or selfappreciation can produce success when requisite skills and knowledge are absent.

It bears noting that self-efficacy beliefs are themselves critical determinants of how well knowledge and skill are acquired in the first place. The contention that selfefficacy beliefs are a critical ingredient in human functioning is consistent with the view of many theorists and philosophers who have argued that the potent affective, evaluative, and episodic nature of beliefs make them a filter through which new phenomena are interpreted (e. g., Aristotle, James, Dewey, Kant, Maslow, Nisbett and Ross, Rokeach).

People's self-efficacy beliefs should not be confused with their judgments of the consequences that their behavior will produce. Typically, of course, self-efficacy beliefs help determine the outcomes one expects. Confident individuals anticipate