Self-Efficacy
Definition
Self-efficacy is task-specific: someone can have high self-efficacy for statistics and low self-efficacy for public speaking. It differs from:
- Self-esteem, a global evaluation of one's worth.
- Outcome expectations, beliefs about whether an action will lead to a result.
Bandura named four sources:
- Mastery experiences: succeeding at the task, the strongest source.
- Vicarious experience: seeing similar others succeed.
- Verbal persuasion: credible encouragement.
- Physiological and emotional states: how arousal and mood are interpreted.
History
Bandura introduced the concept in a 1977 Psychological Review paper as a unifying explanation for why different treatments for phobia worked: each, he argued, changed the person's expectation that they could cope.
It became the centrepiece of his social cognitive theory and one of the most widely applied constructs in psychology.
Theory
Self-efficacy influences which activities people choose, how much effort they invest, how long they persist after setbacks, and how anxious they feel.
The relationship with performance is reciprocal: success raises self-efficacy, and self-efficacy supports further success.
Research
Meta-analyses find moderate positive relationships between self-efficacy and performance in work, education, health behaviour and sport. Stajkovic and Luthans reported a weighted correlation of about .38 with work performance, and a larger association for simpler tasks.
The causal direction is debated. Within-person studies suggest that high self-efficacy can sometimes lead to less effort on the next attempt, through overconfidence, even though the between-person correlation is positive.
In health, self-efficacy is a consistent predictor of behaviour change such as quitting smoking and adherence to exercise.
Applications
Graded tasks that build mastery in therapy, rehabilitation and education; peer modelling; and coaching.
Self-efficacy measures are best built for the specific task of interest, following Bandura's own guidance, rather than using general scales.
Criticism
- Causality is unclear. Much of the correlation with performance reflects past performance.
- Too much confidence can hurt within individuals.
- Generic measures dilute it. General self-efficacy scales drift towards self-esteem.
References
- Bandura, A. (1977). Self-efficacy: Toward a unifying theory of behavioral change. Psychological Review, 84(2), 191-215.
- Stajkovic, A. D., & Luthans, F. (1998). Self-efficacy and work-related performance: A meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 124(2), 240-261.
- Vancouver, J. B., Thompson, C. M., & Williams, A. A. (2001). The changing signs in the relationships among self-efficacy, personal goals, and performance. Journal of Applied Psychology, 86(4), 605-620.