Self-Efficacy

Introduction

Perceived self-efficacy is concerned with people's beliefs in their capabilities to produce given attainments (Bandura, 1997). Perceived self-efficacy operates a core factor in the agentic causal structure of social cognitive theory (Bandura, 2001). This belief system is the foundation of human motivation and accomplishment. Unless people believe they can produce desired outcomes by their actions, they have little incentive to act, or to persevere in the face of difficulties. Whatever other factors serve as motivators, they are rooted in the core belief that one has the power to accomplish things by one's actions.

One cannot be all things, which would require mastery of every realm of human life. People differ in the areas in which they cultivate their efficacy and in the levels to which they ...