Self-Efficacy (Education)

Bandura defined this term as one's self-perceived ability at a task. Two aspects make self-efficacy a unique concept. First, it is personal. While influenced by opinions or comparison with others, this is an individual perception. Second, self-efficacy is task specific, so a person could consider himself or herself a mediocre skier but an excellent organizer.

According to Bandura (1977), self-efficacy is influen ced by four main factors:

• 1.
  Enactive attainment or mastery practice: The more we practice, the more skillful we become. Greater skill increases involvement in that activity, and there is an upward spiral in mas tery, choice, and self-efficacy.
• 2.
  Modeling and vicarious learning: As we see others engage in an activity, we compare ourselves with them. If we see ourselves as similar, we are more likely to attempt the activity (If he can do it, I can). Similarly, we watch others execute various subskills and try to mimic their behavior. Conversely, we may watch others attempt maneuvers and fail; after watching them, we avoid similar actions, trying variations to pre vent failure.
• 3.
  Social persuasion: When others either encourage or discourage a person's behaviors or choices, it may affect choice or level of involvement. The more power a person has in our life, the greater may be the effect of their opinions.
• 4.
  Physiological arousal: There are signals from our body as we engage in activities. Some are obvi ous, such as sweating, increased heartbeat, or pain. Others are more subtle but equally as effective in influencing our behaviors and decisions— such as production of endorphins or adrenalin.

Self-efficacy can be distinguished from self-esteem, self-concept, and self-worth semantically. Self-esteem encompasses feelings about oneself, such as pride or shame. Self-concept is based on cognitively processing data or information about oneself. Self-worth is related to how valuable a person feels. For example, a person may feel a sense of value within the family unit, either because the family expresses deep caring and commit ment or because the family is made better because of skills or actions contributed by the individual (or both). Of these four constructs, self-efficacy is the most task specific, and therefore the least resistant to outside forces. The other three are more global and more vulnerable to a single experience. However, it is clear that the four self-constructs are interwoven, and each is affected by changes in the other three. For more information, see Bandura (1977).