Self-Concept and Efficacy

According to Bandura (1997), self-efficacy is defined as “people's beliefs in their capabilities to produce desired effects by their own actions” (p. vii). In more general terms, self-efficacy is defined as an individual's own beliefs about what he or she is capable of doing. An individual's ability to actually achieve a goal is related to whether or not he or she believes that the goal can be successfully achieved (Bandura, 1986). Self-efficacy is usually specific to certain areas, meaning that an individual believes that he or she is more capable in some areas than in others (e.g., first grade student may have high self-efficacy for correctly completing addition problems but low self-efficacy for correctly solving multiplication problems). Individuals develop their sense of self-efficacy through direct experiences, observing other people's experiences, and listening to other people's comments about what they think he or she is capable of doing.

The development of self-efficacy is related to aspects of social–cognitive theory. According to this theory, self-efficacy beliefs are influenced by the development of symbolic thought (i.e., language), an understanding of cause-and-effect relationships, and the ability to engage in self-observation and selfreflection. In addition to these cognitive or internal aspects, a child's development of self-efficacy is also influenced by the responses of the social environment (namely the child's parents) to his or her actions. A child develops a sense of self-efficacy by trying to manipulate the people around him or her. After the child's attempt at manipulation, the people in the environment may respond to the child's actions and thus help the development of self-efficacy, or they may not respond and thus slow the development of selfefficacy (Bandura, 1997).

Self-concept refers to an individual's own perceptions, both positive and negative, of his or her attributes, traits, and abilities. Components of one's self-concept include self-esteem (i.e., one's feeling of self-worth), self-efficacy, and how stable and structured one's beliefs are.

Individuals develop a sense of self-concept through their own experiences and through observing other people's experiences. Comparing one's abilities to other people's abilities is also an important aspect in the development of self-concept. In addition, one's self-concept becomes more sophisticated as a result of [Page 491]development. In young children, their self-concept is more concrete, meaning they define themselves in terms of their physical characteristics, name, or behaviors, but as children enter school, their selfconcepts become more abstract as a result of a better understanding of their abilities (Schunk, 2004). An individual's self-concept is also thought to become more differentiated over time, meaning that there is a general or global self-concept and then numerous subareas of self-concept for specific areas such as math self-concept and science self-concept (Schunk, 2004).

Self-concept can be assessed through several techniques, but the assessment is usually based on selfreport measures. One of the most frequently used techniques for assessing an individual's self-concept is through rating scales. With rating scales, an individual is presented a series of statements (e.g., “I am good at science,” or “Overall, I am satisfied with myself”) and then asked to indicate his or her level of agreement or disagreement with each statement. The responses are then tabulated to determine either specific-area selfconcept scores or general self-concept scores. Another assessment technique is a checklist in which the individual is presented with a list of adjectives and then asked to check all the adjectives that apply to him or her. The adjectives are all preassigned to specific categories so the examiner can review the individual's responses and develop a self-concept score based on the categories. In a third assessment technique, called a Q Sort, the individual sorts cards that have selfdescriptors written on them into a specific number of piles that range from the descriptions that are “most like me” to the ones that are “least like me.” A final assessment technique is free responses, which require the individual to complete partial statements such as, “I feel happiest when…” (Strein, 1995).

...