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Self-efficacy

This refers to the beliefs of what we are capable of achieving. People with high Self-efficacy beliefs for a specific task make more effort to achieve results whereas people with low Self-efficacy beliefs for a particular task will show a tendency to give up quickly.

Even though Self-efficacy beliefs are closely related to a particular task there is some evidence that people do show a general tendency towards high or low Self-efficacy beliefs in a wide Range of contexts.

Bandura (1989) argued that Self-efficacy beliefs are important, because they determine what we will try to do.

Self-efficacy beliefs express what we believe we are capable of achieving - they are all about the idea that we can act positively in a given situation. These beliefs, in turn, influence our perception, motivation and performance. Beliefs about our own abilities and about qualities such as intelligence have been shown to have a direct influence on how both children and adults interact with their worlds, and therefore how they go about learning from them.

Bandura argued that the Self-efficacy beliefs which people hold about their own capabilities directly affect how much effort they are prepared to put into achieving or completing tasks. If we believe that we are capable of achieving something, we will be likely to stick at it until we succeed. If, on the other hand, we doubt whether we are capable of doing it successfully, we are unlikely to try as hard and will give up more easily.

The idea of Self-efficacy has been applied to coping. For example people with higher self efficacy beliefs cope more effectively with stress.