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Journal Article•DOI•

Self-efficacy: toward a unifying theory of behavioral change.

Albert Bandura1•
Stanford University1
01 Mar 1977-Psychological Review (American Psychological Association)-Vol. 84, Iss: 2, pp 191-215
TL;DR: An integrative theoretical framework to explain and to predict psychological changes achieved by different modes of treatment is presented and findings are reported from microanalyses of enactive, vicarious, and emotive mode of treatment that support the hypothesized relationship between perceived self-efficacy and behavioral changes.
Abstract: The present article presents an integrative theoretical framework to explain and to predict psychological changes achieved by different modes of treatment. This theory states that psychological procedures, whatever their form, alter the level and strength of self-efficacy. It is hypothesized that expectations of personal efficacy determine whether coping behavior will be initiated, how much effort will be expended, and how long it will be sustained in the face of obstacles and aversive experiences. Persistence in activities that are subjectively threatening but in fact relatively safe produces, through experiences of mastery, further enhancement of self-efficacy and corresponding reductions in defensive behavior. In the proposed model, expectations of personal efficacy are derived from four principal sources of information: performance accomplishments, vicarious experience, verbal persuasion, and physiological states. The more dependable the experiential sources, the greater are the changes in perceived selfefficacy. A number of factors are identified as influencing the cognitive processing of efficacy information arising from enactive, vicarious, exhortative, and emotive sources. The differential power of diverse therapeutic procedures is analyzed in terms of the postulated cognitive mechanism of operation. Findings are reported from microanalyses of enactive, vicarious, and emotive modes of treatment that support the hypothesized relationship between perceived self-efficacy and behavioral changes. Possible directions for further research are discussed.
Citations
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Journal Article•DOI•
Motivation and instructional design: A theoretical perspective

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John M. Keller1•
Syracuse University1
01 Jun 1979-Journal of Instructional Development
TL;DR: A theoretical approach to understanding motivation in relation to other factors that influence learning and the design of instruction is presented and several illustrative research studies are reviewed along with an introduction to a systematic process of influencing motivation.
Abstract: We have not given adequate systematic attention to the problem of motivation in instructional theory and technology, to the understanding of motivation in individual learners, or to the development of a technology for influencing motivation (Cooley & Lohnes, 1976; Cronbach & Snow, 1976). We know, as a rule of thumb, that we should introduce novelty, uncertainty, or a sense of mystery at the beginning of a program to elicit attention and, it is hoped, enthusiasm, and we know that we should use reinforcement to help sustain desirable changes in behavior, but neither of these principles constitutes an adequate understanding of motivation. The purpose of this paper is to present a theoretical approach to understanding motivation in relation to other factors that influence learning and the design of instruction. In this context, several illustrative research studies are reviewed along with an introduction to a systematic process of influencing motivation. This presentation is not exhaustive, but serves as an introduction to the approach, and as a basis for subsequent elaborations of the issues and tech-

321 citations

Journal Article•DOI•
When does entrepreneurial self-efficacy enhance versus reduce firm performance?

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Keith M. Hmieleski1, Robert A. Baron2•
Texas Christian University1, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute2
01 Mar 2008-Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examined two possible moderators of the effects of entrepreneurial self-efficacy on firm performance: dispositional optimism and environmental dynamism, and found that these factors do indeed moderate the effect of selfefficacy.
Abstract: The entrepreneurial self-efficacy of lead founders has been generally considered to be a robust predictor of the performance of their firms. Few studies, however, have considered variables that might moderate this relationship. The current study attempts to fill this gap in the literature by examining two possible moderators of the effects of entrepreneurial self-efficacy on firm performance: dispositional optimism and environmental dynamism. Results indicate that these factors do indeed moderate the effects of entrepreneurial self-efficacy; in fact, a three-way interaction between self-efficacy, optimism, and environmental dynamism was observed with respect to firm performance. Consistent with predictions, in dynamic environments, the effects of high entrepreneurial self-efficacy on firm performance were positive when combined with moderate optimism, but negative when combined with high optimism. In stable environments, in contrast, the effects of self-efficacy were relatively weak, and were not moderated by optimism. Overall, results suggest that high self-efficacy is not always beneficial for entrepreneurs and may, in fact, exert negative effects under some conditions. Copyright © 2008 Strategic Management Society.

321 citations

Cites background from "Self-efficacy: toward a unifying th..."

  • ...While self-effi cacy has been established as an individual characteristic that tends to be context specifi c and developed through life experience ( Bandura, 1977; 1997 ), optimism has been shown to remain relatively stable within individuals across both time and context (Carver and Sheier, 2003; Schulman, Keith, and Seligman, 1993)....

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  • ...While self-effi cacy has been established as an individual characteristic that tends to be context specifi c and developed through life experience (Bandura, 1977; 1997), optimism has been shown to remain relatively stable within individuals across both time and context (Carver and Sheier, 2003;…...

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Journal Article•DOI•
Weight loss during the intensive intervention phase of the weight-loss maintenance trial.

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Jack F. Hollis1, Christina M. Gullion1, Victor J. Stevens1, Phillip J. Brantley2, Lawrence J. Appel3, Jamy D. Ard4, Catherine M. Champagne2, Arlene Dalcin3, Thomas P. Erlinger5, Kristine L. Funk1, Daniel Laferriere1, Pao-Hwa Lin6, Catherine M. Loria7, Carmen D. Samuel-Hodge8, William M. Vollmer1, Laura P. Svetkey6 •
Kaiser Permanente1, Pennington Biomedical Research Center2, Johns Hopkins University3, University of Alabama at Birmingham4, University of Texas Medical Branch5, Duke University6, National Institutes of Health7, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill8
01 Aug 2008-American Journal of Preventive Medicine
TL;DR: The WLM behavioral intervention successfully achieved clinically significant short-term weight loss in a diverse population of high-risk patients, although the association between behavioral measures and weight loss differed by race and gender groups.

321 citations

Journal Article•DOI•
Mechanisms of implementation intention effects: the role of goal intentions, self-efficacy, and accessibility of plan components.

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Thomas L. Webb1, Paschal Sheeran1•
University of Sheffield1
01 Sep 2008-British Journal of Social Psychology
TL;DR: The present research investigated the role of deliberative processes and accessibility of plan components as explanation for the relationship between implementation intentions and goal achievement and suggested that implementation intention effects are not explained by increased deliberation, but rather accrue from heightened accessibility of specified opportunities and strong opportunity-response links.
Abstract: Although considerable evidence suggests that forming an implementation intention increases rates of goal attainment, less research has examined the mechanisms that underlie these effects. The present research investigated the role of deliberative processes and accessibility of plan components as explanation for the relationship between implementation intentions and goal achievement. Study 1 used meta-analysis to quantify the effects of implementation intentions on goal intentions and self-efficacy. The results of 66 tests suggested that forming implementation intentions had negligible effects on both variables. Study 2 focused on the accessibility of plan components and found that the effect of implementation intentions on goal achievement was mediated simultaneously by the accessibility of specified situational cues and by the strength of the association forged between these cues and the intended response. These findings suggest that implementation intention effects are not explained by increased deliberation, but rather accrue from heightened accessibility of specified opportunities and strong opportunity-response links.

320 citations

Cites background from "Self-efficacy: toward a unifying th..."

  • ...Deliberative processes Several influential theories of goal pursuit (e.g. Ajzen, 1991; Bandura, 1977; Locke & Latham, 1990) assume that peoples’ goal intentions and appraisals of their ability to act (self-efficacy) are the proximal determinants of goal achievement....

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Journal Article•DOI•
Career Self-Efficacy Theory: Back to the Future

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Nancy E. Betz1, Gail Hackett2•
Ohio State University1, Arizona State University2
01 Feb 2006-Journal of Career Assessment
TL;DR: This paper reviewed the scientific origins of research on career self-efficacy, highlighting its original development as a means of understanding the career development of women and di erent career selfefficacy.
Abstract: This article begins by reviewing the scientific origins of research on career self-efficacy, highlighting its original development as a means of understanding the career development of women and di...

320 citations

Cites background or methods from "Self-efficacy: toward a unifying th..."

  • ...Bandura, A. (1977b). Social learning theory. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall. Bandura, A. (1986). Social foundations of thought and action: A social cognitive theory. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall. Bandura, A. (1997). Self-efficacy: The exercise of control. New York: Freeman. Bandura, A. (2005). Guide for constructing self-efficacy scales....

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  • ...They then wrote items that seemed to reflect each of the five competencies and applied to those items the confidence response continuum by which Bandura originally defined self-efficacy. Traditional item analysis procedures were used to select the best items for each subscale, resulting in the Career Decision Self-Efficacy Scale (Betz, Klein, & Taylor, 1996; Taylor & Betz, 1983). Another important aspect of scale construction is that the scale constructor either should be a subject matter expert him or herself or should collaborate with subject matter experts in defining the domain of behavior. We get frequent requests for a measure of self-efficacy expectations for a domain of behavior we know nothing about—for example, teaching reading or handling children with developmental disabilities. We always tell the inquirer that although we can provide some guidelines regarding how to set up a measure of self-efficacy, we have absolutely no idea how to construct the actual behavioral items for domains about which we know nothing. Although we are flattered to be thought knowledgeable in all possible subject matter domains, that is of course not the case. Following development of a new measure of self-efficacy, traditional methods of evaluation should be used, including internal consistency or test–retest reliability and construct validity based on such concepts as Cronbach and Meehl’s (1955) nomological network (see Nunnally & Bernstein, 1994, for more information on this concept and its uses)....

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  • ...…work from social learning theory (Bandura, 1977b) to the expansion of the social learning model to include not just cognitive variables but self-efficacy as the core construct (Bandura, 1977a), which has now resulted in the most recent iteration of social cognitive theory (Bandura, 1986, 1997)....

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  • ...Keywords: career self-efficacy, self-efficacy theory, Bandura’s theory, social cognitive theory, career assessment Our interest in the applications of Albert Bandura’s (1977a, 1986, 1997) selfefficacy theory to career development and assessment began in 1980....

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  • ...When talking one day about our mutual interests, Gail brought up Albert Bandura’s (1977a) self-efficacy theory, then a major new development in social learning theory (Bandura, 1977b). We both realized the huge relevance of selfefficacy theory to the understanding of the career development of women in general and to women’s underrepresentation in scientific and technical careers in particular. Emphasizing as it did the key role of cognitive appraisals of abilities and the malleability of those cognitive appraisals, self-efficacy theory presented a way to understand and integrate a host of factors known to influence women’s career choices; we immediately started to work together to outline a theoretical statement and a series of empirical projects. More specific to the research on math anxiety, higher levels of self-efficacy are postulated to lead to “approach” versus “avoidance” behavior, and we could see the usefulness of conceptualizing women’s underrepresentation in math as a problem of low expectations of math efficacy as well as one of math anxiety. More important, the concept of self-efficacy had built within it an empirically derived theory of its etiology as well as direct intervention implications based on the four major sources of efficacy information. The four sources of efficacy information, now widely known and cited, are performance accomplishments (enactive mastery experiences), vicarious learning (modeling), physiological and affective states (emotional arousal, e.g., anxiety), and verbal persuasion (encouragement; Bandura, 1997). Self-efficacy theory is based on a model of triadic (cognitive, affective, biological) influences and ongoing reciprocal determinism, whereby the sources of efficacy information lead to the initial development of efficacy expectations and also interact complexly over time to influence and shape both self-efficacy and performance (Bandura, 1977a, 1997). Anxiety, in this model, is a consequence of weak and low efficacy, but it can be part of the chain of causal influences; anxiety, influenced by low or weak efficacy, may subsequently undermine performance as well as efficacy estimates. Thus, although anxiety was a useful construct, self-efficacy theory was more comprehensive in building into the theory the intervention as well as the understanding of the complex etiology and consequences of the problem. Thus began an incredibly fruitful program of research, a program that almost immediately attracted many other vocational and counseling researchers. As of January 2005, our initial theoretical article, Hackett and Betz (1981), which laid out in some detail the implications of self-efficacy theory for women’s career development, has been cited 307 times. Our initial empirical article, Betz and Hackett (1981), wherein we conducted the initial test of our hypotheses and developed the first measures specifically focused on a form of career-related self efficacy, has been cited 279 times....

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References
More filters
Journal Article•DOI•
Generalized expectancies for internal versus external control of reinforcement.

[...]

Julian B. Rotter1•
University of Connecticut1
01 Jan 1966-The Psychological Monographs
TL;DR: In this paper, the effects of reward or reinforcement on preceding behavior depend in part on whether the person perceives the reward as contingent on his own behavior or independent of it, and individuals may also differ in generalized expectancies for internal versus external control of reinforcement.
Abstract: The effects of reward or reinforcement on preceding behavior depend in part on whether the person perceives the reward as contingent on his own behavior or independent of it. Acquisition and performance differ in situations perceived as determined by skill versus chance. Persons may also differ in generalized expectancies for internal versus external control of reinforcement. This report summarizes several experiments which define group differences in behavior when Ss perceive reinforcement as contingent on their behavior versus chance or experimenter control. The report also describes the development of tests of individual differences in a generalized belief in internal-external control and provides reliability, discriminant validity and normative data for 1 test, along with a description of the results of several studies of construct validity.

21,451 citations

Journal Article•DOI•
Social learning theory

[...]

Albert Bandura1•
Stanford University1
01 Jan 1977-Canadian Journal of Sociology-cahiers Canadiens De Sociologie
TL;DR: In this article, an exploración de the avances contemporaneos en la teoria del aprendizaje social, con especial enfasis en los importantes roles que cumplen los procesos cognitivos, indirectos, and autoregulatorios.
Abstract: Una exploracion de los avances contemporaneos en la teoria del aprendizaje social, con especial enfasis en los importantes roles que cumplen los procesos cognitivos, indirectos, y autoregulatorios.

20,904 citations

Journal Article•DOI•
Motivation reconsidered: The concept of competence.

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Robert W. White
01 Sep 1959-Psychological Review
TL;DR: Reading motivation reconsidered the concept of competence is also a way as one of the collective books that gives many advantages as a way to develop your experiences about everything.

6,452 citations

"Self-efficacy: toward a unifying th..." refers background in this paper

  • ...In seeking a motivational explanation of exploratory and manipulative behavior, White (1959) postulated an "effectance motive," which is conceptualized as an intrinsic drive for transactions with the environment ....

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Book•
Motivation Reconsidered: The Concept of Competence

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Robert W. White
22 Jun 2011
TL;DR: The concept of competence is also a way as one of the collective books that gives many advantages as discussed by the authors, and the advantages are not only for you, but for the other peoples with those meaningful benefits.
Abstract: No wonder you activities are, reading will be always needed. It is not only to fulfil the duties that you need to finish in deadline time. Reading will encourage your mind and thoughts. Of course, reading will greatly develop your experiences about everything. Reading motivation reconsidered the concept of competence is also a way as one of the collective books that gives many advantages. The advantages are not only for you, but for the other peoples with those meaningful benefits.

5,245 citations

Journal Article•DOI•
Cognitive, social, and physiological determinants of emotional state.

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Stanley Schachter, Jerome E. Singer
01 Sep 1962-Psychological Review
TL;DR: The problem of which cues, internal or external, permit a person to label and identify his own emotional state has been with us since the days that James (1890) first tendered his doctrine that "the bodily changes follow directly the perception of the exciting fact, and that our feeling of the same changes as they occur is the emotion" (p. 449) as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: The problem of which cues, internal or external, permit a person to label and identify his own emotional state has been with us since the days that James (1890) first tendered his doctrine that "the bodily changes follow directly the perception of the exciting fact, and that our feeling of the same changes as they occur is the emotion" (p. 449). Since we are aware of a variety of feeling and emotion states, it should follow from James' proposition that the various emotions will be accompanied by a variety of differentiable bodily states. Following James' pronouncement, a formidable number of studies were undertaken in search of the physiological differentiators of the emotions. The results, in these early days, were almost uniformly negative. All of the emotional states experi-

4,808 citations

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Trending Questions (1)
What are the key components of a theory of change in mental health?

The key components of a theory of change in mental health include self-efficacy, cognitive processes, mastery experiences, and performance-based procedures.

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