Understanding Psychology (10th Ed)

SELF-EFFICACY 
Bandura places particular emphasis on the role played by self-effi cacy, belief in one’s 
personal capabilities. Self-effi cacy underlies people’s faith in their ability to carry out 
a specifi c task or produce a desired outcome. People with high self-effi cacy have 
higher aspirations and greater persistence in working to attain goals and ultimately 
achieve greater success than those with lower self-effi cacy (Bandura & Locke, 2003; 
Glickler, 2006; Betz, 2007). 
How do we develop self-effi cacy? One way is by paying close attention to our 
prior successes and failures. If we try snowboarding and experience little success, 
we’ll be less likely to try it again. However, if our initial efforts appear promising, 
we’ll be more likely to attempt it again. Direct reinforcement and encouragement 
from others also play a role in developing self-effi cacy (Devonport & Lane, 2006; 
Buchanan & Selmon, 2008). 
Compared with other learning theories of personality, social cognitive approaches 
are distinctive in their emphasis on the reciprocity between individuals and their 
environment. Not only is the environment assumed to affect personality, but people’s 
behavior and personalities are also assumed to “feed back” and modify the environ-
ment (Bandura, 1999, 2000).
social cognitive approaches to 
personality 
Theories that emphasize 
the infl uence of a person’s cognitions—
thoughts, feelings, expectations, and 
values—as well as observation of 
others’ behavior, in determining 
personality.
self-effi cacy 
Belief in one’s personal 
capabilities. Self-effi cacy underlies 
people’s faith in their ability to carry 
out a particular behavior or produce a 
desired outcome.
Self-effi
cacy, the belief in one’s own 
capabilities, leads to higher aspirations 
and greater persistence.
feL82795_ch13_436-469.indd Page 452 8/6/10 7:25 PM user-f465
feL82795_ch13_436-469.indd Page 452 8/6/10 7:25 PM user-f465
/Users/user-f465/Desktop
/Users/user-f465/Desktop

---