Inviting Self-Efficacy

Abstract

Social cognitive theorists contend that the beliefs individuals hold about their abilities powerfully influence the ways in which they will behave (Bandura, 1986). Of all beliefs, self-efficacy, people's judgments of their capabilities to accomplish specific tasks, is regarded the most influential arbiter in human agency and helps explain why people's behavior may differ markedly even when they have similar knowledge and skills. Bandura argued that what people do is often better predicted by their beliefs about their capabilities than by what they are actually capable of accomplishing. This is consistent with the view of researchers who argue that the potent nature of beliefs makes them a filter through which new phenomena are interpreted and evaluated (Pajares, 1992).