Helpful links

Albert Bandura’s biography: http://www.emory.edu/EDUCATION/mfp/bandurabio.html

the Self Efficacy page: http://www.emory.edu/EDUCATION/mfp/effpage.html

Overview of Self-Efficacy

the information below can be found at: http://www.emory.edu/EDUCATION/mfp/efficacy.html

What is self-efficacy?

What does it do?

Where does it come from?

How does it differ from self-concept?

Self-efficacy is a context-specific assessment of competence to perform a specific task or a range of tasks in a given domain – an individual’s judgment of his or her capabilities to perform given actions.

Self-concept is a cognitive appraisal, integrated across various dimensions, that individuals attribute to themselves, typically accompanied by self-evaluative judgment of self-worth (self-esteem).

Typical

SELF-EFFICACY statements:

I am confident that I can write an essay without spelling errors.

I am confident that I can solve math problems.

Typical

SELF-CONCEPT statements:

My friends come to me for help with their essays.

Mathematics makes me feel inadequate.

SELF-EFFICACY beliefs

• judgment of confidence

• context-sensitive

• made and used in reference to some type of goal

• domain-specific

• a question of CAN (Can I do this?

SELF-CONCEPT beliefs:

• judgment of self-worth

• not context-sensitive

• not task-specific

• cognitive self-appraisal independent of goal

• can be domain-specific

• a question of being, feeling (Who am I? How do I feel?)

Relevant Article

Pajares (2002). Overview of social cognitive theory and of self-efficacy. Retreived September 15,

2003, from http://www.emory.edu/EDUCATION/mfp/eff.html

[Back to my Class Home Page] [Back to my Home Page] [E-mail me]