Self-Efficacy

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Self-efficacy is our belief we can achieve a specific task we set out to accomplish — a sign of our self-confidence and competence in a situation (a student trusting they’ll ace a math test) — which can increase or decrease based on task. The term self-efficacy was coined in 1977 by the influential Canadian-American psychologist Albert Bandura as a central and foundational concept in his broader social cognitive theory (SCT). SCT helps explain how people are motivated and how they learn and change behavior within a social context. According to SCT, self-efficacy is the mechanism for exercising personal agency over our environment and life choices. It increases motivation, persistence, and better coping strategies to face challenges:

• Motivation: We’re more likely to pursue goals and put in effort if we have high self-efficacy for that task. Our self-efficacy beliefs influence our choices, how much effort to expend, and how long to persist through difficulties.
• Learning through observation: We develop self-efficacy through observational learning (in SCT, called vicarious learning). By observing role-models succeed at something, we believe in our own ability to perform that same task, and our self-efficacy increases.
• Behavioral, environmental, and personal interactions: Self-efficacy is constantly influenced by and influences the other elements of SCT: behavior (practicing a skill), personal self-efficacy affects the environment we choose to be a part of (joining a specific group), and the environment (getting supportive feedback. These elements are on a feedback loop that boosts self-efficacy

Social and emotional self-efficacy are distinct but related concepts for managing different aspects of our lives: 

• Emotional self-efficacy is our perceived ability to understand, regulate, and effectively cope with our own emotions, positive or negative. This includes having confidence in our ability to manage feelings like anger, sadness, or anxiety, and to express emotions like joy or pride appropriately.
• Social self-efficacy is our confidence in our ability to successfully navigate relationships and social interactions, like believing we’re able to initiate conversations, make friends, seek advice from colleagues, communicate effectively, and generally function well within social settings