Efficacy Beliefs Regulate Human Functioning

     "Whether you think you can, or think you can't, you're right!"             Henry Ford
 

     "Efficacy beliefs regulate human functioning through four major processes. They include cognitive, motivational, emotional, and choice processes. Much human behavior is regulated by forethought. Efficacy beliefs affect whether individuals think pessimistically or optimistically, self-enhancingly or self-debilitatingly. Efficacy beliefs play a central role in the self-regulation of motivation. Most human motivation is cognitively generated by goal aspirations and the material, social, and self-evaluative outcomes anticipated for difficult courses of action. People of high perceived self-efficacy set motivating goals for themselves, maintain commitment to them, expect their efforts to produce favorable results, view obstacles as surmountable and figure out ways to overcome them.

     People’s beliefs in their coping efficacy also affect their emotional life and how much stress, anxiety and depression they experience in threatening or disheartening situations. Those who believe they can manage threats and adversities view them as less inimical and act in ways that reduce their aversiveness or change them for the better. People have to live with a psychic environment that is largely of their own making. Many human distresses result from failures of control over perturbing thoughts. Beliefs of coping efficacy facilitate the exercise of control over perturbing and dejecting rumination. Efficacy beliefs play a key role in shaping the courses lives take by influencing the types of activities and environments people choose to get into. Advantageous destinies are shaped by selection of environments known to cultivate valued potentialities and lifestyles. 

     Self-efficacy is a key determinant because it affects behavior both directly and by its influence on these other determinants. As already noted, efficacy beliefs determine goals and aspirations; they shape the outcomes people expect their efforts to produce; and determine how environmental facilitators and impediments are viewed. People of low self-efficacy are easily convinced of the futility of effort in the face of impediments. Those of high self-efficacy view impediments as surmountable through perseverant effort and improvement of self-management skills."

       Bandura A. Swimming against the mainstream: the early years from chilly tributary to transformative mainstream. Behav Res Ther 2004; 42(6): 613-30.