MODULE 3

Managing and Caring for the Self

Prepared by: Jebbs Danielle N. Ciocon, LPT

Lesson 2 – Do Not Just Dream, Make it Happen

Lesson Objectives: At the end of this lesson, the student will be able to:
1. Use Bandura’s self-efficacy theory for self-assessment;
2. Differentiate growth and fixed mindset by Dweck; and
3. Design personal goals adapting Locke’s goal setting theory.

ABSTRACTION

Albert Bandura’s Self-Efficacy

Albert E. Bandura introduced his concept of self-efficacy in an article entitled “Self-
efficacy: Toward a Unifying Theory of Behavioral Change” that was published in
Psychological Review in 1988. The article also became an instant classic in psychology.
He was born in Mundare, Alberta in December 4, 1925. He was the youngest of six
children. Though times were often hard growing up, Dr. Bandura’s parents placed great
emphasis on celebrating life and more importantly family. They were also very keen on their
children doing well in school.
Dr. Bandura has widely published works and has received various honorary degrees
and awards all over the world. He is highly recognized for his work in social learning theory
and social cognitive theory (a theory that states people are active participants in their
environment and are not simply shaped by that environment).

Summary of Self-Efficacy Theory

Bandura defined self-efficacy as “people’s beliefs about their capabilities to produce
designated levels of performance that exercise influence over events that affect their lives.”
People with “high assurance in their capabilities.”
1. approach difficult tasks as challenges to be mastered;
2. set challenging goals and maintain strong commitment to them;
3. heighten or sustain their efforts in the face of failures or setbacks;
4. attribute failure to insufficient effort or deficient knowledge and skills which
are acquirable; and
5. approach threatening situations with assurance that they can exercise control
over them.
In contrast, people “who doubt their capabilities”:
1. shy away from tasks they view as personal threats
2. have low aspirations and weak commitment to goals they choose to pursue;
3. dwell on personal deficiencies, obstacles they will encounter, and all kinds of
adverse outcomes, rather than concentrating on how to perform successfully;
4. slacken their efforts and give up quickly in the face of difficulties;
5. are slow to recover their sense of efficacy following failure or setbacks; and
6. fall easy victim to stress and depression.
Bandura described four main sources of influence by which a person’s self-efficacy is
developed and maintained:
1. performance accomplishments or mastery experiences;
2. vicarious experiences;
3. verbal or social persuasion;
 4. physiological, or somatic and emotional, states.
Dr. Albert Bandura’s quotes about self-efficacy (Kendra 2017):
• “Self-efficacy is the belief in one’s capabilities to organize and execute the
sources of action required to manage prospective situations.” – From Social
Foundations of Thought and Action: A Social Cognitive Theory 1986
• “If efficacy beliefs always reflected only what people can do routinely they
would rarely fail but they would not set aspirations beyond their immediate
reach nor mount the extra effort needed to surpass their ordinary performances.”
From Encyclopedia of Human Behavior 1994
• “Self-belief does not necessarily ensure success, but self-disbelief assuredly
spawns failure.” From Self-efficacy: The Exercise of Control 1997
• “By sticking it out through tough times, people emerge from adversity with a
stronger sense of efficacy.” – From Encyclopedia of Human Behavior 1994
• “People’s beliefs about their abilities have a profound effect on those abilities.
Ability is not a fixed property; there is a huge variability in how you perform.
People who have a sense of self-efficacy bounce back from failure; they
approach things in terms of how to handle them rather than worrying about what
can go wrong.” – From Self-Efficacy: The Exercise of Control 1996

Fixed and Growth Mindset

Dr. Dweck contribution to social psychology relates to implicit theories of intelligence
with her book, Mindset: The New Psychology of Success published in 2006. Dweck describes
people with two types of Mindset. People who believe that their success is based on innate
ability, these are said to have a “fixed” theory of intelligence goes under Fixed Mindset. Others,
on the other hand believe that their success is based on hard work, learning, training, and
perseverance are said to have growth theory of intelligence, which goes under growth mindset.
According to Dr. Dweck, individuals may not necessarily be aware of their own mindset, but
their mindset can still be discerned based on their behavior. It is especially evident in their
reaction to failure. Fixed-mindset individuals dread failure because it is a negative statement
on their basic abilities, while growth mindset individuals do not mind or fear failure as much
because they realize their performance can be improved and learning comes from failure. These
two mindsets play an important role in all aspects of a person’s life. Dr. Dweck argues that the
growth mindset will allow a person to live a less stressful and more successful life.
Individuals with growth mindset are more likely to continue working hard despite
setbacks while individuals with fixed mindset can be affected by subtle environment cues.

Edwin A. Locke’s Goal Setting Theory

Edwin A. Locke is internationally known for his research on goal setting. Who is he?
Edwin A. Locke was born January 5, 1938. He is Dean’s Professor (Emeritus) of Leadership
and Motivation at the R.H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland, College
Park. He received his BA from Harvard in 1960 and his PhD in Industrial Psychology from
Cornell University in 1964.

Goal Setting Theory

Attributes of goals and 14 research findings:

Goal Attributes
Goals have both an internal and an external aspect. Internally, they are ideas (desired
ends); externally, they refer to the object or condition sought (e.g., a job, a sale, a certain
performance level). The idea guides action to attain the object. Two broad attributes of goals
are content (the actual object sought) and intensity (the scope, focus, complexity etc. of the
choice process). Qualitatively, the content of a goal is whatever the person is seeking.
Quantitatively, two attributes of content: difficulty and specificity have been studied.

14 Research Findings
1. The more difficult the goal, the greater the achievement.
2. The more specific or explicit the goal, the more precisely the performance is
regulated.
3. Goals that are both specific and difficult lead to the highest performance.
4. Commitment to goals is most critical when goals are specific and difficult.
5. High commitment to goals is attained when the individual is convinced that the goal
is important and the individual is convinced that the goal is attainable.
6. In addition to having a direct effect on performance, self-efficacy influences; a.) the
difficulty level of the goal chosen or accepted; b.) commitment to goals; c.) the
response to negative feedback or failure; and d.) the choice of task strategies.
7. Goal setting is most effective when there is feedback showing progress in relation
to the goal.
8. Goal setting (along with self-efficacy) mediates the effect of knowledge of past
performance on subsequent performance.
9. Goals affect performance by affecting direction of action, the degree of effort
exerted, and the persistence of action over time.
10. Goals stimulate planning in general.
11. When people strive for goals on complex tasks, they are least effective in
discovering suitable task strategies if: they have no prior experience or training on
the task; there is high pressure to perform well; and there is high time pressure (to
perform well immediately).
12. Goals (including goal commitment), in combination with self-efficacy, mediate or
partially mediate the effects of several personality traits and incentives on
performance.
13. Goal-setting and goal-related mechanisms can be trained and/or adopted in the
absence of training for the purpose of self-regulation.
14. Goals serve as standards of self-satisfaction, with harder goals demanding higher
accomplishment in order to attain self-satisfaction than easy goals.