20 Letter Concerning Self-Efficacy

About the Author

Alayna Smith was raised in Utah, and is a freshman studying Piano Performance and Food Science. She has a passion for good food (making it and understanding how it works), music (making and teaching it), and language (with the eventual goal of becoming a fluent polyglot!).

This essay was composed in May 2022 and uses APA documentation.

To all individuals with a stake in raising the next generation,

We have a problem. Countless recent studies and even more anecdotes have brought to the world’s attention how prolific mental illness and lowered feelings of self-efficacy have become. Throughout my high school experience, I often saw the overall student body separated by what appeared to be two mindsets, as observed by their language: the AP student crowd and those who were not AP students. Generally, AP students self-identified by sticking with those in their AP classes, forming cliques that would fuel their momentum to continue doing so. On the other hand, I observed others who didn’t consider themselves AP students justifying their lack of effort toward an assignment or problem with “well, I’m not an AP student .” Over the course of my three years in high school, these same “non-AP students” repeated this phrase, and some seemed to put less effort into the non-academic aspects of their life as well. I do not believe that “non-AP students” are less capable of solving problems than the alleged “AP students.” Instead, the issue is self-efficacy. Whether you or someone you care for has an interest in pursuing the academic mountains of the world or not, everyone should have an equal opportunity to develop confidence in their ability to achieve what they set out to do. It will improve every individual’s quality of life and create a world full of people with higher social, academic, human, cultural, and even financial capital. To better understand how self-efficacy works, I’ve researched what I believe to be the roots of self-efficacy. So, what is self-efficacy, what influences its development, and how can we take the initiative to build it in our mental attitude and encourage it in those we love?

As described by Albert Bandura, the psychologist who coined the term self-efficacy, it is the belief in one’s ability to accomplish what they set out to do (Bandura, et al. 1996).

Such beliefs influence aspirations and strength of goal commitments, level of motivation and perseverance in the face of difficulties and setbacks, resilience to adversity, quality of analytic thinking, causal attributions for successes and failures, and vulnerability to stress and depression. (Bandura, et al. 1996)

So, self-efficacy contributes to the success of lofty aspirations and is instrumental in staving off stress and depression. Bandura continues to detail in his study how the most significant influences on one’s self-efficacy are 1) individual mindset, 2) parental support, and 3) outside social circles.

The individual’s role in developing self-efficacy is seen in the way they approach goals, their type of motivation, and the grit they exercise. Three general approaches to goals facilitate and shape one’s self-efficacy (Alhadabi, et al. 2020): Mastery Oriented (MO), Academic Goal Oriented (AGO), and Avoidance Goals (AG). Those who approach goals with a Mastery Oriented mindset seek a deep understanding, are motivated intrinsically, feel satisfied with challenging problems, and have the highest self-efficacy. Those with an Academic Goal Oriented mindset tend to work for grades, engage in surface-level learning, have a lower motivation to tackle hard problems than MOs, and fear judgment. As a result, they tend to have a lower self-efficacy as well. The Avoidance Goal mindset is driven by fear. Those with this mindset avoid hard things and often genuinely ask themselves, “Can I do this?” an outright manifestation of low self-efficacy. Alhadabi’s research shows that those with the MO mindset correlate positively with overall enjoyment and negatively with anxiety and boredom. While it’s highly unlikely that anyone operates 100% under only one of these three mindsets, perhaps the frequency and quality of our goal-setting can be easily adjusted. As we strive to learn for overall mastery instead of for extrinsic rewards, with no fear for what others will think, we are also building our self-efficacy.

Motivation can be categorized by the desire for intrinsic and extrinsic rewards. A study following collegiate aviation students found that those intrinsically motivated to complete the degree were also more likely to succeed in the program (Stiggins, 2009). On the flip side, those driven by extrinsic rewards like salary, position, or security were less committed (one might say they had less grit) and therefore had a higher likelihood of dropping. The idea that intrinsic motivation can play a role as a propensity factor that may increase actual achievement is backed by Zhu’s research (Zhu, et al., 2019). Those students who were more willing to learn learned more as one might expect. This created a feedback loop as the earlier achievement from learning what they were willing to learn motivated them to learn more. Thus, it seems that those who choose to learn for the sake of learning or trying something new for the sake of trying to create a higher chance of being genuinely efficacious at whatever they set their hearts to. In other words, self-efficacy is developed by intrinsic motivation, which leads to actual efficacy.

Let’s talk about grit. The construct of grit consists of two dimensions: perseverance of effort and consistency of interest (Alhadabi, et al., 2020). Research discovers that grit and self-efficacy are equally influential in the learning experience. This equal influence means that the belief that one can succeed is just as important as the work it takes to succeed. As self-efficacy is involved in the intrinsic motivation that leads to efficacy later down the line, this is a reasonable conclusion. As an influence, the more grit one has devoted to solving something, the more self-efficacy they develop as a result of a similar feedback loop related to intrinsic motivation, as discussed earlier. Thus, it is clear that one’s grit is indirectly involved in the process of developing and maintaining self-efficacy.

Another major factor of self-efficacy as children grow up is parental support. This support is generally accounted for in two ways, emotional and aspirational support often described with the term parental efficacy and various types of capital as resources for their child’s development. Parental efficacy can be measured by ability (Zhu, et al. 2019) and capital support (Bandura, et al. 1996). According to Zhu, for parents who were more academically successful, it was more likely that their child was academically successful. This translating efficacy, as Bandura calls it, plays a significant role in self-efficacy. When parents can solve certain problems, their children develop the mindset that they can, which eventually translates to actual efficacy. On a similar note, parental support increases a child’s likelihood of being resilient. Along with more resiliency, children whose parents were more efficacious tended to have higher aspirations for themselves; this is generally because the parent has high aspirations for their child. This promotes an optimistic mindset and, along with that, more grit to achieve those goals.

Capital support is another major parental factor. Zhu’s study, focusing on over 5,000 Chinese children’s at-home learning in relation to early numeracy, found that the more home support a child had, the more resilient they were in academic settings and social ones. This home support was identified by means of financial, cultural, human, and social capital. This could mean more readily-available books, higher social circles of other academically successful connections, more exposure to the knowledge and values of a particular culture, and overall human life value. While this data generally correlates to higher self-efficacy, it is not Zhu’s conclusion that the higher financial capital was directly related. Instead, he found that those within a higher socioeconomic position generally had more time to spend with their kids. This is something better understood by an interview I recently conducted with a first-generation Hispanic-American (E. Cifuentes, 2022). She explained that often she sees low socioeconomic status families in which the mother and father work 80+ hours a week trying to make enough to support their family. In this situation, one or both parents cannot spend a significant amount of time with their kids in school. In this situation, she sees two stances on education: help the family survive or get an education. In her family, education is pushed vehemently as the most important goal. Her parents both work jobs, but they hope their children can get an education so they don’t have to work the same kind of labor that they do. In other instances, Bandura’s research observed that families from lower socioeconomic backgrounds had lower aspirations for their children. This lack of drive and support influenced their child’s self-efficacy more so than a lack of resources. Whether a parent believes their child is capable of succeeding or not plays a significant role in how a child builds goals and sees themself succeeding in the future.

Social circles also play an essential role in an individual’s self-efficacy. Their roles in guidance and belongingness can either build or degrade an individual’s self-efficacy. According to the study by Stiggins, those students willing to go and converse with their teachers build a better mindset for success in an academic setting. Similarly, the students that spent more time with their teachers, or sought out help in some way, felt more academically capable than those not comfortable seeking help. But why don’t others seek help? In my interview with Cifuentes, she recounted a vivid 8th grade experience in which she and two other non-white classmates were denied help on the same math problem as two other white peers were given help. Until then, Cifuentes had never felt discriminated against academically by a teacher. In another setting, one of her high school classmates blurted his confusion at her desire to get her Master’s degree, insisting he thought she’d be a maid. From a combination of these experiences and many like it, Cifuentes started to feel that not only did her teachers not wholly understand the social pressure she felt to prove others wrong, but they were aiding it. As a committee leader of Latinos In Action, a club dedicated to helping Latinos build confidence in their lifelong roles as leaders, Cifuentes’s experiences were reaffirmed as others had experienced similar pressures. She recounted how having teachers and peers that tried to understand her and support her in her goals was important for her self-efficacy. Thus, it is everyone’s responsibility to keep an open mind when interacting with those from different racial groups than their own, encouraging community growth. In this way, teachers and peers have the power to help their fellow students build self-efficacy. Being able to connect with teachers, peers, and other scholars is key to developing self-efficacy.

On another note, outside social circles contribute to belongingness. In a large-scale study, students in Israel were surveyed to determine how social climate affects academic self-efficacy (Zysberg, et al., 2021). The results showed that the more students felt that they belonged and had good interpersonal relations, the higher their self-efficacy. This study also gathered demographics to see any correlation between family income, ethnicity, age, sex, etc., and academic performance and self-efficacy. Yet, none of these factors were statistically significant in the end; this indicates that our social connections play an important role in developing one’s self-efficacy. Bandura’s research backs this idea further as he found that students who are considerate of peers perceive school as more conducive to learning; in contrast, those doubting their intellectual self-efficacy tended to gravitate to similar others. The social climate that people create and interact with plays a heavy role in first facilitating feelings of self-efficacy and then exponentially contributing to that efficacy as people continue to develop relationships and feed off the self-efficacy of others. I experienced this, starting with the high school track team. At first, I was extremely socially and physically overwhelmed, as I had never competed in running sports. As a result, I felt awkward and incapable. Yet, my brother and some of his friends mercifully took me under their wing, and we created good friendships. Not only did these friendships help me feel more comfortable going to practice, but they also inspired me; I felt comfortable watching their technique, asking about my own, and receiving input. As an indirect result of that feeling of belongingness, my own skill in my events improved as well. Social environments play a huge role in supporting and cultivating self-efficacy.

Now that we’ve delved into contributing factors, let’s briefly discuss the outcomes of high self-efficacy. Just as self-efficacy translates to parent to child, child to parent, and peer to peer, it will inevitably play a role in one’s future family members and close circles (Bandura, et al. 1996). This influence makes sense since parental efficacy makes a difference currently in children—why not in future generations? Most of the social outcomes Bandura describes speak to a higher sense of maturity, which self-efficacy evokes: a higher ability to resist peer pressure, higher commitment to moral behavior, peer acceptance, prosocialness, and low despondency. These social outcomes show that self-efficacy goes beyond grades and academic success but reaches the core of an individual’s behavior. Any individual who sticks to a moral code and successfully resists peer pressure benefits the community. Self-efficacy is a virtue that should be developed.

So, what are actionable items to develop this self-efficacy? First, individuals can strive to make and keep higher expectations from themselves; setting high aspirations and providing/receiving support to those around them will dramatically change one’s mindset and, in turn, develop higher self-efficacy. As discussed earlier, one can tailor their goals to be set on mastery instead of academic measures of success (or any other extrinsic reward for that matter). To develop the habit of proactivity significant to MO people, the Circle of Influence 30+ day challenge, as put forth by American educator Stephen R. Covey effectively shifts one’s paradigm. This challenge is something I recently started putting into practice, literally. As a Music Major, productive piano practice is essential to academic and professional success. For the last month, I have made an effort to remove all unnecessary distractions (ahem, my phone!) from the room during a session; in this way, I have been taking responsibility for my practice time, making an effort to control how effective the practice itself is; this change has made all the difference in my focus and attention to detail. This is just one of a myriad of day-to-day opportunities to exercise our self-control to build our self-efficacy. Finally, to develop the prosocial nature and positive social interaction associated with those with self-efficacy, surround yourself with those you admire. As two inspiring multi-millionaires, Jim Rohn and Robert Kiyosaki, put it, “[Y]ou are the average of the five people you spend the most of your time with.” As an addendum to that statement, the perspectives you listen to also count, as could be provided via podcast, book, channel, blog, etc. Give yourself a better chance for growth by surrounding yourself with those that take you out of your comfort zone instead of falling into the AG mindset. Spend time with people who think in a way that you admire, and get to know those in your neighborhood, classroom, family, and internet circles who have accomplished or are accomplishing what you aspire to do. If you want to develop self-efficacy, surround yourself with efficacious people.

As individuals and parents strive to develop personal self-efficacy, generations are statistically more likely to develop higher self-efficacy. You can influence your personal and outside social circles’ self-efficacy as you choose to build grit and intrinsic motivation and set goals that aim for mastery. Personal efforts like that will combat the pervading theory that one must be “an AP student” to succeed at whatever one puts their mind to. More importantly, it will open up individuals of all backgrounds to the success that they hold in their perception of the world through what we know as self-efficacy.

References

Alhadabi, A., & Karpinski, A. C. (2020). Grit, self-efficacy, achievement orientation goals, and academic performance in University students. International Journal of Adolescence & Youth, 25(1), 519–535. https://doi-org.dist.lib.usu.edu/10.1080/02673843.2019.1679202

Bandura, A., & Barbaranelli, C. (1996). Multifaceted Impact of Self-Efficacy Beliefs on Academic Functioning. Child Development, 67(3), 1206–1222. https://doi-org.dist.lib.usu.edu/10.2307/1131888

E. Cifuentes, personal communication, March 31, 2022

Personal Survey. (2022, March 26).Survey. Instagram.

Stiggins, R. (2009). Assessment FOR Learning in Upper Elementary Grades. Phi Delta Kappan, 90(6), 419–421. https://doi-org.dist.lib.usu.edu/10.1177/003172170909000608

Wilson, N., & Stupnisky, R. (2021). Assessing Motivation as Predictors of Academic Success in Collegiate Aviation Classrooms. Collegiate Aviation Review, 39(2), 200–217. https://doi-org.dist.lib.usu.edu/10.22488/okstate.22.100239

Zhu, J., & Chiu, M. M. (2019). Early home numeracy activities and later mathematics achievement: early numeracy, interest, and self-efficacy as mediators. Educational Studies in Mathematics, 102(2), 173–191. https://doi-org.dist.lib.usu.edu/10.1007/s10649-019-09906-6

Zysberg, L., & Schwabsky, N. (2021). School climate, academic self-efficacy and student achievement. Educational Psychology, 41(4), 467–482. https://doi-org.dist.lib.usu.edu/10.1080/01443410.2020.1813690