Self-efficacy expectation

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Expectation of self-efficacy , SWE for short , describes the expectation of a person to be able to successfully perform desired actions on the basis of their own skills . A person who believes in having an effect himself and in being able to act independently even in difficult situations therefore has a high SWE. The term was developed in the 1970s by the Canadian psychologist Albert Bandura .

One component of the SWE is the assumption that as a person one can have a targeted influence on things and the world, instead of considering external circumstances, other people, coincidence , luck and other uncontrollable factors as causal (see also control belief ).

Some psychologists believe that the expectation of self-efficacy is a natural human need. In psychological research, a distinction is also made between generalized and the various action -specific expectations of self - efficacy (such as quitting smoking or being able to speak freely in front of a crowd).

Research shows that people with a strong belief in their own competence have greater stamina in coping with tasks, a lower susceptibility to anxiety disorders and depression, and more recognition in education and professional life.

SWE and action results often have a circular effect: A high SWE leads to high demands on oneself, which is why one looks for rather demanding, difficult challenges. Coping with these challenges then leads to confirmation or increase of one's own SWE. Locke and Latham (1990, 1991) took up this circular effect and transferred it to the so-called “high performance cycle”. The authors examine whether there is a connection between setting or setting goals and the performance achieved.

Sources of expectation of self-efficacy

Bandura names four different sources that can influence a person's self-efficacy expectations.

Own sense of achievement

Success in coping with a difficult situation strengthens the belief in one's own abilities - one trusts oneself to master such situations in the future too - while failures can lead to doubts about one's own competence and to avoid comparable situations in the future. (D. E. Internal and stable so that it comes to such influence their own self-efficacy by a sense of achievement or failure experiences, the person must, however, these experiences to write their own abilities attributions ). People with a high expectation of self-efficacy showed a higher frustration tolerance despite individual setbacks .

Deputy experience

If other people master a task with abilities that are similar to your own, you are more likely to trust yourself. On the other hand, failure of such people is demotivating. The following applies: the greater the resemblance to the observed person, the stronger the influence of the role model .

Verbal encouragement

People who are encouraged well and who are trusted by others to cope with a certain situation tend to make an effort. They believed in themselves more than when others doubted their abilities. At the same time, it is important not to make unrealistic demands on someone. That would be rather demotivating in the event of repeated failure.

Emotional excitement

Your own physiological reactions to a new requirement situation are often the basis for your own assessment of the situation and self-efficacy. For example, palpitations, sweats, shaking hands, shivering and nausea are often associated with emotional reactions such as tension or fear . These signs can easily be interpreted as weakness and self-doubt can arise. A reduction in stress reactions can help people to approach challenges in a more relaxed manner and thus to master them better.

Development phases and contexts of the SWE

Self-efficacy develops differently in different life stages for each individual, depending on the living conditions and the different influences of the sources mentioned above.

Newborns are not yet aware of themselves as individuals. They only gradually learn how their actions produce certain consequences and reactions (e.g. shaking a rattle produces noises, screaming evokes adults) and that they are a separate person.

The family, in which children largely learn and develop their physical, cognitive, social and linguistic skills, the home environment, learning materials and sibling constellations are extremely important. In this environment, children compare themselves to other people for the first time; H. with parents and siblings. The next step is to meet peers : For the first time, you can evaluate your own abilities in comparison with peers. Even here, children with a low expectation of self-efficacy have problems connecting with other children. In school, they expand their cognitive skills and acquire knowledge and problem-solving skills. Later on, development confronts young people with changes such as puberty and career choices. How easy or difficult it is to take this depends on the self-efficacy you have built up beforehand. If this phase leads to the positive perception of the now expanded control options in ever new situations, this increases the SWE. However, if the young people do not find self-affirmation or even experience themselves as powerless, this prevents the development of a positive SWE.

Adulthood brings new demands such as professional life and entering into longer-term relationships through to marriage and parenting. People with self-doubt tend to be more stressed and more prone to depression, have less ability to motivate themselves, and are less able to control negative emotions. The experience of not being able to exert influence in large bureaucracies can also reinforce this tendency. In old age, physical performance decreases and everyone has to cope with new changes such as retirement or the loss of friends, partners and / or physical performance or integrity. The individual expectation of self-efficacy also plays a decisive role in coping with these changes.

Expectation of self-efficacy and choice of occupation

The expectation of self-efficacy has a decisive influence on people's career choices. It shows that the low representation of women in the MINT professions ( mathematics , computer science , natural sciences and technology) can be traced back to gender-specific differences in self-efficacy expectations.

In particular, studies show that the self-efficacy expectation in mathematics is a stronger predictor of interest in mathematics, the choice of mathematics-related courses and the choice of a degree in mathematics than previous achievements in mathematics or the expected result in the corresponding courses. In the area of ​​programming training, it was shown that the self-efficacy expectation has a greater influence on performance than, for example, the gender of the course participants.

In summary, the self-efficacy expectation can be described as a central variable in career development in the MINT area.

See also

literature

  • Albert Bandura : Self-Efficacy: Toward a Unifying Theory of Behavioral Change. In: Psychological Review. Volume 84, No. 2, 1977, pp. 191-215 (English).
  • Albert Bandura: Perceived Self-Efficacy in Cognitive Development and Functioning. In: Educational Psychologist. Volume 28, No. 2, 1993, pp. 117-148 (English).
  • A. Bandura: Self-efficacy. In: VS Ramachandran (Ed.): Encyclopedia of human behavior. Volume 4. Academic Press, San Diego 1994, pp. 71-81.
  • A. Bandura: Self-efficacy: The exercise of control. Freeman, New York 1997 (English).
  • H.-G. Ridder: Human Resource Management. 1999, pp. 439-440 (English).
  • EA Locke, GP Latham: A Theory of Goal Setting and Task Performance. Englewood Cliffs 1990 (English).
  • R. Schwarzer, M. Jerusalem: The concept of self-efficacy. In: Journal for Pedagogy. Volume 44, supplement: Self-efficacy and motivational processes in educational institutions. 2002, pp. 28-53.
  • L. Satow, R. Schwarzer: Development of school and social self-efficacy expectation: An analysis of individual growth curves. In: Psychology in Education and Teaching. Volume 50, No. 2, 2003, pp. 168-181.
  • A. Luszczynska, B. Gutiérrez-Doña, R. Schwarzer: General self-efficacy in various domains of human functioning: Evidence from five countries. In: International Journal of Psychology. Volume 40, No. 2, 2005, pp. 80-89 (English).
  • A. Luszczynska, U. Scholz, R. Schwarzer: The general self-efficacy scale: Multicultural validation studies. In: The Journal of Psychology. Volume 139, No. 5, 2005, pp. 439-457 (English).
  • R. Schwarzer, S. Boehmer, A. Luszczynska, NE Mohamed, N. Knoll: Dispositional self-efficacy as a personal resource factor in coping after surgery. In: Personality and Individual Differences. Volume 39, 2005, pp. 807-818 (English).
  • R. Schwarzer, A. Luszczynska: Self-Efficacy. In: M. Gerrard, KD McCaul (Ed.): Health Behavior Constructs: Theory, Measurement, and Research. National Cancer Institute, 2007 ( online at cancercontrol.cancer.gov).
  • EL Usher, F. Pajares: Sources of academic and self-regulatory efficacy beliefs of entering middle school students. In: Contemporary Educational Psychology. Volume 31, 2006, pp. 125-141 (English).
  • Hannelore Weber, Thomas Rammsayer: Differential Psychology: Personality Research. Hogrefe, Göttingen u. a. 2012, ISBN 978-3-8017-2172-5 , pp. 97-99.
  • BJ Zimmerman, A. Kisantas: Homework practices and academic achievement: The mediating role of self-efficacy and perceived responsibility beliefs. In: Contemporary Educational Psychology. Volume 30, 2005, pp. 397-417 (English).

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Carina Fuchs: Self-effective learning in a school context: characteristics - conditions - implementation examples . Julius Klinkhardt, Pößneck 2005, ISBN 3-7815-1394-7 , p. 20 ( Page preview in Google Book Search).
  2. ^ Albert Bandura : Self-Efficacy: Toward a Unifying Theory of Behavioral Change. In: Psychological Review. Volume 84, No. 2, 1977, pp. 191-215 (English).
  3. ^ Edward T. Hall : Beyond Culture. Anchor Books, 1989, p. 6 (English).
  4. ^ A b Nancy E. Betz, Gail Hackett: Applications of Self-Efficacy Theory to Understanding Career Choice Behavior. In: Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology. Volume 4, No. 3, September 1986, pp. 279-289 (English).
  5. ^ A b Frank Pajares: Self-Efficacy Beliefs in Academic Settings. In: Review of Educational Research. 1996 (English).
  6. ^ P. Brauner, T. Leonhardt, M. Ziefle, U. Schroeder: The effect of tangible artifacts, gender and subjective technical competence on teaching programming to seventh graders. In: Proceedings of the 4th International Conference on Informatics in Secondary Schools (ISSEP 2010), LNCS 5941. 2010, pp. 61-71 (English).