Self Efficacy and Personal Control Beliefs

Personal Control Beliefs

• Refers to the belief in one's ability to effect change and the expectation that the environment will respond to these changes.

Expectancy

• Efficacy Expectations: Self-assessment of personal capacity to perform actions.
• Outcome Expectation: Anticipation that actions performed will lead to specific results.

Expectations in Behavior

• Efficacy and outcome expectations distinctly influence the initiation and regulation of behaviors.

Self Efficacy

• Refers to one’s perceived ability to manage situations based on skills and circumstances.
• Strongly connected to feelings of self-efficacy.

Sources of Self Efficacy

• Personal Behavior History: Past experiences shape self-efficacy.
• Vicarious Experience: Observing others can influence beliefs about one's abilities.
• Verbal Persuasion: Encouragement from others boosts self-efficacy.
• Physiological State: Physical sensations and emotional states impact confidence levels.

Self Efficacy Effects on Behavior

• Influences choices, effort levels, persistence, cognitive processes, and emotional responses during tasks.

Mastery Motivational Orientations

• Characterized by resilience and focus on task mastery in the face of challenges.
• Individuals feel energized by difficult tasks and focus on dynamic factors in their environment.

Helpless Motivational Orientations

• Marked by fragility in the face of failure, leading to withdrawal and defeatism.
• Challenging tasks induce self-doubt and a sense of inability to control outcomes.

Hope

• Derived from the combination of motivation towards goals and the identification of multiple pathways to reach those goals.

Learned Helplessness

• Results from the perception that behavior does not influence the environment and leads to uncertainty in life outcomes.

Applications of Learned Helplessness

• Relevant in contexts such as:
  • Depression
  • Elderly adults in care facilities
  • Domestic violence scenarios
  • Substance abuse
  • Learning disabilities in children

Components of Learned Helplessness

• Contingency: The relationship between behavior and outcome, varying from controllable to uncontrollable.
• Cognitions: Personal interpretations and biases affecting one's view of behavior-outcome relationships.
• Behavior: The spectrum of engagement from passive to active responses to the environment.

Effects of Helplessness

• Results in deficits across motivation, learning, and emotional realms.

Explanatory Style

• A stable cognitive style indicating how individuals explain negative events: either pessimistically or optimistically.
• Self-serving biases can create a false sense of control.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)

• Focuses on altering thought patterns to influence emotional well-being and behavior.

Reactance

• Examines how individuals react to events perceived as uncontrollable, often demonstrating aggressive behaviors to restore a sense of control.