506 Part VI Learning-Cognitive Theories
controlled, and exhibit an
appropriate level of
friendly behavior. There-
fore, she has high self-
efficacy with regard to
the employment inter-
view. However, despite
these high efficacy
expectations, she may
have low outcome expec-
tations. A low outcome
expectancy would exist if
she believes that she has
little chance of being
offered a position. This
judgment might be due to
unpromising environmental conditions, such as high unemployment, depressed econ-
omy, or superior competition. In addition, other personal factors such as age, gender,
height, weight, or physical health may negatively affect outcome expectancies.
Besides being different from outcome expectancies, self-efficacy must
be distinguished from several other concepts. First, efficacy does not refer to the
ability to execute basic motor skills such as walking, reaching, or grasping. Also,
efficacy does not imply that we can perform designated behaviors without anxiety,
stress, or fear; it is merely our judgment, accurate or faulty, about whether or not we
can execute the required actions. Finally, judgments of efficacy are not the same as
levels of aspiration. Heroin addicts, for example, often aspire to be drug free but may
have little confidence in their ability to successfully break the habit (Bandura, 1997).
Self-efficacy is not a global or generalized concept, such as self-esteem or
self-confidence. People can have high self-efficacy in one situation and low self-
efficacy in another. Self-efficacy varies from situation to situation depending on
the competencies required for different activities; the presence or absence of other
people; the perceived competence of these other people, especially if they are
competitors; the person’s predisposition to attend to failure of performance rather
than to success; and the accompanying physiological states, particularly the pres-
ence of fatigue, anxiety, apathy, or despondency.
High and low efficacy combine with responsive and unresponsive envi-
ronments to produce four possible predictive variables (Bandura, 1997). When
efficacy is high and the environment is responsive, outcomes are most likely
to be successful. When low efficacy is combined with a responsive environ-
ment, people may become depressed when they observe that others are
successful at tasks that seem too difficult for them. When people with high
efficacy encounter unresponsive environmental situations, they usually inten-
sify their efforts to change the environment. They may use protest, social activ-
ism, or even force to instigate change; but if all efforts fail, Bandura
hypothesizes, either they will give up that course and take on a new one or
they will seek a more responsive environment. Finally, when low self-efficacy
combines with an unresponsive environment, people are likely to feel apathy,Self-efficacy is the extent to which you believe you can or cannot
do a task. © Ekachai Lohacamonchai/Alamy Stock Photo