Self-Efficacy: Examples and Benefits

Medically Reviewed by Jabeen Begum, MD on February 20, 2024
Written by Cyrus Wahome, Shawna Seed
6 min read

Self-efficacy can be defined as the belief that you can be successful when carrying out a certain task.

The idea of a self-efficacy theory was first proposed in the 1960s by Albert Bandura, a Stanford psychology professor with a specialty in developmental and educational psychology. He introduced self-efficacy as one of the processes of goal realization in social cognitive theory, a learning theory based on certain observations. 

Other processes of goal realization besides self-efficacy include self-observation, self-evaluation, and self-reaction.

Self-efficacy vs. self-esteem

Self-esteem and self-efficacy are not the same. Self-esteem reflects your self-worth, and self-efficacy is the perception of your own ability to achieve a goal.

To put it another way, you might not be good at horseback riding because you've never ridden a horse before. In that case, your level of ability may be lower, but because you haven't pinned your self-worth to your ability to ride a horse, your self-esteem may still be high.

Self-efficacy is related to self-confidence, focusing on a person's belief in their capacity to do tasks and succeed. The theory's core concept is that people are more likely to do activities in which they have high self-efficacy, and they are less likely to do those in which they don’t.

For example, say that a corporation asks two employees, A and B, to prepare a graph for a presentation at an upcoming conference. Employee A has a lot of expertise and experience in creating graphs but is not confident that they can create high-quality graphs. Employee B, on the other hand, has little knowledge and no experience in making graphs but is confident that they can create a high-quality graph for the conference presentation. 

Employee A is hesitant and declines the task. Employee B accepts the task and spends a lot of time researching how to do it, because they are motivated and confident. In the end, Employee B creates the graph, and the presentation is made at the conference. The supervisor then gives Employee B a promotion for making it happen, while the more experienced Employee A gets nothing.

If you have a high level of self-efficacy, you are more likely to accomplish tasks. Self-efficacy affects your motivation, learning capacity, and performance.

There are four major influences on self-efficacy: 

  • Mastery of experiences. This refers to the learning opportunities that arise when you take on a new challenge and succeed at it. When you do a task well, it can help you develop a stronger belief in yourself. You are subconsciously teaching yourself that you are capable of learning new things. Failure can have the opposite effect, but it especially will if you don't have a strong feeling of self-efficacy.  
  • Social role models. Seeing people with a high level of self-efficacy succeed because of their efforts may inspire you to believe that you, too, can succeed. When you see your role models succeed, you're likely to pick up some good attributes as well. Anyone in your life can be a positive role model.    
  • Imaginal experiences. Picturing yourself succeeding in a given situation may help you build up high levels of self-efficacy. When you imagine yourself being successful, you can set your mind to believe that success is the only outcome. 
  • Emotional and physiological states. You may assume you will succeed at a task based on how you feel psychologically or physically. So learning to regulate your anxiety and mood, especially while facing challenges, might help you enhance your self-efficacy. You may feel motivated to do well if you learn how to approach difficult situations better.

Signs that you may have low self-efficacy include: 

  • Procrastination. You put off tackling tasks you're not sure you can do.
  • Avoidance. You shy away from difficult things because you don't think you can handle them.
  • Giving up. When you encounter issues with something, you abandon the task. 
  • Seeing threats rather than challenges. You view difficult tasks as risks to your well-being rather than opportunities. 
  • Low expectations. You don't expect much of yourself and don't set ambitious goals. 
  • Stress and depression. You're easily overwhelmed by negative emotions. 

Signs that you have high self-efficacy include believing you can: 

  • Solve problems if you try hard enough 
  • Deal with unexpected obstacles 
  • Be calm in difficult situations because you have good coping skills 
  • Stick to your goals and achieve your objectives 

Your abilities are not fixed. In some cases, your performance might surprise you, and not always pleasantly. If you have high self-efficacy, though, you can easily bounce back from a failure because you will focus on how to handle the failure rather than letting it worry you.

To build high self-efficacy, consider doing the following: 

  • Get a peer model. Aim to learn from your peers, especially if their good conduct brings them success. You might have experienced role modeling from a young age. For instance, your teachers, parents, guardians, or siblings might have set a good example in your upbringing. Role or peer modeling not only works for children but can be applied at any age. 
  • Get feedback. Don’t always assume that no feedback is great feedback. Getting clear and concise feedback may help you build high self-efficacy. For instance, if you’re an employee who doesn’t get feedback on your work, you may be confused about whether to continue doing what you’re doing or change something. Checking in with peers or supervisors might be a good call in such situations.
  • Participate. Participation in any environment will make you more engaged and active. Depending on how the people close to you respond, you can develop high self-efficacy by getting others to take part. For example, students who do more in a class environment tend to learn more, develop critical thinking skills, and gain confidence.   
  • Allow people to make their own choices. No matter the outcome, positive or negative, allow people to make their own decisions. Being more accountable will help you build high self-efficacy.

Self-efficacy has a significant influence in fields such as education, research, and medical practice.

The benefits of self-efficacy include:

  • Resilience to stress. Having a high level of self-efficacy can help you change your perspective on stressful issues. Instead of allowing self-doubt to bother you at stressful times, you may be inspired to develop solutions that work for you. 
  • Healthy lifestyle habits. High self-efficacy can help you lead a healthy lifestyle. For instance, If your exercise routine is hard, you may find the internal encouragement to finish your routine. 
  • Improved employee performance. An employee with high self-efficacy will be determined to learn and perform a variety of tasks well.
  • Educational achievement. Students with high self-efficacy believe that if they put in the effort, they can overcome any difficulty. A learner with high self-efficacy will create objectives for themselves and use tactics to help them reach those goals. 
  • Treating phobias. You might be able to overcome a phobia by doing activities that involve your phobia. For example, if you're afraid of snakes, you may find it easier to deal with them if you interact with snakes directly. (Just be sure to avoid any venomous species!) Self-efficacy is developed through personal experience.

Self-efficacy, a theory developed in the 1960s,  is the belief that you can succeed at a particular task. If you have high self-efficacy, you're more likely to set high goals for yourself and stick to them. You believe you can find solutions when problems come up. If you have low self-efficacy, you may shy away from things that you think are too difficult, and you may give up easily when you run into problems. 

What are the four factors of self-efficacy?

Self-efficacy stems from different influences. They are: 

  • Mastery: You take on a new task and succeed, which helps you develop a stronger belief in yourself. 
  • Role models: When you see other people succeed, that can strengthen your belief that you also can succeed. 
  • Visualization: If you picture yourself succeeding, you train your mind to believe that success is the only outcome. 
  • Managing feelings: If you learn to regulate your anxiety and mood, especially while facing challenges, you may feel more likely to succeed. 

Is self-efficacy positive or negative? 

You're able to handle life's challenges better when you have high self-efficacy. It gives you a sense of control over your world and helps you build strong relationships, deal with stress, and achieve your goals.