A Perspective on Self-Efficacy Beliefs for Academic Achievement<\/p>\n
Introduction<\/p>\n
The day-to-day endeavors of living are mostly directed by underlying self-systems that<\/p>\n
strengthen and guide our aspirations and motivation for working towards accomplishing goals <\/p>\n
and seeking achievements. The self-systems guide our pursuits and determine our performance. <\/p>\n
In this regard, raising academic performance of students has been a vital challenge. All efforts <\/p>\n
need to be directed towards this challenge by helping students not only through skill acquisition <\/p>\n
but also by fostering the self-systems which help them to be more persuasive in their efforts for <\/p>\n
academic achievement. An understanding of self-systems with particular reference to self-<\/p>\n
efficacy proves to be a potent factor because "these self-systems house one’s cognitive and <\/p>\n
affective structures and include the abilities to symbolize, learn from others, plan alternative <\/p>\n
strategies, regulate one’s own behavior, and engage in self-reflection" (Bandura,1977). Self-<\/p>\n
efficacy has a relatively brief history that began with Bandura’s (1977) publication of "Self-<\/p>\n
Efficacy: Toward a Unifying Theory of Behavioral Change". Self-efficacy refers "to subjective <\/p>\n
judgments of one’s capabilities to organize and execute courses of action to attain designated <\/p>\n
goals" (Bandura, 1977 and 1997). Self-efficacy beliefs can therefore be extensively applied and <\/p>\n
potentially used in the field of educational research, particularly in the area of academic <\/p>\n
motivation and achievement (Pintrich and Schunk, 1995).<\/p>\n
The Role of Self-efficacy Beliefs<\/p>\n
Self-efficacy beliefs center around what a person can do rather than personal judgments about <\/p>\n
one’s physical or personality attributes. The level of self-efficacy refers to its dependence on<\/p>\n
difficulty level of a particular task; generality of self-efficacy beliefs refers to the transferability <\/p>\n
of one’s efficacy judgments across different tasks or activities such as different academic <\/p>\n
subjects; and strength of efficacy judgments pertains to the certainty with which one can perform <\/p>\n
a specific task (Zimmerman, 1995). When students begin to doubt their capabilities, it becomes <\/p>\n
detrimental as they slacken their efforts and give up quickly in the face of difficulties, have low <\/p>\n
aspirations and are most likely to encounter stress. They view insufficient performance as <\/p>\n
personal deficiencies and do not concentrate on how to perform successfully.<\/p>\n
Self-efficacy beliefs influence not only motivation levels but also offer resilience to adversity <\/p>\n
and avert vulnerability to stress and depression. The stress and anxiety levels required to <\/p>\n
accomplish a task are also influenced by efficacy beliefs. Research findings over the past 20 <\/p>\n
years have generally supported the argument that "efficacy beliefs mediate the effect of skills or <\/p>\n
other self-beliefs on subsequent performance attainments" (Schunk, 1991; and Bandura, 1997). <\/p>\n
The findings of Bouffard-Bouchard et al. (1991) show that students with high self-efficacy are <\/p>\n
engaged more in effective self-regulatory strategies at each level and this ability enables them to <\/p>\n
cope with anxiety and stress, which can facilitate enhancing memory performance.<\/p>\n
This indicates that these beliefs influence motivational and self-regulatory processes in several <\/p>\n
ways. For accomplishing a particular task, they influence the choices people make and the <\/p>\n
courses of action they pursue. This typically manifests in student behavior where they engage in <\/p>\n
tasks in which they feel competent and confident and avoid those in which they do not. <\/p>\n
Therefore, self-beliefs facilitate control over the events. According to Pajares Frank (1996), <\/p>\n
beliefs of personal competence "determine how much effort people will expend on an activity, <\/p>\n
how long they will persevere when confronting obstacles and how resilient they will prove in the<\/p>\n
face of adverse situations". This indicates that higher the sense of efficacy, the greater is the <\/p>\n
effort for persistence, persuasion and resilience. These findings are further substantiated by <\/p>\n
researchers who have also demonstrated "that self-efficacy beliefs influence effort, persistence, <\/p>\n
and perseverance" (Bandura and Schunk, 1981).<\/p>\n
List of References<\/p>\n
Bandura A (1977), \u2018Self-efficacy: Toward a Unifying Theory of Behavioral Change\u2019, <\/p>\n
Psychological Review<\/p>\n
. 84, 191-215<\/p>\n
——–, (1986), <\/p>\n
Social Foundations of Thought and Action: A Social Cognitive Theory<\/p>\n
, <\/p>\n
Englewood Cliffs, Prentice Hall, NJ<\/p>\n
———, (1997), <\/p>\n
Self-efficacy: The Exercise of Control, Freeman<\/p>\n
, New York<\/p>\n
Bandura A and Schunk D H (1981), \u2018Cultivating Competence, Self-efficacy, and Intrinsic <\/p>\n
Interest Through Proximal Self-motivation\u2019, <\/p>\n
Journal of Personality and Social <\/p>\n
Psychology<\/p>\n
, 41, 586-598<\/p>\n
Bouffard-Bouchard T, Parent S and Parivee S (1991), \u2018Influence of Self-efficacy on Self-<\/p>\n
regualtion and Performance Among Junior and Senior High-School Age Students\u2019, <\/p>\n
International Journal of Behavioral Development<\/p>\n
, 14, 153-164<\/p>\n
Pajares F and Johnson M J (1996), \u2018Self-efficacy Beliefs in the Writing of High School Students: <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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