Maya had to write her exam tomorrow and she was very restless. She was unable to recall all that she had been learning for quite some time. When she held the question paper in her hand she went blank. The “ I can’t….. I can’t was ringing in her ears. Does this sound similar? Has that happened to you too?

Shipra on the other hand, was beaming with confidence and was sure she would do well. The “I can…. I will” was her motivating mantra.

Maya had a low sense of efficacy whereas Shipra had a high sense of efficacy.

Self-efficacy is the extent or strength of one’s belief in one’s own ability to complete tasks and reach goals. Self-efficacy is one of the most important variables that influence the academic performance and achievement. People may perform poorly on tasks not necessarily because they lack the ability to succeed, but because they lack belief in their capabilities.  

People with low self – efficacy generally shy away from attempting difficult tasks, have self- doubts, low ambitions, weaker commitments to the goals they choose to pursue. They tend to spend time brooding over their limitations and past failures and develop a self- belief that they are incapable of doing the task. On the contrary, people with high efficacy beliefs may approach difficult tasks as challenges to be mastered rather than see all the limitations. They assign higher goals to themselves and exercise more effort and willingness to have them accomplished.

Self- efficacy can be enhanced. Observing people who are similar to yourself, handle a situation can help you to perform the same task and enhance your belief that you can master a similar activity too. Meeting people who encourage and motivate you to perform a task may help to overcome self-doubt. Last but not the least, by keeping one-self mentally, physically and psychologically healthy, one can certainly work toward having an accurate self- efficacy belief.