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Breaking out of the Box (BREAKOUT)
What is Self-Efficacy?
What is “Self-Efficacy”?
Until recently I believed “self-efficacy” to be one of those woolly concepts that forms part of “psychobabble”. Not so! According to Wikipedia it is “an impression that one is capable of performing in a certain manner or attaining certain goals. It is a belief that one has the capabilities to execute the courses of actions required to manage prospective situations” (1). People may be most familiar with self-efficacy in the context of health promotion – for example handling weight loss or being able to give up an addiction.
According to Bandura, who identified the concept of self-efficacy as part of his Social Cognitive Theory, a strong sense of personal efficacy is related to better health, higher achievement and creativity, and better social integration (2). "Bandura hypothesizes that expectations of self-efficacy determine whether instrumental action will be initiated, how much efforts will be expended, and how long it will be sustained in the face of obstacles and failures" (3). In other words your own ability to break out of the box is not determined by your skills and technical abilities alone but by your perception of whether or not you can achieve your goal.
While we would not want to overplay the importance of what is popularly known as a “positive mental attitude” we suggest that your own experience will tell you that you are more likely to “hang on in there” if you have a reasonable confidence that you will succeed in your endeavours. Of course skills and technical abilities will also play a part – a failure that you experience through lack of skills might cause you to seriously revise your expectations of success. However if you have personal coping strategies in place to minimise the impact of failure these may prove more helpful than taking apparent refuge in increased (but insufficient) skills or competencies.
Why is self-efficacy important?
According to Bandura, self-efficacy makes a difference in how people think, feel, and act (2). Low self-efficacy is associated with depression, anxiety, and helplessness. Persons with low self-efficacy also have low self-esteem, and they "harbour pessimistic thoughts about their accomplishments and personal development" (3). People with high self-efficacy choose to perform more challenging tasks and are creative (2). High self-efficacy also allows people to select challenging settings, explore their environment or create new ones (3) – in short you will need high self-efficacy if you are going to succeed in breaking out of the box!
"Without self-efficacy, individuals give up trying to accomplish their goals, making self-limiting decisions that foreclose opportunities even though individuals have the necessary skills to follow a path of action.” (4).
Thus, on mature reflection, self-efficacy is an important concept for us as information professionals. Typically we react to a “knowledge gap” or “knowledge deficit” by trying to satisfy our deficiency. We keep on trying to take in more and more knowledge until we reach a comfort level. In some cases, of course, we might never reach that comfort zone. If instead we cultivate self-efficacy we could become comfortable with what we don’t know.
To illustrate, many librarians when faced with the technical and methodological demands of critical appraisal express a need for further and further training opportunities (5). If instead such librarians became comfortable with the level of knowledge that they have got (rather than focusing on their deficiencies) they could concentrate on strategies for making the most of what they have got.
Of course technical skills such as critical appraisal represent only one domain of what we might require to “break out of the box”. We might be required to take on a wider organisational role (perhaps in chairing meetings) or to move into an unfamiliar environment (such as into a ward setting). In these cases we again need to achieve self-efficacy.
For example we might counter anxieties in chairing meetings by paying close attention to the meeting agenda to ensure that members are prepared to discuss specific issues and by taking steps to secure the right representation to complement our own deficiencies. In moving into an unfamiliar ward environment we might find it more successful to create a reasonable expectation of what our role will be rather than trying (and failing) to be a “pseudo-whitecoat”.
How can I cultivate self-efficacy?
As we have already implied the quest to address our own deficiencies through increased knowledge or technical ability has only limited potential. When facing a new challenge or role we need to be able to ask ourselves not “how much do I need to know?” but “how little do I need to know”? We also need to allow time to consider and reflect on what our coping strategies will be when we are required to move outside our own comfort zone. Viewed in this context we will consider it more important to have key coping skills in our “toolbox” than to have the technical ability to conduct an “IKEA-flatpack-like construction” task – the former will enable us to face new and unfamiliar situations, the latter provides only limited application in a specific pre-defined context. According to Bandura, four specific information sources affect our self-efficacy - ‘performance accomplishments’ (trial successes), vicarious experience (modeling of activities), verbal persuasion (suggestions, self-instruction) and emotional arousal (relaxation, biofeedback) (6).
Assertiveness skills may well form part of this toolbox but it is probably more helpful to think – what are the coping behaviours that I will need in order to equip me for new and unfamiliar roles? As a starting point we might suggest the following (7):
- How do you rate your ability to resolve conflicts?
- How confident are you in your ability to maintain your self-esteem?
- Are you able to handle criticism?
- Are you able to offer constructive criticism to others?
- How do you rate your general social skills?
- Do you always feel able to share your own opinions with others?
- Are you able to say no (or to set limits) to activities when asked to perform them?
- Are you confident that you are able to make requests of others effectively?
- Can you control your anger when challenging situations arise?
- Are you able to control your fear and/or anxiety when faced with new and challenging situations?
If you have identified limitations in your own “toolbox” in response to the above ten questions then you should use these to identify your personal development needs. Unless you are able to devise strategies for coping with all these challenges it is unlikely that you will be able to break out of your box!
What other resources are available?
Bandura, A. (1986) Self-Efficacy Beliefs In Human Functioning from Social Foundations of Thought and Action: [Accessed March 2008]
Bandura at: [Accessed March 2008]
References
- Wikipedia (2008) Self-efficacy: [Accessed March 2008]
- Bandura, A. (1997) Self-efficacy: the exercise of control. New York: Freeman.
- Schwarzer, R. & Schmitz, G.S. (2005) Perceived self-efficacy and teacher burnout: a longitudinal study in ten schools. Research paper. Freie Universitat Berlin, Germany. [Accessed March 2008]
- Tella, A. and Ayenyi, C.O (2006) The Impact of Self-Efficacy and Prior Computer Experience on the Creativity of New Librarians in Selected Universities Libraries in Southwest Nigeria.Library Philosophy and Practice; 8 (2). [Accessed March 2008]
- Urquhart, C., Spink, S. & Thomas, R. (2005) Assessing training and professional development needs of library staff. Undertaken for National Library for Health By Department of Information Studies, University of Wales Aberystwyth. [Accessed March 2008]
6. Lucas, & Cooper (2005). Measuring Entrepreneurial Self-efficacy. A
paper prepared for the EDGE conference 11-13th July, Singapore.
7. Caputo, J.S. (1985) Assessment of MLA assertiveness training for librarians: students' behavior changes after taking C.E. 669, Assertiveness and Human Relations Skills. Bulletin of the Medical Library Association; 73 (4): 373–382. [Accessed March 2008]