SELF-EFFICACY, MOTIVATION, AND PERFORMANCE

This article discusses the relation of self-efficacy to motivation and performance in cognitive and sport domains. Self-efficacy refers to one's beliefs about accomplishing a task and can influence choice of activities, effort, persistence, and achievement. People enter activities with varying levels of self-efficacy derived from prior experience, personal qualities, and social support. As they work on tasks they acquire information about how well they are doing. This information influences their self-efficacy for continued learning and performance. Research is described in which interventions involving models, goal setting, and feedback, were employed to affect self-efficacy. Regardless of domain, research shows that self-efficacy helps to predict motivation and performance, and studies testing causal models highlight the important role played by self-efficacy. Suggestions for future research are given, along with implications of theory and research for education and training.