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Self-Efficacy
Featured Article:

Without confidence in one’s ability, an individual cannot perform to his or her
potential. It is even possible that someone with lesser
ability, but with confidence, can outperform this person because belief in
oneself can be a powerful influence. What is this sense of
confidence? Albert Bandura refers to situation-specific
self-confidence as “self-efficacy” which is the strength of an individual’s
belief that he or she can successfully perform a given activity.
The concept of self-efficacy has often been used interchangeably with the
concept of self-esteem which is the process of evaluating the self; however,
self-efficacy is more accurately described as a precursor to self-esteem and is
mediated by the individual’s self-attributions.
Generally, a model for understanding self-efficacy is to consider an athlete
faced with a specific situation. For instance, a baseball
player is in a clinch situation: it is the bottom of the ninth with two outs,
the bases are loaded, and a grand slam will win the game.
Under these conditions, the batter will have thoughts about his ability to hit a
home run. These thoughts, or attributions, are based on his
appraisal of causality in similar situations.
(Click to continue).
"...break down more
complex skills into smaller, more specific components that challenge the
athlete but are within his or her current ability level." |
Low self-esteem has been implicated in most psychological dysfunction; however,
low self-esteem is not necessarily the root cause of this dysfunction.
It is believed (Aro, 1994) that individuals with high self-esteem who may
be predisposed to psychological disorders are better equipped to cope with those
disorders, and thus, reduce the negative consequences that may result.
Therefore, if self-esteem can be enhanced, the psychological consequences
of disorders can be reduced. This process can be illustrated
by describing a similar process that occurs with physical illness such as
diabetes. The individual may be genetically predisposed to
developing the illness, but if they engage in the proper healthy care-taking
activities, they may prevent the development of the illness or, at least, reduce
its consequences (Amir et. al., 1990. The enhancement of
self-esteem and self-efficacy can be an important contributing factor to both
the prevention of psychological and physical illness and the maintenance of
health.
Exercise is in the position of being able to contribute to the prevention of
illness or the reduction of its effects through the process of improving
self-esteem. Reviews of the literature (Gauvin & Spence,
1996) illustrate clearly that exercise contributes to improvements in
self-esteem.
(Click to Continue)
"Individuals high in self-efficacy, the belief that they can be
successful at an activity, and in self-esteem, a perception of positive
self-regard, are more likely to engage and adhere to an exercise
program..." |

Some people may be curious as to
why this website is dedicated to the "pursuit of excellence" when I am
constantly warning about the dangers of perfectionism. To address
this question we must differentiate between the pursuit of excellence
and the need to be perfect. These concepts are not only different
but can be considered antagonistic to one another. In fact these
concepts are so opposed to one another that excellence can best be
attained by giving up the demands of perfection.
(Click to
continue.)
"...Pursuing excellence
may require tremendous effort and focus as well as other resources. But it
does not demand a sacrifice of self-esteem as it tends to focus on the process
of achievement rather than the outcome."


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Embracing Your Potential
By Terry Orlick

Thinking Body, Dancing Mind: Taosports for Extraordinary Performance in Athletics, Business, and Life
By Chungliang Al Huang
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The manner
in which instructors provide feedback to athletes can have significant
impact upon an athlete's self-efficacy which in turn affects the ability
to learn a skill and the overall performance. Self-efficacy is the
athlete's personal belief that he or she has the capability to learn and
perform a specific skill or activity. The results of an interesting
study by Amparo Escarti and Jose Guzman in 1999 indicated that
performance feedback which focuses on providing feedback regarding
technique rather than evaluating outcome was related to increased
self-efficacy, a higher level of performance, and the tendency to choose
more difficult tasks. Other research has shown that a higher level of
self-efficacy improves performance. Thus, research shows us that how a
coach provides feedback to athletes is critical in the development of
the athlete.
To make this issue all the more complicated, there is research evidence
that women respond differently than men to feedback from coaches. This
is most likely a crucial point in the martial arts today because the
majority of instructors in the martial arts are men and there are more
and more women choosing to participate and compete in the martial arts.
Therefore, a martial arts instructor needs to be more attuned to the
methods of providing feedback to women in order to elicit their best
performance as well as to keep them interested in continuing their
training. (Click
to Continue).
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Although we may prefer to believe that learning a motor skill is purely learning
a set of physical techniques, we have to consider that most learning typically
takes place in the context of an interpersonal relationship with a teacher.
The critical question is how does this interaction affect the development
of motor skills. It appears that the mediating factor
between the presentation of the instructions by the teacher and the performance
of the skill by the student may be the cognitive process of self-efficacy (Escarti
&Guzman, 1999). Some may argue that the development
of effective skills may lead to the increased self-efficacy demonstrated by
students of high ability. Although this process occurs, it
is not sufficient for explaining the role of developing self-efficacy and its
impact on learning motor skills. To fully explain the role
of self-efficacy, we must evaluate the interpersonal context of how the teacher
or coach provides feedback to the athlete, how that feedback affects
self-efficacy, and how self-efficacy enhances performance.
Unfortunate-ly, studies directly examining this relationship are sparse, and
therefore, the inferences need to be made based on research examining the
relation of the different components of the equation such as the
feedback/self-efficacy relationship and the self-efficacy/motor skills
relationship. (Click to continue).
"The question is, what is the process between the type of feedback used and the
development of the skill? Does greater use of intrinsic
feedback create a higher level of self-efficacy which in turn enhances the
learning of motor skills?"
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The
vast majority of my clients with anxiety disorders are perfectionists.
Additionally, perfectionism is extremely pervasive in our culture
generally. However, the typical response when I inquire about perfectionism is,
“Oh, no, I’m not a perfectionist. I’m far from perfect.” Such a response
indicates a lack of understanding regarding the concept of perfectionism.
Perfectionism is the belief that one must attain perfection or one is a failure.
Perfectionism is an extreme distortion of the concept “Do your best” when an
individual believes that his or her “best” means, “perfect.” The individual
be-comes fearful of making mistakes and may experience stress, anxiety, and
depression as a result. (Click to continue).
"...you want to experience making mistakes as a positive influence
in your life. Making mistakes gives us the opportunity to learn and to
grow. As you overcome your fear of making mistakes, you will be able to
take risks. The ability to take risks is what allows a person to be
successful in a career, in sports, and in personal relationships." |
Self-Esteem: A Proven Program of Cognitive Techniques
for Assessing, Improving, and Maintaining Your
Self-Esteem
By Matthew McKay, Patrick Fanning

The
Self-esteem Companion: Simple Exercises to Help You Challenge
Your Inner Critic & Celebrate Your Personal Strengths
By Patrick Fanning, Carole
Honeychurch, Catharine Sutker
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