‍Self-Efficacy

What is self-efficacy and how can it help me with a chronic illness?

Where does the term self-effectiveness come from?

“Everyone is the blacksmith of their own fortune” - there is something to this saying! Because our personal conviction often plays a decisive role in situations in which we feel lucky or unlucky, experience success or failure. The question is: Do we feel at the mercy of the situation? Or are we convinced that we can influence this? This is where the psychological concept of self-effectiveness or expectation of self-effectiveness comes into play. The term “self-efficacy” comes from psychology and was coined in 1970 by psychologist Albert Bandura.

What exactly does self-effectiveness or expectation of self-effectiveness mean?

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What is self-efficacy anyway?

The term “self-effectiveness” coined by Albert Bandura means that you believe in your ability and control to do things successfully and overcome challenges. It describes confidence in your ability to complete tasks and achieve goals. A high self-efficacy expectation is therefore characterized by the fact that you are convinced that you can overcome difficulties and be successful. The thoughts of a very self-effective person could be, for example:

“Even though it is difficult, I am able to find solutions and face challenges successfully.”

“I believe that I am able to set goals and achieve them step by step.”

“Even if something doesn't work out the first time, I can learn and improve my skills to be successful.”

In summary, self-effectiveness means having the inner conviction that you can master difficult or challenging situations well — and that on your own.

To illustrate, we have a little metaphor for you:

Think of self-efficacy as a strong rudder in a boat that enables you to steer your own life in the desired direction. With this rudder, you can overcome life's currents and obstacles and set your own course instead of simply letting yourself drift.

You will be amazed at all the effects of self-effectiveness.

Why is self-efficacy important?

Self-effectiveness has an impact on your behavior, motivation and well-being and is one of the most important resilience factors. It is therefore useful to strengthen your self-effectiveness.

This means that a high expectation of self-efficacy makes you strong and resilient when you have to deal with difficult situations or challenges. The “self-effectiveness” factor therefore helps you recover faster and be able to deal better with stress or problems. Studies show that self-efficacy also has a supportive and stabilizing effect in chronic illnesses and critical life events. People with a high expectancy of self-efficacy actively seek solutions even in difficult times and in the event of failures. They can adjust their behavior more quickly, take good care of themselves, have good control over their feelings and are less likely to become depressed. People who are convinced of their self-effectiveness take responsibility for themselves and their actions. They distinguish where they can and cannot influence, and thus retain control.

The expression of your self-effectiveness therefore has a far-reaching effect on your behavior and (mental) health.

But how do you become more self-effective now?

How do I become more self-effective?

You won't be more self-effective from one day to the next. The good thing is that you can actually do a few things to strengthen your self-effectiveness. In addition, we would like to introduce you to Albert Bandura's “Four Sources of Self-Efficacy.” In the illustration, you can see that these four sources, according to Bandura, “Own Experiences,” “Observation of Others,” “Verbal Reinforcement from Others,” and “Interpretation of Physical and Emotional Sensations,” have an influence on your self-efficacy expectation.

If you take a closer look at the graph, you will notice that the arrows are of different sizes, as Bandura's theory attributes a different influence on your self-effectiveness to the four sources. This means that personal experiences that you have strengthen your self-effectiveness more than verbal reinforcement, for example. We would like to explain the four sources to you in more detail:

My own experience

Your own, successfully overcome challenges are the strongest means of building a belief in a high level of self-effectiveness. It is important here that success is linked to your efforts and abilities. That means a random lottery win won't increase your self-efficacy.

Does failure therefore weaken self-effectiveness? Yes

However, if you have built up a solid belief in your self-efficacy, individual failures can only do little harm to you. It is therefore worthwhile to work on your self-efficacy expectation. You will experience success by setting realistic and attractive goals. Feel free to take a look at the SMART method. It helps you set goals.

Example: Let's say you suffer from fatigue. You could increase your self-effectiveness by having positive experiences. For example, you set yourself small, realistic goals to better manage your energy. If you successfully achieve these goals, you'll be confirmed that you can control your exhaustion. This could be things like taking regular breaks during the day or taking a short walk without overworking yourself afterwards.

You can ask yourself the following questions if you are currently doubting your self-effectiveness:

• Which challenges have I already overcome?
• What am I proud of?

observation

This is where you strengthen your self-effectiveness by looking at the behavior of a successful person. So if you experience how this person masters a specific task with their abilities, you are more likely to do so. The following applies: The greater the resemblance to the person you are observing, the stronger the influence of the role model. Sympathy for this person also plays a role. Let's say you're female and 36 years old. You watch two interviews in which a person affected talks about how to successfully deal with fatigue. The likeable Tina, female, 37 years old will strengthen your self-efficacy more than the unfriendly Max, male, 52 years old. Not only people from your immediate personal environment serve as role models, but also public figures or even fictional characters.

Example: Let's stick with our example of fatigue. You could benefit from support groups or testimonials from other affected people. By listening or reading how other people deal successfully with fatigue, you can learn that you are not alone and that there are ways to deal with challenges.

• Do you perhaps have a positive and self-effective role model who also has to deal with fatigue?
• What does the person do that you don't dare?
• How does she deal with difficult situations?
• What does she believe in and what is she convinced of?

Verbal amplification

With verbal reinforcement, sentences such as “You can do that! “or “I believe in you!” That is what another person tells you. This can also help to increase your self-effectiveness. It has the greatest effect if you perceive the supporter as particularly trustworthy and have expert knowledge. Verbal reinforcement is particularly effective when combined with personal experiences of success.

Example: You could receive positive or encouraging feedback from a doctor, friend, or family member. Being told that you have the ability to successfully manage your fatigue will strengthen your self-effectiveness.

It is often the case that we have affectionate words left over for good friends, but are quite critical of ourselves. Imagine yourself as a best friend.

• What constructive words would you share with yourself?

Physical & emotional sensations

Being exposed to demands and having to cope with them is part of our everyday lives. Fatigue is accompanied by some unpleasant physical and emotional sensations. For example, persistent fatigue, sleep problems, cognitive impairment, but also depression and anxiety. These signs can easily be interpreted as weakness. Self-doubt occurs and has an impact on your self-effectiveness. For example, by feeling at the mercy of these demands and interpreting them as unmanageable. If you know how to interpret the physical reactions, you can learn a different interpretation of these physical perceptions through appropriate exercises.

Example: Here you could write down and track your energy and mood in a journal, such as the logbook of our Fimo app. As you better understand and recognize your symptoms and emotions, you can develop strategies to improve your physical and emotional health. It is also often destructive, recurring thoughts, such as “Today I'm not getting anything done again due to my tiredness,” that worsen your symptoms. This is where reinterpreting your thoughts can help. A benevolent thought is: “My fatigue protects my body from excessive physical or mental effort so that my body is not overstrained. My body does it to protect me.” It is not about talking about the symptoms nicely, but about finding a different way of dealing with them that does not contribute to worsening your symptoms, because body and soul influence each other.

• What destructive thoughts do you know about your illness?
• Do you have any idea how you could interpret them more benevolently?

Okay, so in summary, what can you take with you?

Strengthening your expectation of self-effectiveness therefore ensures that you increasingly develop an inner conviction that you can handle difficult or challenging situations on your own. Self-efficacy is so important because it plays a major role in many important areas of your life, including your health. The best way to increase your self-effectiveness is to leave your comfort zone from time to time and take on new realistic challenges. If someone else supports you with your project with motivational words, all the better. Perhaps we could also motivate you to search for like-minded people. Because sharing can also strengthen your self-effectiveness. Last but not least, it is useful to look at your physical and emotional feelings in order to understand yourself better.

Increasing your self-effectiveness is a process. Don't forget to have fun and celebrate even the smallest successes! No healing without feeling.

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sources

Bach, A. (2022). Self-effectiveness in teaching: Development and change as well as effects on health and teaching. (D. Rost, Ed.) (Vol. 101). Münster, New York: Waxmann Verlag.

Egger, J.W. (2015). self-efficacy. In Integrative Behavior Therapy and Psychotherapeutic Medicine: A Biopsychosocial Model (pp. 283—311). Wiesbaden: Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden.

Jerusalem, M. (2002). Self-effectiveness and motivational processes in educational institutions. (Matthias Jerusalem, ed.). Weinheim, Basel: Beltz.

Kriegler-Kastelic, G. (2018). Self-efficacy expectation. Retrieved October 4, 2023