Self Efficacy Paper

Many theorists and researchers (e.g., Bandura, 1977, 1986; Betz, 2004; Betz & Hackett, 1981; Lent & Brown, 2006; Wood & Bandura, 1989) have posited that self-efficacy is an important source enabling individuals to successfully perform any task. According to Bandura’s (1986) social cognitive theory, self-efficacy refers to “individuals’ judgments of their capacities to organize and execute courses of actions required to attaining designated types of performance” (p. 391). Bandura (1986, 1997) proposes that when individuals believe in their abilities to carry out actions to reach a specific goal and determine whether an action will be pursued, they will be more likely to exert an effort to carry out that action, persist in the face of obstacles, and perform a specific task at an optimum level. Self-efficacy (Bandura, 1977, 1986, 1989) has been widely recognized as an emerging construct and given rise to considerable movement in theories and research in the career development literature over the past three decades (e.g., Hackett & Lent, 1992; Lent, 2005; Lent & Brown, 2006; Lent & Hackett, 1987).

Consistent with Bandura (1997), SCCT hypothesizes self-efficacy that “when individuals confront a difficult situation, they will be more likely to persevere toward reaching their goals if they have a strong belief in their abilities to successfully cope with this environmental obstacle” (Lapan, 2004, p. 39). Lent, Brown, and Hackett (1994) propose that the core constructs of SCCT consist of self-efficacy, outcome expectations and goals, all of which operate as interlocking mechanisms bidirectionally affecting one