1.2: SELF-EFFICACY

Most clients who see me privately have achieved sufficient financial success to pay for my services. These are impressive individuals who generally accomplish what they set out to accomplish; they typically develop the necessary skills and work industriously until they achieve their goal. But when it comes to controlling their use of the incentive they perform less well – astoundingly less well.

Perseverance and Self-Efficacy

Technical terms can provide a more specific definition of a concept than ordinary language in which a word may have different meanings to different individuals. Self-Efficacy refers to the expectation that one can master the challenge. “I can fix any computer problem” is an example of the confident expectation of a person with high self-efficacy in that domain. That same person may have low self-efficacy in another domain, “I am a nerd and will probably make a fool of myself at the party.”

As you would expect, self efficacy has an influence on performance: People with high self-efficacy can tolerate physical discomfort and surprising amounts of frustration, and yet persevere, creatively solve problems, and stay the course until one way or another they accomplish what they set out to accomplish. In contrast, people with low self-efficacy abandon the effort after minor discomforts or frustrations. “I’m not going to succeed anyway, so why suffer more than necessary?” is an example of the demoralized attitude of a person with low self-efficacy in a particular domain.

Achieving a worthwhile outcome often requires that you tolerate some discomfort or frustration. A mountain climber would never achieve his goal if he abandoned the task at the first sign of discomfort or frustration. It is persevering in the face of challenge that is part of the adventure of mountain climbing. But discomfort and frustration do not evoke a heroic reaction from people with low self-efficacy. Instead of triggering resolve and creative problem solving, setbacks and discomfort evoke negative emotional reactions such as hopelessness, guilt, or self-loathing, which may motivate one to abandon the effort. Indeed, most dependent individuals repeatedly relapse because they misperceive the nature of their challenge, and underestimate what is required to achieve good outcome.

A Peak Experience

Mountain climbing is a metaphor for a difficult but surmountable challenge. It would be foolhardy to attempt a serious climb without proper preparation, or without the understanding that you will probably encounter physical discomfort and difficult challenges along the way. Most climbers have fond memories of their adventurous challenges and remember them as peak experiences. People voluntarily take on difficult challenges, because it’s fun to experience the mastery and enhanced self-efficacy that result from achieving an impressive goal. Mountain climbing is hard and often painful, but people take it on voluntarily - without financial compensation – because engaging and mastering a difficult challenge can be quite gratifying.

Despite the serious dangers and formidable obstacles, most people who set out to climb a mountain successfully achieve their goal. When competent individuals have realistic expectations about the nature of their challenge, they dedicate sufficient resources to planning, and are able to persevere until the goal is achieved, despite the physical and mental discomforts they encounter along the way. The difficulty of the challenge is in fact an essential part of the story, and the whole enterprise – including the discomfort – is often remembered as a positive experience.

In contrast, the vast majority of people who resolve to change their relationship with an addictive incentive fail to achieve their goal. They relapse, become demoralized, and lose faith in their ability to overcome their problem. The low self-efficacy, in turn, makes future failures more likely, which in turn lowers self-efficacy, and so it goes. If low self-efficacy is a problem for you, it will be helpful to distinguish between process and outcome. The mountain summit is the nominal or outcome goal of the mountain climber’s efforts. Performing well on the slopes is the process goal. For the climber, the real goal of going mountain climbing is the peak experience that results from engaging the challenge. The function of the summit is to provide a focus that gives structure to the activity, and later to the story the climber will tell friends, family, and self. If, for example, a storm developed during the climb and the team performed brilliantly getting everyone off the mountain with no injuries, the climber would feel successful despite failing to achieve the outcome goal

Ironically, low self-efficacy often causes people to focus more on outcomes than process. The insecure climber may be more focused on what the other climbers think of his skills than on the details of good performance. As everyone knows, good outcome is a byproduct of good performance.

Major life accomplishments emerge over time as you systematically solve the problems encountered along the way. In domains in which you are successful, it is likely that your real time performance is guided by focus on the task rather than on self-evaluation. Actual success is encouraged by an attitude that permits you to competently and consistently perform all the actions required to achieve your goal, the pleasant ones as well as the unpleasant ones.

Self-Efficacy Research Highlights

n Individuals who have high self-efficacy are willing to tolerate physical discomfort and psychological frustration without abandoning the path to their goal.

n Individuals with high self-efficacy tend to employ an action oriented thinking style - that is they focus on how to solve the problems.

n Conversely, research shows that action oriented thinking makes success more likely.

n Individuals with low self-efficacy tend to abandon the path in the face of even minor obstacles.

n Individuals with low self-efficacy tend to employ a state oriented thinking style – that is they focus on how they feel and why they feel that way. Research shows that state oriented thinking makes failure more likely.

So, if you have low self-efficacy in this domain, switch from state oriented to action oriented thinking; that is, focus on how to solve the problem I am facing here and now rather than on yourself and how you are feeling.

Thought Experiment #1: Efficacy Enhancing Imagery

Consider a domain of your life in which you are usually successful - athletic, artistic, occupational, social, etc. Imagine what it feels like to be you when you take on a challenge in this domain. Invest the time and energy elaborate this imagery until you experience the confident state associated with high self-efficacy. Now, imagine that you are presented an impressive challenge in this domain: What is your attitude toward it? How would you expect to react to the discomforts and frustrations you encounter?