Biblical Self-Efficacy 1

Running head: BIBLICAL SELF-EFFICACY

Biblical Self-Efficacy
Alexander Wang
Trinity International University

Biblical Self-Efficacy 2
i.

ii.

Introductions
a. Everyone feels the need of a positive view of himself, to perceive
himself as right, or to convince himself that he is right. (Branden,
1971)
i. He might evade, repress or distort his judgment
ii. He might try to assure himself of a self-esteem that he does not
have
iii. Fake it
iv. Create the illusion
How Confidence is formed
a. Self Perception
i. Self-concept (who am I?) description we attach to ourselves. It
is our perception of our personal characteristics, ultimately who
we are.
1. It represents the belies, ideas, and attitudes we have
about ourselves based on 1) roles and 2) attributes (King,
Brown & Smith, 2003)
2. In other words, it is a self-understanding
3. Constantly shifting (Aldridge, 1993) at early age, it
depends on our caretakers, at school, it depends on our
teachers, at later age it depends on our peers, during our
career life, it depends on our profession.
ii. Self-esteem (am I worthy?) self-respect, it is the value that we
place on ourselves as individuals and our general sense of
worthiness.
1. If self-concept is how we describe ourselves, self-esteem
is how we evaluated ourselves compared to others. (King,
Brown & Smith, 2003).
2. Very much determined by others view of us. It is because
we care about the message that others are conveying.
(King, Brown & Smith, 2003).
3. No value judgment more important to man-no factor
more decisive in his psychology development and
motivation- than the estimate he passes on himself
(Branden, 1971, p.109)
i. Need to feel that he is right and that he is good
ii. To be right is to be fit for happiness
iii. No other living species asks himself, what kind of
entity should I seek to become? By what moral
principles should I guide my life
4. If you do not have self-respect, you cannot value who you
are and what you do, hence, any opinion you make has
absolutely no value or validity
5. There is some sort of standard required to make value
judgements

Biblical Self-Efficacy 3
i.

Self-respect suffers when one fails to meet that

standard
a. One must value himself enough to live worthy of
living
b. In order to seek values, man must consider himself
worthy of enjoying them
ii. To fight for his happiness, he must consider himself
worthy of happiness (Branden, 1971, p.114)
iii. Self-efficacy (am I competent?) estimation of how well we can
deal with life events
1. Psycho-Epistemological efficacy (Branden, 1971)
Consciousness
i. Convictions that one is competent to deal with
reality: one feels he can accurately interpret reality
and respond to it.
i. Hence reality is not his enemy
ii. Reason being the main faculty to which
apprehend reality.
ii. Perception of your ability to control aspects of your
environment and achieve your goals. (King, Brown
& Smith, 2003).
iii. He needs to know that his method of choosing and
making decision is right in principle appropriate to
reality. (Branden, 1971)
iv. Volitional
i. For animals, where consciousness function
automatically, they do not question the
validity of its mental operations
ii. There is a sense of responsibility coming
from a sense of control
iii. man is the only living species able to reject,
sabotage, and betray his own means of
survival, his mind (Branden, 1971)
iv. Differentiate between knowledge and feeling
b. Appraisal (Interpreting emotions)
i. An emotion is the product of an evaluation (Branden, 1971)
ii. Schachters theory people form attitudes by interpreting their
arousal (Kleinke, 1978)
1. Interpret their arousal according to both past experiences
and whatever positive or negative labels are available in
the situation.
2. Basically emotional feelings and actions result from ones
interpretation of his own internal reactions
3. He argued that the feelings one will have depends on the
understanding of the reactions within him.
iii. Russian Film experiment a group of people were shown a film
of Russia containing many cues that would imply danger to the

Biblical Self-Efficacy 4
US: armies and weapons that were designed to threatened.
Another group were shown pictures that werent threatening.
They were given false feedback with an arousal meter to make
them think they highly aroused. They were asked to specify their
attitudes. Participants who viewed the non-threatening slides
had no way of explaining their arousal, so they interpreted it as
a negative reaction toward Russia. Those who saw the
threatening scenes could attribute the arousal to the scenes.
They did not have a negative attitude toward Russia. They were
interpreting their arousal from the film rather than form
experience (Bramal & Bell & Margulis, 1965)
c. Attribution (Interpreting circumstances) - understanding why events
occur
i. Weiners attribution Theory (Stipek, 1988)
1. Stability (Ames & Ames, 1984)
i. Stable unchangeable factors
i. Aptitude
ii. Physical appearance
iii. Ability and skill
iv. Personality
v. genetics
ii. Unstable factors subject to change
i. Luck
ii. Temporary illness
iii. Geography
iv. Economic situation
v. Ignorance
vi. Bad choices
2. Locus source (Ames & Ames, 1984)
i. Internal the results were because of my decisions
ii. External the results were because of the decisions
of others
3. Perception of Control (Ames & Ames, 1984)
i. Controllable I am in control, its manageable
ii. Uncontrollable other people are in control, its out
of my influence
d. Expectations Anticipation of certain results (Gnagey, 1981)
i. Atkinsons Expectancy X Value Theory (Stipek, 1988)
1. Motivation is defined by perception or understanding of
the possibility of success
2. The higher the expectancy y of success, the more
probable the action
ii. Energy is channeled into responses that promise need fulfillment
and pleasure
iii. Data used to make such predictions i.e. sources of confidence
1. Past experiences
i. Those who have succeeded in the past will have
confidence

Biblical Self-Efficacy 5

iii.

ii. Learned helplessness inability to cope with reality.

iii. Success attribution internal, stable, controllable
2. Vicarious experience
i. Learning by observation modeling
ii. Measuring self-esteem by comparison
3. Social Persuasion
i. Accept opinions of people one admires or respects
4. Physiological Factors
i. Stress
ii. Personality
iii. Appraisal
i. Relating such physiological signs to actual
ability
How Confidence works
a. Based on the four factors which you base your confidence: past
experiences, vicarious experiences, social persuasion and physiological
factors, you make attributions and appraisals of the situation and the
current emotions. How you make those attributions and appraisals will
determine whether you will be more confident or become more afraid.
i. Attribution that results in positive self-esteem
1. External stable controllable positive events an
understanding that the world works in a certain way and
that a higher power works with us to provides the ability
to succeed.
2. Internal Stable Controllable negative events attribute
failures as a lack of ability, not ones identity.
ii. Attribution that results in negative self-esteem
1. Internal Stable Uncontrollable negative events attribute
failure as a reflection of ones identity and capacity.
2. External unstable uncontrollable positive events if
anything good happens, its only because of luck
iii. False self esteem
1. Internal Stable Controllable positive events attribute all
success to their own ability (arrogance and pride)
2. External unstable uncontrollable negative events
attribute all failures to bad luck
b. Results of High Self-Esteem security (Branden 1971)
i. Reality is not ones enemy
ii. There is a sense of stability
iii. The nature of a mans self-esteem and self-image does not
determine his thinking, but it affects his emotional incentives, so
that his feelings tend to encourage or discourage thinking, to
draw him toward reality or away from it, toward efficacy or wary
from it (Branden, 1971)
c. Results of Low Self-Esteem end up in fear (Branden, 1971)

Biblical Self-Efficacy 6

iv.

i. Repress/evade/ignore the realization of ones lack of self-esteem.

To do so, one sets up irrational defenses to protect oneself from
the knowledge of his deficiency. (Branden, 1971)
1. Reality is ones enemy ignores the evidence
2. Learned Helplessness and hopelessness - depression
ii. Fake/Distorted thinking - trying to counterfeit the self-esteem
that he does not possess.
1. Until a man knows hes a man he will forever be trying to
prove he is one, while at the same time shrink form
anything that might reveal he is not. (Eldredge, 2001,
p.62)
2. False sense of arrogance and confidence
The Struggle
a. Interaction between self-concept, self-esteem, and self-efficacy
i. Does self-efficacy determine self-concept and self-esteem: what
you are capable of doing determine who you are and your value?
ii. Does self-concept determine your self-esteem and self-efficacy:
who you are determine your worth and your capacity?
b. Human limitation
i. Issue of opportunity and availability Action Possibilities (Ames
& Ames, 1984)
1. Poverty
i. In more developed countries, the opportunity to
excel is more readily available and evident.
2. Cultural Context
i. In certain cultures success is viewed differently and
interpreted differently as to how it affects our
identity.
ii. Not always performance-based
c. Definition of Success and Failure - What is the Standard?
i. Cultural groups define what success and failure look like and
what they mean and how they should be pursued.
ii. In Psychological therapy what is the aim?
1. Humanistic approach help patient reach fullest potential.
What is full potential? There is the assumption that the
client has all that it takes
2. Behaviorist approach help patient become a socially
functioning person. The problem is that he does not have
the adequate skills.
3. Cognitive-behaviorist same as behaviorist. The problem
is erroneous thinking.
d. Cognitive Dissonance - how I understand reality to be is not matching
up with reality
i. Success in the past does not guarantee success in the future
ii. Success is not defined by whether you better than others,
because there will certainly be someone better than you

Biblical Self-Efficacy 7

v.

vi.

iii. Peoples opinion of you do not dictate who you are or what you
are capable of doing. They are at most a very reliable indication.
iv. Emotions and physiological responses are not always harmful or
negative. Stress and tension at low levels are helpful.
Alternative approach Christian Approach
a. Common misconceptions (Carlson, 1988)
i. Humility does not equal humiliation its an acknowledgement
of our weaknesses, but not a sense of worthlessness and shame
ii. Putting of f the sinful nature is not the same as putting odnew
self.
1. Col 2:18, 23 their false humility and their harsh treatment of the
body (self-abasement does not lead to humility)
iii. Self-denial does not equal self-degradation
1. Gal 2:20 it is no longer I who lives, but Chirst who lives in me
iv. Unworthiness does not equal worthless
1. 1 Cor 6:20 bought with a price (we are clearly worth something)
v. Self-love is not the same as selfishness
1. Eph 5:28 husabands ought also to love htier own wives as their own
bodies
vi. Self-affirmation is not the same as self-conceit
1. I can versus I am great.
vii. Self-wroth is not the same as self-worship
1. We are made in the image of God
viii. Self-aware is not the same as self-absorbed
1. Aware of who I am, what I feel, believe and value and own up to it.
b. Biblical Self-Esteem (Kuhatschek, 1900)
i. We are wonderfully made Psalm 139
ii. Deeply Fallen Rom 3:9-20
iii. Fully Forgiven Hebrews 10:10-18
iv. Eternally Loved Rom 8:28-39
v. Greatly Blessed Eph 1:3-14
vi. Old Yet New Eph 4:17-32
vii. Weak Yet Strong 2 Corinthians 12:1-10
viii. Poor Yet Rich 1 Cor 4:8-13; 2 Cor 6:3-10
ix. Dying Yet Alive 1 Cor 15:35-58
c. Ultimately Confidence rests in truth who is the source of truth?
Conclusion
a. Confidence is not the result of self-appraisal, because accurate selfappraisal leads to humility and perhaps even helplessness when one
realizes how desperately one is in need of salvation and deliverance.
Our human state is not one to be boasted upon. Depravity is evident
throughout the world, even if most people dont want to recognize it.
Confidence cannot come from a mans whose nature is corrupt and
naturally self-centered. Confidence can only come from Gods work in
us. It is not self-appraisal, but God-appraisal. Not what we can do, but
what God can do and what He do through us.
b. Confidence is an issue of trust either in your abilities (your power) or
the power that resides within you through God.

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i. If God has called you to something, you will succeed in it.
ii. Assurance that God is in control
c. It begins with the mind and strengthens with practice
d. For it is only by accepting myself for what I am that I may discover
what I may become. (Cordes, 1988, p.10)