DO NOT JUST DREAM IT, MAKE IT HAPPEN

(Setting Goals for Success)

ALBERT E. BANDURA'S SELF-EFFICACY

Biography

The concept of self-efficacy was introduced by Albert Bandura in an article entitled "Self-efficacy:
Toward a Unifying Theory of Behavioral Change" published in Psychological Review in 1977. The
article also became an instant classic in psychology (Kendra 2017).

Albert E. Bandura was born in Mundare, Alberta on December 4, 1925. He was the youngest of six
children. He grew up with parents who put great emphasis on the value of family, life,' and
education.

Bandura took a summer job in Alaska after high school graduation. He then took an introductory
psychology course at the University of British Columbia as a working student. In three years' time, he
graduated with The Bolocan Award in Psychology in 1949.

He earned his master's degree from the University of Iowa in 1951 and his PhD in Clinical Psychology
in 1952. He had a postdoctoral position at the Wichita Guidance Center before accepting a position
as a faculty member at Stanford University in 1953, where he still works at present.

THE BOBO DOLL EXPERIMENT

In the 1950s, Dr: Bandura had a study known as the Bobo Doll Experiment. In this experiment, the
sample children were presented with new social models of violent and nonviolent behavior toward
an inflatable redounding Bobo doll. The result were: the group of children who saw the violent
behavior model became violent to the doll, while the control group who was presented with the
nonviolent behavior model was rarely violent to the doll. This experiment has proven right the
hypothesis that social modeling is a very effective way of learning. Dr. Bandura introduced the social
learning theory that focuses on what people learn from observing and interacting with other people.
Bandura's social cognitive theory states that people are active participants in their environment and
are not simply shaped by that environment.

To date, as an active faculty member of Stanford University, Dr. Bandura continues to do researches
such as self-efficacy, stress reactions, and effects of modeling on human behavior, emotion, and
thought. He has received many awards and honorary degrees due to his works (The Great Canadian
Psychology Website 2008).

Dr. Bandura was named the most influential psychologist of all time. His theories gave major
contribution to the field of psychology, psychotherapy, and education. He was elected president of
the American Psychological Association (APA) in 1974. He was awarded by APA for his distinguished
scientific contributions in 1980 and again in 2004 for his outstanding lifetime contributions to
psychology. In 2015, Dn Bandura was awarded the National Medal of Science by President Barack
Obama (Kendra 2017).

SELF-EFFICACY THEORY
"Self-efficacy theory is based on the assumption that psychological procedures serve as a means of
creating and strengthening expectations of personal efficacy."

Self-efficacy theory distinguishes between expectations of efficacy and response-outcome

expectancies. According to Weibell (2011 ), outcome expectancy is “a person's estimate that a given
behavior will lead to certain outcomes." An efficacy expectation is "the conviction that one can
successfully execute the behavior required to produce the outcomes." Although a person may
expect a certain activity to lead to a particular outcome, they may lack the motivation to perform the
action, doubting their ability to do so. Outcome and efficacy expectations are differentiated because
individuals can believe that a particular course of action will produce certain outcomes. However, if
they entertain serious doubts about whether they can perform the necessary activities with such
information, it does not influence their behavior.

Self-efficacy typically comes into play when there is an actual or perceived threat to one's personal
safety, or one's ability to deal with potentially aversive events. Increasing a person's self-efficacy
increases their ability to deal with a potentially averse situation. For example, experimental studies
on the treatment of adults with ophidiophobia (fear of snakes) have demonstrated that raising levels
of self-efficacy is an effective technique to help them cope with threatening situations. Perceived
self-efficacy mediates anxiety arousal.

Weibell (2011) stated that Dr. Bandura defined self-efficacy as "people's beliefs about their
capabilities to produce designated levels of performance that exercise influence over events that
affect their lives." He identified acts of people with "high assurance in their capabilities," such as:

1. approach difficult tasks as challenges to be mastered;

2. set challenging goals and maintain strong commitment to them;
3. heighten or sustain efforts in the face of failures or setbacks;
4. attribute failure to insufficient effort or deficient knowledge and skills which are
acquirable; and
5. approach threatening situations with assurance that they can exercise control over
them.

In contrast, people "who doubt their capabilities":

1. shy away from tasks they view as personal threats;

2. have low aspirations and weak commitment to goals they choose to pursue;
3. dwell on personal deficiencies, obstacles they will encounter, and all kinds of adverse
outcomes, rather than concentrating on how to perform successfully;
4. slacken their efforts and give up quickly in the face of difficulties;
5. are slow to recover their sense of efficacy following failure or setbacks;
and
6. fall easy victim to stress and depression.

Dr. Bandura described four main sources of influence by which a person's self-efficacy is developed
and maintained. These are:

1. performance accomplishments or mastery experiences;

 2. vicarious experiences;

3. verbal or social persuasion; and

4. physiological (somatic and emotional) states.

Dr. Bandura identified that "mastery experiences" or "personal performance accomplishments" are
the most effective ways to create a strong sense of efficacy. "Successes build a robust belief in one's
personal efficacy. Failures undermined it, especially if failures occur before a sense of efficacy is
firmly established.' Vicarious experiences through observance of social models also influence one's
perception of self-efficacy. The most important factor that determines the strength of influence of
an observed success or failure on one's own self-efficacy is the degree of similarity between the
observer and the model.

Seeing people similar to oneself succeed by sustained effort raises observers' beliefs' that they, too,
possess the capabilities to succeed, given the comparable activities. By the same token, observing
others who fait despite high efforts lowers observers' judgments of their own efficacy and
undermines their efforts. The impact of modeling on perceived self-efficacy is strongly influenced by
perceived similarity to the models. The greater the assumed similarity, the more persuasive is the
models' successes and failures. If people see the models as very different from themselves, their
perceived self-efficacy is not much influenced by the models' behavior and the results it produces.

Verbal or social persuasion also affects one's perception of self-efficacy It is "a way of strengthening
people’s beliefs that they have what it takes to succeed." Verbal or social persuasion can provide a
temporary boost in perceived ability. When it is effective in mobilizing a person to action, and their
actions lead to success, the enhanced self-efficacy may become more permanent. "People who are
persuaded verbally, that they possess the capabilities to master given activities, are likely to mobilize
greater effort and sustain it than if they harbor self-doubts and dwell on personal deficiencies when
problems arise." This increases their chances of success. Unfortunately, "it is more difficult to instill
high beliefs of personal efficacy by social persuasion alone than to undermine it since unrealistic
boosts in efficacy are quickly disconfirmed by disappointing results of one's efforts" (Weibell 2011).

People also rely on their somatic or emotional states when judging their capabilities. Stress and
tension are interpreted as "signs of vulnerability to poor performance." Fatigue, aches and pains,
and mood also effect perception of ability. Dr. Bandura notes, however, that it is not the intensity of
the emotional or physical reaction that is important, but rather, how it is perceived and interpreted.
People with a high sense of self-efficacy may perceive affective arousal as "an energizing facilitator
of performance, whereas those who are beset by self-doubts regard their arousal as a debilitator"
(Weibell 2011).

Since "most human motivation is cognitively generated," self-belief of efficacy is an important factor
in human motivation. Beliefs of self-efficacy work in coordination with component skill and incentive
to act. Inasmuch as a person has both the component skills needed to succeed and the incentive to
engage, self-efficacy plays an important role in determining what activities a person will choose to
engage in, how much effort they will expend, and how long that effort will be sustained when things
get tough (Weibell 2011).

Expectation alone will not produce desired performance if the component capabilities are lacking.
Moreover, there are many things that people can do with certainty of success but they do not
perform because they have no incentives to do so (Weibell 2011).

Dr. Albert Bandura's quotes about self-efficacy (Kendra 2017) are as follows:
  "Self-efficacy is the belief in one's capabilities to organize and execute the sources of action
required to manage prospective situations." From Social Foundations of Thought and Action:
A Social Cognitive Theory, 1986.
 "If efficacy beliefs always reflected only what pooplo can do routinely they would rarely fail
but they would not sot aspirations beyond immediate reach nor mount the extra effort
needed to surpass their ordinary performances." From Encyclopodia of Human Behavior
1994.
 "Self-belief does not necessarily ensure success, but self-disbelief assuredly spawns failure."
From Self-efficacy: The Exercise of Control 1997.
 "By sticking it out through tough times, people emerge from adversity with a stronger sense
of efficacy." From Encyclopedia of Human Behavior, 1994.
 "People's beliefs about their abilities have a profound effect on those abilities. Ability is not a
fixed property; there is a huge variability in how you perform. People who have a sense of
self-efficacy bounce back from failure; they approach things in terms of how to handle them
rather than worrying about what can go wrong." From Self-Efficacy: The Exercise of Control,
1996.

CAROL S. DWECK'S FIXED AND GROWTH MINDSET THEORY BIOGRAPHY

Carol S. Dweck is the author of Mindset: The New Psychology of SUCcess. She was born on October
17, 1946. She graduated from Bernard College in 1967 and earned her PhD from Yale University in
1972. She taught at Columbia University, Harvard University, and University of Illinois before joining
Stanford University in 2004 (Upclosed 2017).

She is one of the leading researchers in the field of motivation and is a Lewis and Virginia Eaton
Professor of Psychology at Stanford University. Her research focused on why people succeed and
how to foster success. She has been elected as one of the outstanding scholars in Social Sciences at
the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Her works has been featured in different publications
like The New Yorker, Time, The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The Boston (Mindset
2006-2010).

Fixed and Growth Mindset

Dr. Dweck's contribution to social psychology relates to implicit theories of intelligence with her
book, Mindset: The New Psychology of Success published in 2006. Dr. Dweck described people with
two types of mindset. People who believe that success is based on their innate abilities have a
"fixed" theory of intelligence, and goes under fixed mindset. On the other hand, people who
believe that success is based on hardwork, learning, training, and perseverance have growth
theory of intelligence, which goes under growth mindset. According to Dr. Dweck, individuals may
not necessarily be aware of their own mindset, but their mindset can still be discerned based on
their behavior. It is especially evident in their reaction to failure. Fixed-mindset individuals dread
failure because it is a negative statement on their basic abilities, while growth-mindset individuals do
not mind or fear failure as much because they realize their performance can be improved and
learning comes from failure. These two mindsets play an important role in all aspects of a person's
life. Dr. Dweck argues that the growth mindset will allow a person to live a less stressful and more
successful life (Upclosed 2017).

In an interview with Dr. Dweck in 2012, she described the fixed and growth mindset as:
"In a fixed mindset, students believe….

 their basic abilities, their intelligence their talents are just fixed traits.
 They have a certain amount and that's that, and their goal becomes to look smart all the
time and never look dumb.
 people believe their qualities are fixed traits and therefore cannot change. These people
document their intelligence and talents rather than working to develop and improve them.
 They also believe that talent alone leads to success, and effort is not required.
 People with a fixed mindset is to always want to appear intelligent, because they believe
that they were born with a fixed level of intelligence that cannot be modified.
 These people have a fear of looking dumb to people because they do not believe that they
can redeem themselves once other people look at them as being unintelligent.

In the growth mindset, students understand that…

 their talents and abilities can be developed through effort, good teaching and persistence.
 They don't necessarily think everyone's the same or anyone can be Einstein, but they believe
everyone can get smarter if they work for it." (Upclosed 2017)
 people have an underlying belief that their learning and intelligence can grow with time and
experience.
 When people believe they can get smarter, they realize that their effort has an effect on
their success, so they put in extra time, leading to higher achievement.
 Individuals with growth mindset are more likely to continue working hard despite setbacks
while individuals with fixed mindset can be affected by subtle environmental cues. For
examples, children given praise such as "good job, you are smart" are more likely to develop
a fixed mindset, whereas, if given compliments like "good job, you worked very hard" are
likely to developed a growth mindset. In other words, it is possible to encourage students to
persist despite failure by encouraging them to think about learning in a certain way
(Upclosed 2017).
 In a growth mindset, however, students believe their abilities and intelligence can be
developed with effort, learning, and persistence. Their basic abilities are simply a starting
point for their potential. They don't believe everyone is the same, but they hold onto the
idea that everyone can become smarter if they try.

How to develop a growth mindset?

1. Acknowledge and embrace your weaknesses

Maybe you know that you are lazy and tend to put things off until the last minute. Try to
plan around that by making modest goals and giving yourself a reasonable amount of time
to accomplish them.
2. View challenges as opportunities

We are constantly faced with important decisions, such as whether to accept a new job, or
signing up to take a new class.

Taking on these challenges is a big part of developing as a person. The more we Challenge
ourselves, the more opportunities we have to learn about ourselves. New challenges equal
new opportunities. Embarking on a new challenge may be frightening due to the risk of
failure. This may result in avoiding various challenges and continuing down the usual path,
holding onto excuses that we tell ourselves so we can remain in our comfort zones. The
 truth is, staying in your comfort zone because you are scared to venture out can become
uncomfortable. If you avoid challenges, you will not be provided with opportunities to learn
and grow. Instead, you will be troubled by the sense that things are not just right.

3. Know your learning style and use the right learning strategies.
If you are able to identify the best ways that you learn, you can optimize your time while
researching or attending classes.
Different learning styles can work together for people who have a growth mindset, and
learning styles allow students to blend and combine their own bits of intelligence into many
different patterns.
Learning styles relate to different learning approaches that students find to be the most
effective for them, so once these are identified, people can feel that their knowledge is
expanding and they are getting better at what they are studying.
4. Remember that the brain has the ability to change throughout life
Your brain forms new connections throughout life that allow it to make adjustments when
you are faced with new situations or a new environment.
Neuro plasticity explains how your brain can be retrained and reorganized, showing that
there is always room to grow. If you are aware that your brain is constantly changing, then
you are more likely to adopt a growth mindset.
Remember that if the brain is not fixed, then the mind should not be fixed either.
5. Prioritize learning over seeking approval.
When you are more concerned about getting approval from other people than about
learning new things, you are giving up your own potential to grow.
Don't worry about what other people think about you, and instead focus on bettering
yourself for your own benefit.
6. Focus on the process instead of the end result
People who have a growth mindset are often very in tune with their intelligence and
willingness to learn.
They understand that any growth is going to be a process and make their own process goals
to help them reach the end of the process It is important to enjoy the learning process so
you are able to get the most out of it, and be open to the process continuing beyond the
expected time frame.
One of the most important things about the process of learning is the unexpected lessons
that you may pick up along the way.
7. Cultivate a sense of purpose.
Students with a growth mindset are able to look at long-term goals and have a larger sense
of purpose for their lives. Keep the end goal in mind and always look at the big picture.

Ask yourself on a regular basis what the purpose is of the work that you are doing. Are you
doing it because you enjoy it, or is it part of a bigger goal? Always work with a purpose so
you have the motivation to keep working.
8. Choose learning well over learning fast.
 This goes back to focusing on the process of learning instead of the end result.
Learning isn't something that you can rush. You have to go through some mistakes in order
to truly find success, and none of that will come easy or quickly.
9. Reward effort and actions, not traits.
Let other people know when they are doing something creative or especially smart rather
than just telling them that they are smart in general.
This helps people strive to continue to do smart things rather than make them feel like they
have already accomplished the end goal of being smart.
10. Learn to give and receive constructive criticism.
Think of criticism as a way to learn. If you have an area of weakness and someone is able to
point that out to you, think of it as a gift that makes you aware of your faults so you can
focus on them to improve.
It is important to not take constructive criticism personally. Often, people are trying to help,
and are therefore doing you a favor rather than trying to cut you down.
11. Need for improvement does not mean failure.
Just because you need to improve in one area does not mean you have failed. It means that
you are on the right track, you're just not quite there yet.
12. Reflect on your learning every day.
Make sure to absorb everything you learn throughout the day, whether this means writing
down the main points at the end of the day or doing a little bit more research on a topic that
held your interest the most that day.
Don't let your lessons from the day just float away. Write it down in a bullet journal or make
some other form of permanent record. At a minimum sit with the idea of what you learned
for a while and allow all the lessons to sink in.
13. Learn front the mistakes of others
You don't always want to compare yourself to other people but it is important to see that
other people have the same weaknesses as you.
When you see someone make a mistake and recognize how it should have been done
correctly, keep that in mind for future when you are in their situation.
You can even put yourself in their shoes for the moment and pretend that it was you making
the mistake, and try to learn

14. Think of learning as "brain training"

The more you learn, the more you are training your brain to act a certain way and make
various connections. You want to train your brain as best you can, which equates to
continuing to learn throughout life.
Your brain will have to be trained and retrained as the world evolves and things change, so it
is vital to be open to the idea of manipulating your brain to keep up with current trends.
15. Cultivate grit
 You want to have a passion for what you are doing so you can have the perseverance to see
it through.
Having a deep interest in your work is one of the most important things to keep you
motivated each day and to keep you wanting to be successful in your field. In order to
accomplish your long-term goals, you have to have the grit to keep you motivated and on
track.
16. Never stop learning. Set a new goal for every one you accomplished
You will never be completely finished learning. Just because You have finished one class or
one project does not mean that you should abandon the subject.
Growth-minded people are able to continue to create new goals so they stay motivated and
interested in the subjects that they choose to study. Learning is finished, as there is always
another goal to reach or more research to be done.
17. Remember that it takes time to learn
Nothing worth doing comes quickly and easily. You have to be realistic about the time it will
take for you to learn the information that you are interested in to the point of your
satisfaction. It may take several different methods of learning or several times of applying a
new technique until it really sticks and you are able to master it. Additionally, because things
are constantly changing, this means that the learning process may never truly be over.

Plan, set goals, and lay out strategies

This first step of the cycle may be overlooked by many students as they dive headlong into a task.
Encouraging students to establish a plan before they start working on a task will help them
strategize right from the start. Although students may see this as taking a step backward, it will
ultimately help them be more efficient with their time and effort.

Guide students though this process by helping them ask themselves the following questions:

 Analyze the learning task. Is this a task I've done before or something new? Does it build off
of -a task I've done before? How much time will it take? How much focus will I need?
 Set goals. How will I structure this task? What are the intermediate checkpoints and sub-
goals? Can I complete an outline with two weeks to go, and then a rough draft one week
prior to the due date? That would allow time to get extra help as needed.
 plan strategies. Will I need resources from the library, a color printer, help from my lab
partners, or an appointment for office hours? Given my needs, when shouldd get started on
this task?
 Set expectations for the outcome. Given how much time I have available, my strengths and
weaknesses, and my current standing in the course, what type of outcome would I like? Do I
need to "ace" this, or is it OK if I can just complete it successfully?

Key Terms:
Long-term vision - An aspirational description of what an organization would like to achieve or
accomplish in the midterm of long-term future. It is intended to serves as a clear guide for choosing
current and future courses of action.

Goal setting involves the development of an action plan designed to motivate and guide a person or
group toward a goal.

Short-term motivation - can be gained from another person who projects ideas, wisdom, and
agreeable content on behalf Of the listener. When a mutually advantageous conjunction Of distinct
elements, also known as synergy, is conveyed upon them, this can produce short-term motivation in
that person.

Nurturance - emotional and physical nourishment and care given to someone and the ability to
provide emotional and physical care.

Altruism - the belief in or practice of disinterested and selfless concern for the well-being of others.

Fixed mindset - people believe their qualities are fixed traits and therefore cannot change and also
believe that talent alone leads to success, and effort is not required.

Growth mindset - people have an underlying belief that their learning and intelligence can grow
with time and experience and students believe their abilities and intelligence can be developed
with effort, learning, and persistence.

EDWIN A. LOCKE'S GOAL SETTING THEORY

Biography

Edwin A. Locke is internationally known for his research on goal setting. He was born on January 5,
1938. He is Dean's Professor (Emeritus) of Leadership and Motivation at the Robert H. Smith School
of Business at the University of Maryland, College Park. He received his BA from Harvard in 1960 and
his PhD in Industrial Psychology from Cornell University in 1964 (Locke 2017).

He has published more than 300 chapters, notes, and articles in professional journals on such
subjects as work motivation, job satisfaction, incentives, and the philosophy of science. He is also the
author/editor of 12 books. A recent survey found that Locke's goal setting theory (developed with G.
Latham) was ranked number one in importance among 73 management theories. His work has been
supported by numerous research grants, and he has served as consultant to research firms and
private businesses (Locke 2017).

Dr. Locke has been elected a Fellow of the Association for Psychological science, the American
Psychological Society, the Academy of Management, and has been a consulting editor for leading
journals. He also won awards such as Outstanding Teacher-Scholar Award, Distinguished Scientific
contribution Award, Career Contribution Award, Lifetime Achievement Award and the James
McKeen Cattell Fellow Award. He is also a writer and lecturer for the Ayn Rand Institute and is
interested in the application of the philosophy of objectivism to behavioral sciences (Locke 2017).

Goal Setting Theory

The goal setting theory was first studied by Dr. Locke in the middle of 1960s. He continued to do
more studies in relation to his theory. In 1996, he published another article entitled “Motivation
Through Conscious Goal Setting." The article is about his 30 years of research findings on the
relationship between conscious performance goals and performance on work tasks. The basic
contents of goal setting theory are summarized in terms of 14 categories of findings discussed in the
article (Locke 1996).

Locke (1996) first described that the approach of goal setting theory is based on what Aristotle called
final causality; that is, action caused by a purpose. It accepts the axiomatic status of consciousness
and volition. It also assumes that introspective reports provide useful and valid data for formulating
psychological concepts and measuring psychological phenomena (e.g., purpose, goal commitment,
self-efficacy). He then discussed the attributes of goals and his 14 research findings.

Goal Attributes

Goals have both an internal and an external aspect. Internally' they are ideas (desired ends);
externally, they refer to the object or condition sought (e. a job, a sale, a certain performance level).
The idea guides action to attain the' object. Two broad attributes of goals are content (the actual
object sought) and intensity (the scope, focus, and complexity, among others of the choice process)
Qualitatively, the content of a goal is whatever the person is seeking. Quantitatively two attributes
of content, difficulty, and specificity, have been studied (Locke 2017)

14 Research Findings

A research was made by Locke (2017) under the article "Motivation Through Conscious Goal
Setting." The research has the following findings:

1. The more difficult the goal, the greater the achievement.

The linear function assumes, however, that the individual is committed to the goal and
possesses the requisite ability and knowledge to achieve it. Without these, performance
does drop at high goal levels.

2. The more specific or explicit the goal, the more precisely performance is regulated.

High goal specificity is achieved mainly through quantification (e.g., increase sales by 10%) or
enumeration (e.g., a list of tasks to be accomplished). Thus, it reduces variance in
performance, provided that the individual can control his or her performance. This is not to
say that specificity is always desirable 0t may not be in some creative innovation situations),
but only that it has certain effects.

3. Goals that are both specific and difficult lead to the highest performance.

Especially relevant here are the many studies that compared the effect of specific hard goals
such as "do your best.- People do NOT actually do their best when they try to do their best
because, as a vague goal, it is compatible with many different outcomes, including those
lower than one's best. The aspect of intensity that has been most studied in goal setting
research is that of goal commitment—the degree to which the person is genuinely attached
to and determined to reach the goals.

4. Commitment to goals is most critical when goals are specific and difficult.

When goals are easy or vague, it is not hard be committed to it because it does not require
much dedication to reach easy goals, and vague goals can be easily redefined to
accommodate low performance. However, when goals are specific and hard, the higher the
commitment is being required, which results to better performance.

5. High commitment to goals is attained when:

 a. the individual is convinced that the goal is important;

b. the individual is convinced that the goal is attainable (or that, at least, progress can be
made toward it).

These are the same factors that influence goal choice. There are many ways to convince a
person that a goal is important:

 In most laboratory settings, it is quite sufficient to simply ask for compliance after
providing a plausible rationale for the study.
 In work situations, the supervisor or leader can use legitimate authority to get initial
commitment.
 Continued commitment might require additional incentives such as supportiveness,
recognition, and rewards.

Financial incentives may facilitate commitment and performance, except when rewards are
offered for attaining impossible goals. Here, performance actually drops.

Participation by subordinates in setting goals (i.e., joint goal setting by supervisor and
subordinate) leads to higher commitment than curtly telling people what to do with no
explanation, but it does not lead to (practically significant) higher commitment than
providing a convincing rationale for an assigned goal.

Self-set goals can be highly effective in gaining commitment, although they may not always
be set as high as another person would assign.

Commitment can be enhanced by effective leadership. Relevant leadership techniques

include:

 providing and communicating an inspiring vision;

 acting as role model for the employees;
 expecting outstanding performance;
 promoting employees who embrace the vision and dismissing those who reject it;
 delegating responsibility ("ownership") for key tasks;
 goal setting itself can be delegated for capable, responsible employees;
 expressing (genuine) confidence in employee capabilities;
 enhancing capabilities through training; and
 asking for commitment in public.

Self-efficacy refers to task-specific confidence and is a key component of Bandura's (1986)

social cognitive theory. Bandura showed that self-efficacy can be raised by enactive mastery,
persuasion, and role modeling—all referred to above. In organizational settings, enactive
mastery can be assured by providing people with needed experience and training and also
by selecting people based on their skills and abilities. Persuasion may include not only verbal
expressions of confidence but also giving people information regarding what task strategies
to use. The effectiveness of role modeling depends on the attributes of the model and on the
person observing the model.

6. In addition to having a direct effect on performance, self-efficacy influences:

a. the difficulty level of the goal chosen or accepted;
b. commitment to goals;
 c. the response to negative feedback or failure; and
d. the choice of task strategies.

People with high self-efficacy are more likely to set high goals or to accept difficult,
assigned goals, to commit themselves to difficult goals, to respond with renewed efforts to
setbacks, and to discover successful task strategies. Thus, the effects of self-efficacy on
performance are both direct and indirect (through various goal processes). Additionally, goal
choice and commitment can be influenced through role modeling.

Feedback. For people to pursue goals effectively, they need some means of checking or
tracking their progress toward their goal. Sometimes this is self-evident to perception, as
when a person walks down a road toward a distant but visible town. In such cases,
deviations from the path to the goal are easily seen and corrected. However, take note that
this is in contrast with a sales goal, whose attainment requires scores of sales over a period
of many months. Here, some formal means of keeping score is needed so that people can
get a clear indication if they are moving fast enough and in the right direction.

7. Goal setting is most effective when there is feedback that shows progress in relation to the
goal.

When provided with feedback on their own performance or that of others, people often
spontaneously set goals to improve their previous best or beat the performance of others
simply as a way of challenging themselves, but this is not inevitable. The goal set may be
higher or lower than the performance level previously achieved. The effect of performance
feedback (knowledge of score) depends on the goals set in response to it.

8. Goal setting (along with self-efficacy) mediates the effect of knowledge of past performance
on subsequent performance.

When people receive negative performance feedback, they are typically unhappy and may
also experience doubts about their ability. Those who can sustain their self-efficacy under
such pressure tend to maintain or even raise their subsequent goals, retain their
commitment, intensify their search for better strategies, and thereby improve their
subsequent performance. Those who lose confidence will tend to lower their goals, decrease
their efforts, and lessen the intensity and effectiveness of their strategy search. According to
Bandura, changes in self-efficacy after experiencing failure may be affected by the types of
causal affirmative statements people make.

9. Goals affect performance by affecting the direction of action, the degree of effort exerted,
and the persistence of action over time.

The directive aspect is fairly obvious. A person who has a goal to maximize quality of
performance will focus more attention and action on quality than on, for example, quantity
or speed. When there is conflict between two or more goals, performance with respect to
each goal may be undermined. Effort is roughly proportional to the judged difficulty of the
goal—which is why difficult goals ordinarily lead to higher performance than easy goals.
Persistence refers to directed effort extended over time. Harder goals typically lead to more
persistence than easy goals, because, given the commitment, they take longer to reach and
may require overcoming more Obstacles. These mechanisms operate almost automatically,
or at least routinely once a goal is committed to, because most people have learned (by
 about the age of 6) that if they want to achieve something they have to: pay attention to it
to the exclusion of other things, exert the needed effort, and persist until it is achieved.

There is another, more indirect goal mechanism—that of task strategies or plans. Most goals
require the application of task-specific procedures in addition to attention and effort if they
are to be attained. For example, a student who wants to get an A in a psychology course
needs to know how to study.in general, how to study psychology in particular, how to
identify what is needed for an A in this course, and how to implement this knowledge. There
are several things we have learned about the relationship of goals and plans.

10. Goals stimulate planning in general. Often, the planning quality is higher than that which
occurs without goals. When people possess task or goal-relevant plans as a result of
experience or training, they activate them automatically when confronted with a
performance goal. Newly learned plans or strategies are most likely to be utilized under the
stimulus of a specific, difficult goal.

People recognize that goals require plans and seek either to use what they already know or
to make new plans when they want to reach goals. Sometimes such plans are quite
pedestrian. For example, to attain difficult quantity goals, people may simply sacrifice quality
—a common trade-off which everyone is familiar with. When people are given training in a
new strategy, they do not always use it consistently unless they must in order to attain goals
that cannot otherwise be attained. When tasks are complex, a number of new issues arise.
Direct goal mechanisms are less adequate than in the case of simple tasks for attaining the
goal. (Compare, for example, the efficacy Of effort alone in leading to high performance
when doing push-ups versus playing chess.) The path to the goal is less clear, and there may
be no relevant prior experience or training which they can fall back on. In such cases, people
are forced to discover new strategies; sometimes they do this poorly especially if the goals
are specific and difficult. The reason appears to be that under this type of pressure, tunnel
vision inhibits effective search procedures.

11. When people strive for goals on complex tasks, they are least effective in discovering
suitable task strategies if:

a. they have no prior experience or training on the task;

b. there is high pressure to perform well; and
c. there is high time pressure (to perform well immediately).

Goals as mediators. Goals, along with self-efficacy, might mediate the effects of values and
personality on performance. There is a firm support for goals and self-efficacy as mediators
of feedback. Feedback is most effective in motivating improved performance when it is used
to set goals. Feedback alone is just information. To act based on information, people need to
know or decide what it means—that is, what significance it has. In a goal-setting context, this
means knowing what a good or desirable score is from a bad or undesirable score. If no such
judgment is made. The feedback will probably be ignored. Similarly, participation seems to
motivate performance to the extent that it leads to higher goals, higher self-efficacy. or
higher commitment. More recent studies have shown evidence for goals or goals plus self-
efficacy as a mediator of personality and charismatic leadership. In Other words, these
variables affect performance through their effects on goals and self-efficacy.
12. Goals (including goal commitment), in combination with self-efficacy, mediate or partially
mediate the effects of several personality traits and incentives on performance.

The logic behind this model is that goals and self-efficacy are the immediate regulators of
much human action, and these goals and self-efficacy, therefore, reflect the individual's
assessment of the value of incentives and of the applicability of values and traits to specific
situations.

Self-management. Goal-directed actions and choices are not necessarily "imposed" or even
encouraged by environments (e.g. organizational demands). People have the choice to
manage their own lives by setting their own purposes and working to achieve them.

13. Goal-setting and goal-related mechanisms can be trained and/or adopted in the absence of
training for the purpose of self-regulation.

Affect. Emotion is a type of automatic, partly subconscious, psychological estimate—an

estimate of the relationship of things to oneself. More precisely, emotions are the form in
which one experiences automatized value judgments—judgments of objects, events, and
situations (as consciously and/or subconsciously perceived and understood) according to the
standard of one's values. Events and situations seen as threatening to one's values give rise
to negative emotions (e.g., fear, anxiety, dissatisfaction), whereas events and situations seen
as furthering one's values produce positive emotions (e.g., happiness, satisfaction, love). In
goal-setting contexts, the immediate Value standard is one's goal; that is, the level of
performance desired or sought. Thus, goal achievement leads to satisfaction, while goal
failure leads to dissatisfaction. At first glance, there is an interesting and non-intuitive finding
that pertains to the relation of goals to satisfaction. High goals lead to less performance
satisfaction, on the average, than easy goals.

This seems paradoxical in the sense that higher goals are more motivating than lower goals
in terms of effort and performance. The explanation is that high goals require higher
standards of attainment compared to low goals, making self-satisfaction harder to achieve.
This is why, if people could set their own goals without penalty, they would set them lower
rather than higher. However, in the real world, more rewards accrue to people who set high
goals for themselves than those who set low goals (e.g., personal pride, better jobs, higher
income, more options), thus inducing people not to set their goals too low At the same time,
higher goals require more effort, ability, and risk than lower goals, thus limiting the number
of people who set their goals high. As noted earlier, people choose goals based both on
what is important to them and what they think they are capable of.

14. Goals serve as standards of self-satisfaction, with harder goals demanding higher
accomplishment in order to attain self-satisfaction than easy goals. Goals can also be used to
enhance task interest, reduce boredom, and promote goal clarity. When used to punish or
intimidate people, however, goals increase stress and anxiety.

Goal-setting dilemmas. If hard or difficult goals lead to higher performance and lower
satisfaction than easy goals, there is obviously a problem of how to get people (or oneself)
to be both happy and productive. There are obvious benefits and penalties of trying for too
little in life as well as for trying for too much. Obviously, the key principle here is personal
context. Life goals must be based on what you really want out of life (not on what other
people want for you) and on your true capabilities. If you want to pursue challenging goals,
these goals do not have to be attained all at once, but can be pursued over an extended time
 period. Lower sub-goals can be set as steps to a longer term and higher goal. Partial success
can be credited by others and oneself. Failure can be treated or framed as a learning
experience, not as proof of incompetence. New skills can be acquired as needed, and jobs
can be chosen, when possible, to match your aspirations and abilities.

Another dilemma is how to structure reward systems in organizations. If incentives were

offered for goals that could not be reached, lower motivation and performance resulted as
compared to hourly payment or piece-rate pay. This might suggest that moderate goals
would be ideal; however, moderate goals in work situations do not stay moderate for long
because people improve their strategies and skills over time. Thus, a difficult juggling act
would be required to maintain an effective system. Another possibility would be to set goals
to motivate people but pay for performance, regardless of goal level. This would be similar
to a piece-rate system. Alternatively, multiple goal levels could be set, from moderately easy
to almost impossible, and pay could be proportional to the highest level attained. This would
guarantee some reward even for moderate attainments but would stimulate higher
attainments as well. Incentives can be dangerous if they encourage tunnel vision and
thereby the neglect of important non-goal activities.

People with growth mindset, where there is room for improvement of Performance, with a positive
perceived self-efficacy, where he or she has high confidence on his or her capabilities, and has set
specific achievable goals, have high possibility to attain success in life.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Goals are what take us forward in life; they are the oxygen to our dreams. They are the first steps to
every journey we take and are also our last. It is very important that you realize the significance and
importance of goal-setting and apply this knowledge in your life. Top-level athletes, successful
businesspeople and achievers in all fields all set goals. Setting goals gives you long-term vision and
short-term motivation. It focuses your acquisition of knowledge, and helps you to organize your time
and your resources so that you can make the most of your life.

Self-efficacy, or confidence as it is commonly known, is one of the most enabling psychology models
to have been adopted into positive psychology. It is the optimistic self-belief in our competence or
chances of successfully accomplishing a task and producing a favourable outcome. Self-efficacy is
certainly worth having because as Henry Ford famously put it, whether you believe you can or you
can't, you are right. And. Gandhi perfectly understood the pivotal role that self-belief plays in our
lives:

Your beliefs become your thoughts

Your thoughts become your words.
Your words become your actions.
Your actions become your habits.
Your habits become your values.
Your values become your destiny.
Self-efficacy plays a major part in determining our chances for success; in fact some psychologists
rate self-efficacy above talent in the recipe for success. We need to pay special attention to self-
efficacy when setting goals to make sure that our efficacy beliefs are in line with our aims and not
working against them.

Sources of efficacy beliefs.

1. Mastery Experiences

The first and foremost source of self-efficacy is through mastery experiences. However
nothing is more powerful than having a direct experience of mastery to increase self-
efficacy. Having a success, for example in mastering a task or controlling an environment,
will build self- belief in that area whereas a failure will undermine that efficacy belief. To
have a resilient sense of self-efficacy requires experience in overcoming obstacles through
effort and perseverance.

2. Vicarious Experiences

The second source of self-efficacy comes from our observation of people around us,
especially people we consider as role models. Seeing people similar to ourselves succeed by
their sustained effort raises our beliefs that we too possess the capabilities to master the
activities needed for success in that area.

3. Verbal Persuasion

Influential people in our lives such as parents, teachers, managers or coaches can strengthen
our beliefs that we have what it takes to succeed. Being persuaded that we possess the
capabilities to master certain activities means. that we are more likely to put in the effort
and sustain it when problems arise.

4. Emotional & Physiological States

The state you're in will influence how you judge your self-efficacy. Depression, for example,
can dampen confidence in our capabilities. Stress reactions or tension are interpreted as
signs of vulnerability to poor performance whereas positive emotions can boost our
confidence in our skills.

5. Imaginal Experiences

Psychologist James Maddux has suggested a fifth route to self-efficacy through "imaginal
experiences", the art of visualizing yourself behaving effectively or successfully in a given
situation.