Lesson 2:

Do Not Just
Dream, Make
It Happen
LESSON OBJECTIVES
At the end of this lesson, you should be able
to:
1. Use Bandura’s self-efficacy theory for self-
assessment;
2. Differentiate growth and fixed mindset by
Dweck; and
3. Design personal goals adapting Locke’s
goal setting theory.
ABSTRACTION
Albert E. Bandura’s Self-efficacy
• The Bobo Doll Experiment:
Sample children were presented with new social models of violent and
nonviolent behavior toward an inflatable redounding Bobo doll.
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.
• Bandura’s SOCIAL COGNITIVE THEORY states that people are active
participants in their environment and are not simply shaped by that
environment.
Summary of Self-efficacy Theory:

 Distinguishes between expectations of efficacy and response-outcome expectancies:

 Outcome expectancy is “a person’s estimate that a given behavior will lead to certain
outcomes.”
 Efficacy expectation is “the conviction that one can successfully execute the behavior
required to produce the outcomes.”
 Outcome and efficacy expectations are differentiated because individuals can believe that
a particular course of action will produce certain outcomes.
 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.
 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.
Carol S. Dweck’s Fixed and Growth Mindset Theory
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.
 People who believe that success is based on hardwork, learning, training, and
perseverance have growth theory of intelligence, which goes under growth
mindset.
 Fixed-mindset individuals dread failure because it is a negative statement on
their basic abilities;
 Growth-mindset individuals do not mind or fear failure as much because they
realize their performance can be improved and learning comes from failure.
 Individuals may not necessarily be aware of their own mindset, but their mindset
can still be discerned based on their behavior.
Edwin A. Locke’s Goal Setting Theory
The basic contents of goal setting theory are summarized in terms of 14
categories of findings:
1. The more difficult the goal, the greater the achievement.
2. The more specific or explicit the goal, the more precisely performance is
regulated.
3. Goals that are both specific and difficult lead to the highest
performance.
4. Commitment to goals is most critical when goals are specific and
difficult.
5. High commitment to goals is attained when:
a. the individual is convinced that the goal is important; and
b. the individual is convinced that the goal is attainable (or that, at
least, progress can be made toward it).
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.
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.
7. Goal setting is most effective when there is feedback that shows progress in
relation to the goal.
8. Goal setting (along with self-efficacy) mediates the effect of knowledge of
past performance on subsequent performance.
9. Goals affect performance by affecting the direction of action, the degree of
effort exerted, and the persistence of action over time.
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.
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).
12. Goals (including goal commitment), in combination with self-efficacy,
mediate or partially mediate the effects of several personality traits and
incentives on performance.
13. Goal-setting and goal-related mechanisms can be trained and/or
adopted in the absence of training for the purpose of self-regulation.
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.
“All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them”
~Walt Disney