How Does Self-Esteem Affect Self-Efficacy

As part of Albert Bandura’s social cognitive theory looking into how people act independently and choosing their choices without outside influence, self-efficacy is defined as the belief that an individual can or cannot achieve a goal based on their internal self-confidence levels (Yancey, 2013). Being confident or not confident also plays into the hands of another inward-looking ability in which knowing how an individual feels about themselves and their abilities in life cuts into their confidence of self-efficacy. However, outside influences can affect an individual’s self-worth through the individual themselves and what they can influence or control; the ability to influence others who holds the resources necessary for other individuals to act on the individual’s behalf known as a proxy; as well as partnering with other individuals in an attempt to direct desired outcomes known as a collective.

If a person does not have a positive view on themselves, then this will affect the person’s mental state in that they will not believe that they can gain any type of success in anything that they attempt to accomplish. However, if a person has a strong, positive outlook on their self-worth, their confidence levels will lift up that person’s self-efficacy, thus ensuring the person will attempt to gain success in any way possible to accomplish their goals. Provide an example of an internal or external force that impacts your self-efficacy.

One of my favorite quotes that I kept in a diary as a young girl was that of having a strong sense of faith and how it gave me a sense of encouragement growing from a timid young girl to a determined young lady to a now determined woman. I remember how the boys in my school would always tease us girls by saying that we could never do things good enough such as playing sports or outsmarting them in the classroom. Unlike many of my friends who heard these taunts over and over growing up, I remembered how this would infuriate me and that I would purposely prove that a girl could be as good, or in some cases better, then many of the boys in school. Of course, I had a lot of support from my parents, sister and brother growing up, so I began to develop a high level of self-efficacy from the get-go even though I would have temporary setbacks on occasion during later years in high school.

I would see these outside factors, or outside voices, as a primary tune that vibrates into a person’s self-worth and, in turn, affects the way that they see themselves as an internal echo within themselves. I never have never let external voices tell me that I was not strong enough to have joined the Army. I have never let external voices tell me that I could not become a Chief Warrant Officer simply because I was a woman. Finally, I never have let external voices and external factors prevent me from working in the IT field as the only woman in my company at this time. Challenges faced externally is but one of many obstacles that can be overcome one way or another, but the deciding factor on how you face these challenges and whether or not you will accomplish your mission starts with that small, still voice that only you can hear since it is you who is speaking.

By not listening to the voices that kept saying I could not do things simply because I was a girl, or by not listening to others saying that a woman could not get the job done, I have proven to myself to share that you are your biggest cheerleader no matter if you have a squad of other cheerleaders or not. As the first and last person to deal with from the time you wake up to the time that you fall asleep, is it not the right time to start ignoring outside voices who try to make you the person they would rather have you become? After all, if I ignored my own voice and listened to others, I would not be the strong, determined woman that I see in the mirror every day!