Self-Efficacy: Believing "I Can Do It"
Faced with the same hard problem, one person thinks "I should be able to handle this" and sits down to try, while another thinks "there's no way I can do it" and doesn't even try. This confidence in whether you can pull off a given thing is called self-efficacy. "Self-efficacy" is a concept introduced by the psychologist Bandura, who noted that personally succeeding at things (mastery experiences) is the most effective source for building it.
Note that it's specific to a given thing: you might have high self-efficacy for "cooking" but very low self-efficacy for "public speaking." It isn't fixed from birth—it can be grown bit by bit.
Self-Efficacy ≠ Self-Esteem
Self-esteem is how satisfied you are with yourself overall, whether you like yourself—an overall sense of self. Self-efficacy is whether you believe you can do a given specific thing.
For example: a person might generally accept themselves (their self-esteem isn't low) but feel sure they can't do it the moment "math problems" come up (low self-efficacy for that thing). The two are related but not the same.
Grow Efficacy Through Small Successes
The most reliable way to boost self-efficacy is to actually get some things done—even tiny ones. Every "I did it" becomes the confidence for the next time. So the trick is: break a big goal into small goals so easy you'll almost certainly complete them.
Want to start running? Don't set "5 km a day" right out of the gate—start with "put on running shoes today and walk for 10 minutes." Once you've done it, mark down an "I did it." Stack up enough small successes, and the feeling of "I can do this" grows on its own.
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"Confidence in whether you can pull off a given specific thing"—what does this refer to?
答案：Self-efficacy
Confidence in "whether I can do it" for a given specific thing is self-efficacy. Self-esteem is an overall self-evaluation, and the other two are unrelated.
The overall sense of self—"how satisfied you are with yourself overall, whether you like yourself"—is called self-____. Fill in one word.
答案：esteem
This is called "self-esteem," your overall evaluation and acceptance of yourself, different from self-efficacy for a specific thing.
True or false: a person might generally accept themselves fairly well (self-esteem not low), yet have very low self-efficacy for the specific thing of "public speaking."
答案：True
Self-esteem is an overall feeling while self-efficacy is specific to a thing; the two are related but not the same, so this situation is entirely possible.
Xiao Mei wants to start running but can never take the first step. Following the "stack up small successes" idea, which starting goal is most appropriate?
答案：Put on running shoes today and walk for 10 minutes
A goal small enough that you'll almost certainly complete it brings the small success of "I did it"; setting 10 km is too hard and easy to fail, while waiting for the right mood or buying gear first are both ways of putting off the start.
True or false: setting yourself a hard, easy-to-fail big goal right out of the gate may actually make self-efficacy lower and lower.
答案：True
Repeated failure piles up the frustration of "I failed again," weakening the confidence of "I can do this," so it's best to start from easy-to-complete small goals.
Regarding self-efficacy, which statement is correct?
答案：It's specific to a given thing and can be grown gradually by stacking up small successes
Self-efficacy is specific to a thing and can be cultivated; it's not fixed from birth, isn't the same as self-esteem, and isn't "how much you dislike yourself."