Self-Efficacy: Helping Children Believe

They Can Succeed

“I think I can. I think I can. I think I can.”

These words from the book The Little Engine That Could, so familiar to generations of children and parents,
capture a basic life attitude that all parents want their children to have: If I try, I will succeed. We all want
our children to be able to cope with adversity, learn from failure, and work through difficult challenges.
This requires self-efficacy—the ability to define a goal, persevere, and see oneself as capable. Parents and
other adults can help children develop self-efficacy by reinforcing their strengths and helping them identity
steps or paths to achieve their goals.

SELF-EFFICACY VERSUS SELF-ESTEEM

It is natural to want to make children feel better when they are upset. Our first instinct is often to try to
boost their self-esteem with general words of praise such as, “You did great,” “It will be fine,” or “I think
you are the best.” While such “self-esteem enhancers” may sound soothing, they do not promote self-
efficacy. Indeed, self-esteem and self-efficacy are not the same. Self-esteem is feeling good about yourself.
Self-efficacy is the belief that you have skills that you can rely on to help you navigate life and reach your
goals. Feeling good about oneself matters, but the best way to help children feel good about themselves is
to provide them with opportunities to learn what their strengths are and to help them to cultivate the
belief that they can rely on their strengths when facing a challenge.

BUILDING BLOCKS OF SELF-EFFICACY

There are four sources that contribute to the development of self-efficacy in children and youth.

Building Block 1: Mastery experiences. When a child attributes a success to internal, stable, and global
factors, (“I got an A on my test because I am smart and know how to study.”), he will experience a sense
of mastery and this will reinforce his self-efficacy. When a child attributes success to external, unstable,
and specific factors, (“Total luck! The test was really easy and the teacher gave everyone good grades.”), he
will not experience a sense of mastery or efficacy.

Building Block 2: Observing others. Seeing someone who is similar to oneself work hard to achieve a
goal or overcome an obstacle contributes to our belief that we, too, can successfully negotiate our
environment. For example, if a first-grade child sees her friend climb to the top of the jungle gym after
several attempts, the first grader might think to herself, “If Laura can do it, I can, too.” The more similar
the child feels to the person she is observing, the stronger the effect the other person’s successes or
failures will be on the child’s beliefs about her own ability to succeed.

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Self-Efficacy: Helping Children Believe They Can Succeed

Building Block 3: Direct persuasion by others. Children’s beliefs about their ability to master a
situation are influenced by what they hear from their teachers, parents, coaches, and friends. Children who
receive strong messages that they have the skills and capabilities to handle a situation are more likely to put
in greater effort and to persist in the face of setback. However, such feedback cannot consist of general or
empty pep talks (“You can do anything.”) but rather must reflect the child’s real strengths and be specific
(“You can are good at solving problems. You can think of a creative solution.”).

Building Block 4: Mood. Positive emotions and mood build perceptions of efficacy and negative
emotions and mood weaken them. People who experience positive emotion can also experience “upward
spirals” such that their positive emotions enable them to see more solutions to problems they face, which
strengthens their positivity, which further enhances their ability to cope with challenges, and on and on.
These upward spirals can lead to strengthening a child’s perception that she can effectively control her
environment.

ADULTS CAN ENHANCE SELF-EFFICACY

Just as adults can help teach children the skill of optimism, they can help children develop self-efficacy.

Challenge negative thoughts. We can teach children to identify and challenge negative thoughts that
undermine their belief in their ability to master a task. Adults can teach children and youth to challenge
negative thinking by helping them to first identify the negative thought and then to use evidence to prove
why the negative thought is inaccurate. Replace the negative thought with a positive, truthful idea.

Teach goal setting. Teaching children how to set realistic goals and strategies for persisting in achieving
those goals when they encounter obstacles helps them to experience greater mastery in life. Helping
children to increase their pathways thinking (thinking that helps identify or create many paths to a goal)
and agency thinking (thinking that helps keep motivation up while pursuing a goal) helps them experience
greater hope and more success in achieving the goal.

Notice, analyze, and celebrate successes. We can increase self-efficacy by teaching youth to identify
successes and to accurately assess their contribution. For example, parents or teachers can work with
children to keep a “success journal” in which they record successes and list the skills, talents, and strategies
that they used to bring about the positive outcome. This not only helps children build positive self-
perceptions, but it also creates positive emotion, which in turn leads to more creative thinking and
enhanced problem solving.

Use process praise. Process praise, in which children are praised for their efforts and the strategies they
used to bring about a success (e.g., “You did well because you kept at it and tried different ways to solve
the problem.”), can lead to greater mastery, persistence, and achievement than simply praising children for
being smart (e.g., “You did well because you’re just so smart!”). Emphasizing effort and strategy helps
children focus their attention on variables they can control: how hard they try and the strategies used.

Provide opportunities for mastery experiences. Give children opportunities to control their
environment. Creating opportunities for children to make decisions, use and practice their skills, and try
different paths to achieve their goals will help build self-efficacy. This requires genuinely knowing the
child’s strengths and being able to link those to their goals.

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Self-Efficacy: Helping Children Believe They Can Succeed

Be honest and realistic. When a child fails or has a setback, don’t pretend it didn’t happen. It is far better
to acknowledge the struggle (“That must have been really hard. I can see why you are disappointed.”) and
identify specific strengths he might use next time (“You pass the ball really well. Passing might be more
effective than shooting from so far away.”). When we help children to pay attention to their skills and
strengths and help them to figure out how to use them more fully, we are teaching them self-efficacy. And,
acknowledging the reality of the situation conveys that you genuinely understand what the child has
experienced and helps her see herself as someone who can cope with a challenge.

TIPS FOR SELF-EFFICACY ENHANCERS

Using “self-efficacy enhancers” instead of “self-esteem enhancers” gives children more concrete, realistic
feedback on how to persevere. Adults can develop the ability to use self-efficacy enhancers, but it takes
practice. It is harder than simply patting our children on the back and saying, “You are a star!” The effort,
however, will pay off for the child and you. Adults who develop this skill report feeling that they are
communicating more honestly with their children—and that’s a win for all involved!

Slow down. Because it is much easier to use global, general praise, if you are on autopilot, that’s what
you’ll hear yourself saying. So, say to yourself something like, “Hold on. What can I say to my child that
will be honest and will also help her to figure out how to use one of her strengths or talents to cope with
the situation or make it better in the future?”

Be specific. Rather than say things like “You were wonderful” or “You did great,” challenge yourself to
name, as specifically as possible, what the child did that was wonderful or great. For example, “Your
bounce passes were really strong” or “You sang the high notes really well.” This means that you have to
pay attention!

Name a strength. Identify a strength or skill that your child can use to cope with the situation or to help
things turn out better in the future. You can say, “You have such a great ability to speak up for yourself;
how might that help you in this situation?” or “I’ve seen you use your sense of humor to help you in other
situations; is there a way it can help you here?” or “You’ve got really strong passing skills; how could you
rely on those more in the next game?”

Remember, the more you practice self-efficacy enhancers, the easier they will become.

RESOURCES
Gillham, J. E., Reivich, K. J., Freres, D. R., Chaplin, T. M., Shatte, A. J., Samuels, B., et al. (2007). School-
based prevention of depressive symptoms: A randomized controlled study of the effectiveness and
specificity of the Penn Resiliency Program. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 75, 9–19.
Kamins, M. L., & Dweck, C. S. (1999). Person versus process praise and criticism: Implications for
contingent self-worth and coping. Developmental Psychology, 35, 835–847.
Lewinsohn, P. M., Hops, H., Roberts, R., & Seeley, J. (1993). Adolescent psychopathology: I. Prevalence
and incidence of depression and other DSM-III-R disorders in high school students. Journal of
Abnormal Psychology, 102, 110–120.
Maddux, J. (2002). Self-efficacy: The power of believing you can. In C. R. Snyder & S. J. Lopez (Eds.),
Handbook of Positive Psychology (pp. 277–287). New York: Oxford University Press.

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Self-Efficacy: Helping Children Believe They Can Succeed

Reivich, K. & Shatté, A. (2003). The Resilience Factor: 7 keys to finding your inner strength and overcoming life’s
hurdles. New York: Broadway Books.

For more activities to help build efficacy in your children, visit www.fishfulthinking.com and National
Association of School Psychologists at www.nasponline.org. This parent resource is part of the National
Association of School Psychologists and Fishful ThinkingSM Partnership and is adapted from work by
Karen Reivich, PhD, University of Pennsylvania, as part of the Fishful Thinking program.

© 2010 National Association of School Psychologists, 4340 East West Highway, Suite 402, Bethesda, MD 20814, (301) 657-0270, Fax (301) 657-0275

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