Week 9 Assignment

This week’s assignment is about the creation of my self-efficacy beliefs concerning my performance in, what else – this class! The first way through which self-efficacy is created is through mastery experience. I feel I did moderately well on the first test, and while I would have like to have done better, I was satisfied for the amount of studying that I committed to the test. Vicarious experience, also mentioned for the creation of self-efficacy, played a part as well. On one hand, I felt that because my some of my classmates (with whom I have a better acquaintance) could successfully comprehend the information, I would be able to also. On the other hand, because I was able to explain some concepts to my friends who were unable to fully understand them, I felt that I had, relatively, the upper hand. I can also think of a concrete example of a social persuasion – one of my friends mentioned to me that “It’s only natural that you’ll do well on this test; it seems like everything comes so easily to you!”

The final factor, my somatic and emotional state at the time, was also a great factor. I may not have realized it at the time, but because things were relatively quiet and stress-free at the time, I definitely think I had a greater feeling of “social psychology” self-efficacy. While I’ve been consistently studying about the same amount since the first test, I’m experiencing some stressors (the end of a relationship, a serious illness in the family, and a never-ending cold), and some of the arousal caused by these events may make me feel like studying and really comprehending information for the final is going to be a more difficult task. I feel like I automatically won’t be able to do as well, even though I haven’t begun to really prepare myself for the test.