Reasonably accurate appraisal of one's own capabilities is, therefore, of considerable value in successful functioning. Large misjudgments of personal efficacy in either direction have consequences. People who grossly overestimate their capabilities undertake activities that are clearly beyond their reach. As a result, they get themselves into considerable difficulties, undermine their credibility, and suffer needless failures. Some of the missteps, of course, can produce serious, irreparable harm

Moral justification is a powerful disengagement mechanism. Destructive conduct is made personally and socially acceptable by portraying it in the service of moral ends. This is why most appeals against violent means usually fall on deaf ears.

People behave agentically, but they produce theories that afford people very little agency.

Because of such conjointedness, behavior that exerts no effect whatsoever on outcomes is developed and consistently performed

Accomplishment is socially judged by ill defined criteria so that one has to rely on others to find out how one is doing.

In the self-appraisal of efficacy, there are many sources of information that must be processed and weighed through self-referent thought

The evaluative habits developed in sibling interactions undoubtedly affect the salience and choice of comparative referents in self-ability evaluations in later life