People infer high self-efficacy from successes achieved through minimal effort on difficult tasks, but they infer low self-efficacy if they had to work hard under favorable conditions to master relatively easy tasks

Convictions that outcomes are determined by one's own actions can be either demoralizing or heartening, depending on the level of self-judged efficacy. People who regard outcomes as personally determined, but who lack the requisite skills, would experience low self-efficacy and view the activities with a sense of futility

Agemates provide the most informative points of reference for comparative efficacy appraisal and verification. Children are, therefore, especially sensitive to their relative standing among the peers with whom they affiliate in activities that determine prestige and popularity

People who hold a low view of themselves [will credit] their achievements to external factors, rather than to their own capabilities.

A problem of future research is to clarify how young children learn what type of social comparative information is most useful for efficacy evaluation

Measures of self-precept must be tailored to the domain of psychological functioning being explored.

Forceful actions arising from erroneous beliefs often create social effects that confirm the misbeliefs