It is widely assumed that beliefs in personal determination of outcomes create a sense of efficacy and power, whereas beliefs that outcomes occur regardless of what one does result in apathy

Self-efficacy is the belief in one's capabilities to organize and execute the sources of action required to manage prospective situations.

When people are not aiming for anything in particular or when they cannot monitor their performance, there is little basis for translating perceived efficacy into appropriate magnitudes of effort

Self-belief does not necessarily ensure success, but self-disbelief assuredly spawns failure.

Incongruities between self-efficacy and action may stem from misperceptions of task demands, as well as from faulty self-knowledge

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

[Attributional] factors serve as conveyors of efficacy information that influence performance largely through their intervening effects on self-percepts of efficacy