[Children] receive direct instruction from time to time about the appropriateness of various social comparisons

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

The presence of many interacting influences, including the attainments of others, create further leeway in how one's performances and outcomes are cognitively appraised

Persons who have a strong sense of efficacy deploy their attention and effort to the demands of the situation and are spurred by obstacles to greater effort.

Except for events that carry great weight, it is not experience per se, but how they match expectations, that governs their emotional impact

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

When actions are followed by events that are not causally related to the prior acts, people often erroneously perceive contingencies that do not, in fact, exist