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PsychologicalReview1977,Vol.84,No.2,191-215Self-efficacy:TowardaUnifyingTheoryofBehavioralChangeAlbertBanduraStanfordUniversityThepresentarticlepresentsanintegrativetheoreticalframeworktoexplainandtopredictpsychologicalchangesachievedbydifferentmodesoftreatment.Thistheorystatesthatpsychologicalprocedures,whatevertheirform,alterthelevelandstrengthofself-efficacy.Itishypothesizedthatexpectationsofper-sonalefficacydeterminewhethercopingbehaviorwillbeinitiated,howmucheffortwillbeexpended,andhowlongitwillbesustainedinthefaceofob-staclesandaversiveexperiences.Persistenceinactivitiesthataresubjectivelythreateningbutinfactrelativelysafeproduces,throughexperiencesofmastery,furtherenhancementofself-efficacyandcorrespondingreductionsindefensivebehavior.Intheproposedmodel,expectationsofpersonalefficacyarederivedfromfourprincipalsourcesofinformation:performanceaccomplishments,vicariousexperience,verbalpersuasion,andphysiologicalstates.Themorede-pendabletheexperientialsources,thegreaterarethechangesinperceivedself-efficacy.Anumberoffactorsareidentifiedasinfluencingthecognitiveprocessingofefficacyinformationarisingfromenactive,vicarious,exhortative,andemotivesources.Thedifferentialpowerofdiversetherapeuticproceduresisanalyzedintermsofthepostulatedcognitivemechanismofoperation.Findingsarereportedfrommicroanalysesofenactive,vicarious,andemotivemodesoftreatmentthatsupportthehypothesizedrelationshipbetweenperceivedself-efficacyandbe-havioralchanges.Possibledirectionsforfurtherresearcharediscussed.Currentdevelopmentsinthefieldofbe-havioralchangereflecttwomajordivergenttrends.Thedifferenceisespeciallyevidentinthetreatmentofdysfunctionalinhibitionsanddefensivebehavior.Ontheonehand,themechanismsbywhichhumanbehaviorisacquiredandregulatedareincreasinglyfor-mulatedintermsofcognitiveprocesses.Ontheotherhand,itisperformance-basedpro-ceduresthatareprovingtobemostpowerfulforeffectingpsychologicalchanges.Asacon-sequence,successfulperformanceisreplacingsymbolicallybasedexperiencesastheprin-ciplevehicleofchange.Thepresentarticlepresentstheviewthatchangesachievedbydifferentmethodsderivefromacommoncognitivemechanism.TheTheresearchbytheauthorreportedinthisarticlewassupportedbyResearchGrantM-5162fromtheNationalInstitutesofHealth,UnitedStatesPublicHealthService.RequestsforreprintsshouldbesenttoAlbertBandura,DepartmentofPsychology,StanfordUni-versity,Stanford,California94305.apparentdivergenceoftheoryandpracticecanbereconciledbypostulatingthatcogni-tiveprocessesmediatechangebutthatcog-nitiveeventsareinducedandalteredmostreadilybyexperienceofmasteryarisingfromeffectiveperformance.Thedistinctionbe-tweenprocessandmeansisunderscored,be-causeitisoftenassumedthatacognitivemodeofoperationrequiresasymbolicmeansofinduction.Psychologicalchangescanbeproducedthroughothermeansthanper-formanceaccomplishments.Therefore,theexplanatorymechanismdevelopedinthisarticleisdesignedtoaccountforchangesinbehaviorresultingfromdiversemodesoftreatment.CognitiveLocusofOperationPsychologicaltreatmentsbasedonlearningprincipleswereoriginallyconceptualizedtooperatethroughperipheralmechanisms.Newbehaviorwaspresumablyshapedautomat-icallybyitseffects.Contingencylearningthroughpairedstimulationwasconstruedin191192ALBERTBANDURAconnectionisttermsasaprocessinwhichre-sponseswerelinkeddirectlytostimuli.Al-teringtherateofpreexistingbehaviorbyre-inforcementwasportrayedasaprocesswhereinresponseswereregulatedbytheirimmediateconsequenceswithoutrequiringanyconsciousinvolvementoftheresponders.Growingevidencefromseverallinesofre-searchalteredtheoreticalperspectivesonhowbehaviorisacquiredandregulated.Theo-reticalformulationsemphasizingperipheralmechanismsbegantogivewaytocognitivelyorientedtheoriesthatexplainedbehaviorintermsofcentralprocessingofdirect,vicari-ous,andsymbolicsourcesofinformation.Detailedanalysisoftheempiricalandcon-ceptualissues(seeBandura,1977)fallsbeyondthescopeofthepresentarticle.Tosummarizebriefly,however,ithasnowbeenamplydocumentedthatcognitiveprocessesplayaprominentroleintheacquisitionandretentionofnewbehaviorpatterns.Transitoryexperiencesleavelastingeffectsbybeingcodedandretainedinsymbolsformemoryrepresentation.Becauseacquisitionofre-sponseinformationisamajoraspectoflearn-ing,muchhumanbehaviorisdevelopedthroughmodeling.Fromobservingothers,oneformsaconceptionofhownewbehaviorpat-ternsareperformed,andonlateroccasionsthesymbolicconstructionservesasaguideforaction(Bandura,1971).Theinitialap-proximationsofresponsepatternslearnedobservationallyarefurtherrefinedthroughself-correctiveadjustmentsbasedoninforma-tivefeedbackfromperformance.Learningfromresponseconsequencesisalsoconceivedoflargelyasacognitiveprocess.Consequencesserveasanunarticu-latedwayofinformingperformerswhattheymustdotogainbeneficialoutcomesandtoavoidpunishingones.Byobservingthedif-ferentialeffectsoftheirownactions,in-dividualsdiscernwhichresponsesareap-propriateinwhichsettingsandbehaveac-cordingly(Dulany,1968).Viewedfromthecognitiveframework,learningfromdiffer-entialoutcomesbecomesaspecialcaseofobservationallearning.