Ironically, It Is The Talented

Comparative Appraisals Of Efficacy Require Not Only Evaluation Of One;s Own Performances But Also Knowledge Of How Others Do, Cognizance Of Nonability Determinants Of Their Performances, And Some Understanding That It Is Others, Like Oneself, Who Provide The Most Informative Social Criterion For Comparison

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

Social Cognitive Theory Rejects The Dichotomous Conception Of Self As Agent And Self As Object. Acting On The Environment And Acting On Oneself Entail Shifting The Perspective Of The Same Agent Rather Than Reifying Different Selves Regulating Each Other Or Transforming The Self From Agent To Object

In Social Cognitive Theory, Perceived Self-efficacy Results From Diverse Sources Of Information Conveyed Vicariously And Through Social Evaluation, As Well As Through Direct Experience

For Many Activities, People Cannot Rely Solely On Themselves In Evaluating Their Ability Level Because Such Judgments Require Inferences From Probabilistic Indicants Of Talent About Which They May Have Limited Knowledge. Self-appraisals Are, Therefore, Partly Based On The Opinions Of Others Who Presumably Possess Evaluative Competence