Caption: In
flight
As
the Young text pointed out to us in this week’s reading, there is a difference
between self-efficacy and self-esteem. Self-efficacy is the individual’s belief
that he or she can accomplish tasks, effect change, or otherwise succeed in
varying situations. Self-esteem is more closely related with self-worth. Self-esteem
relates to how an individual sees him or herself and their ability to be loved
and worthy of existing. Thus, an individual can have high self-efficacy and
still struggle with low self-esteem, or vice versa. This is important to note
because counselors might easily be tempted to see someone who has high self-efficacy
as someone who has high self-esteem. This could lead to a misunderstanding, or
even an ignorance of the client’s true emotional state needs (Young, 2017).
After
reading this in the Young text, my interest was piqued. I wanted to take this
opportunity to delve into the topics of self-efficacy and self-esteem as they
relate to school or other academic areas and students. There is some research
on this topic.
Solution-focused
brief therapy, much like we have been discussing in class, has been studied.
When solution-focused brief therapists focus on improving self-efficacy,
students see statistically significant improvement in their schoolwork and
other interpersonal areas of their lives (Lane, Lane, &
Kyprianou, 2004).
Additionally,
academic success is linked to higher levels of self-esteem (Rakauskiene, & Dumciene, 2013). Combining these two studies to their logical end,
solution-focused brief therapy can increase self-efficacy. This increase in
self-efficacy has been shown to increase academic performance. With an increase
in academic performance can come an increase in self-esteem for some students.
Thus, solution-focused brief therapy has the potential to increase both
self-efficacy and self-esteem, even though those two things are different and
don’t always reside in individuals at the same level.
References
Lane, J., Lane, A.
M., & Kyprianou, A. (2004). Self-efficacy, self-esteem, and their impact on
academic performance. Social Behavior and Personality, 32(3), 247-256.
Rakauskiene,
V., & Dumciene, A. (2013). Alteration of adolescent self-efficacy when
applying brief counseling at school. Social
Behavior and Personality: An International Journal, 41(6), 893+.
Young, M. (2017). Learning the art of helping, 6th edition. Upper Saddle
River, NJ: Pearson. ISBN: 0-13-416578-0
Ben, I think you raised a good point concerning the difference between self-efficacy and self-esteem. I personally experienced some confusion surrounding how to discriminate between the two while completing the readings for class. Your further explanation of what was stated in the book helped me understand not only how they are not the same thing, but also their own distinct influences within the counseling process. For any individual, self-esteem is important and impacts our overall functioning. Research clearly supports this fact. It is a positive thing, then, to raise awareness about self-efficacy’s significance as well. Without its existence, little belief that things may be accomplished is present. Since one of the goals of counseling is to bring about change, we cannot ignore the critical nature to raise clients’ perspectives surrounding their own self-efficacy along with their self-esteem.
ReplyDeleteBrenn,
ReplyDeleteI did not really understand the difference between the two. I thought self-efficacy related more to a person actually completing tasks, but I did not know it was about the thought of believing they could. It is interesting because if a person is accomplished by society's eyes, and owns a huge business or lives a lavish lifestyle, it may be assumed they have high self-esteem. It takes confidence to be an entrepreneur and run a successful business. However, I am learning that just because a person has achieved great things it does not mean they believe in themselves to do so.
Quinn,
DeleteThank you so much for your response and encouraging words! I completely agree with you. I honestly had never thought about the difference between self efficacy and self esteem before this past week's reading. It also helped me understand myself more. I have high self efficacy, but my self esteem is not always as high as my self efficacy. It has actually led me to do some further research on the imposter syndrome, and how that affects high achieving individuals. If you had some time, I would really encourage you to look it up. It’s an interesting concept that I fully believe future clients will struggle with. Thanks again!
Brenn