Belief in being able to perform a task relates to starting and persisting.
Practitioner frameworkA thinking tool for design. Direct tests of its effect are limited.
Example
Editorial example: a new analytics user successfully aggregates one row of their own data.
Why it works
Bandura distinguished capability beliefs from actual ability and expected outcomes, identifying mastery, models, persuasion and physiological states as sources.
On the web
Make a first success relevant to real work, then increase difficulty. Measure confidence separately from task success.
When it backfires
Confidence messages do not teach skills. Theory from clinical and learning settings does not directly predict sign-up lift.
Sources
Presents a theory linking efficacy expectations with behavioral change.
Bandura, A. (1977). Self-efficacy: Toward a unifying theory of behavioral change. Psychological Review, 84, 191–215. Open source