Twelve encouraging phrases to build self-efficacy
What is self-efficacy? It is the little engine that could.
Stanford University psychologist Albert Bandura is famous for his research on the powerful idea of self-efficacy. Bandura thought that individuals “avoided activities that they believe exceed their coping capabilities, but they under-take and perform assuredly those that they judge themselves capable of managing.: In other words, individuals with a sense of self-efficacy take on greater challenges, because they judge themselves capable.
More importantly, Albert Bandura observed that people with a strong sense of self-efficacy exert greater effort to master challenges.
Fostering self-efficacy is like creating a self-propelling internal engine (“I think I can, I think I can, I think I can”) that encourages your child to persist and keep going, even when you can’t be there to help. Speech therapists try to tap into this determination when they work on communication challenges.
Praise that builds self-efficacy focuses on effort (“I love how hard you are trying”) more than ability (“You are really smart!”). Here are twelve encouraging phrases to foster self-efficacy in your children.
That grade reflects a lot of hard work.
You worked it out on your own!
That’s an interesting observation.
That's what we call perseverance!
I trust your judgment.
What do you think about it?
That’s a tough one, but you’ll figure it out.
I can tell you spent a lot of time thinking this through.
I noticed you were really patient with your little sister.
You’ve really got the hang of it!
Thanks for helping set the table, it made a big difference.
You really seem to enjoy (science, math, and language arts).
Over to you
How can you build this idea into one of your family routines?
