... to control outcomes important to daily functioning serve to provide a sense of predictability while decreasing anxiety. Beliefs influence actions, feelings, and thoughts and they permeate choice-making processes. Overview Albert Bandura is a psychologist of tremendous influence whose work in social learning theory places him in the company of Sigmund Freud, Jean Piaget, B.F. Skinner, and Carl Rogers (Bandura's Biography, 1997). As an extension of his research into the cognitive processes involved with learning, Bandura addressed the perception that an individual experiences regarding his/her self-efficacy to handle situations in specific domains. He defined four main influences upon the development of efficacy (control beliefs): mastery experiences (personal successes, the most authentic and powerful means), vicarious experiences (provided by observing social models), social persuasion (positive verbal appraisals offered by others), and self-feedback based on physiological and emotional states (Bandura, 1986). These beliefs affect human functioning through four general areas of mental processing including ...

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