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All content in this area was uploaded by Michael Condren on Dec 13, 2023
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Content uploaded by Michael Condren
Author content
All content in this area was uploaded by Michael Condren on Dec 13, 2023
Content may be subject to copyright.
H
Heroic Self-efficacy
Michael Condren
Division of Behavioral and Organizational
Sciences, Claremont Graduate University,
Claremont, CA, USA
Synonyms
Heroic efficacy;Self-efficacy
Definition
Heroic self-efficacy: a domain-specific form of
self-efficacy (Bandura 1977)defined as an indi-
vidual’s belief that they have the necessary skills
and resources to respond effectively in situations
that require heroic behavior (Csikszentmihalyi
et al. 2017).
Self-Efficacy Theory
Self-efficacy theory is grounded in social-
cognitive theory (Bandura 1977), which says
that individuals actively shape their environments
through cognitive, affective, and behavioral inter-
actions with their surroundings. In doing so, they
create and evolve their self and personality
through self-regulation in pursuit of their goals
(Bandura 1977). Self-efficacy theory holds that
an individual’s beliefs about their ability to
achieve desired results are the most important
predictors of how they will behave, and the extent
to which they will persevere, to overcome obsta-
cles and challenges in order to achieve their goals
(Bandura 1977). Self-efficacy beliefs, then, are
beliefs about personal capabilities, based on the
evaluation of one’s capacity to respond to specific
challenging tasks, situations, and conditions; they
are not personality traits, specific goals or out-
comes (Bandura 1977). Self-efficacy beliefs
evolve and develop over the lifespan as the indi-
vidual interacts with their environment (Maddux
and Gosselin 2012; Maddux and Kleiman 2021).
As such, self-efficacy beliefs influence our ability
to self-regulate by shaping the goals we set for
ourselves; the activities we choose to pursue these
goals; our persistence in pursuit of these goals;
and our problem-solving and decision-making
abilities (Maddux and Gosselin 2012; Maddux
and Kleiman 2021).
Self-efficacy beliefs develop and evolve in
response to information from five sources: perfor-
mance experiences, vicarious experiences, imag-
ined experiences, verbal persuasion, and
physiological and emotional states (Maddux and
Gosselin 2012; Maddux and Kleiman 2021). Per-
formance experiences of tasks in relevant situa-
tions enable the gradual attainment of success and
mastery in that situation. Performance experi-
ences of success or failure at controlling their
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023
S. Allison et al. (eds.), Encyclopedia of Heroism Studies,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-17125-3_92-1
environment are considered to be the most potent
developer of self-efficacy expectations and can
strengthen or weaken self-efficacy beliefs
(Maddux and Gosselin 2012; Maddux and
Kleiman 2021). A less influential source of self-
efficacy expectations are vicarious experiences,
derived from observing role models’behaviors,
knowledge, skills, and strategies to achieve their
goals (Maddux and Gosselin 2012; Maddux and
Kleiman 2021). Imagined experiences of one’s
own or other’s behavior in certain situations, and
other people’s verbal expression of their beliefs
about our capabilities in a given domain or situa-
tion, are less influential sources (Maddux and
Gosselin 2012; Maddux and Kleiman 2021).
Lastly, the physiological and emotional states
which we associate with successful or poor per-
formance influence our self-efficacy expectations,
as unpleasant states tend to decrease self-efficacy
beliefs (Maddux and Gosselin 2012; Maddux and
Kleiman 2021).
Self-efficacy beliefs are linked to specific
behaviors, actions, tasks, challenges, and condi-
tions (Maddux and Gosselin 2012; Maddux and
Kleiman 2021). As a result, self-efficacy beliefs
about capabilities in one situation may not be
relevant to other situations, and so self-efficacy
expectations are often domain-specific. Self-
efficacy beliefs can also operate at both the indi-
vidual and collective levels. Collective efficacy is
an emergent group-level characteristic, which
reflects members’shared beliefs about the group’s
ability to achieve desired goals (Bandura 2000).
Collective efficacy beliefs are particularly rele-
vant to social heroes who frequently act as part
of a group or organization (Condren 2019).
Heroism and Self-efficacy
Applied to the domain of heroic behaviors, self-
efficacy beliefs will influence an individual’s
assessment of their capabilities to respond effec-
tively in situations that require heroic behavior.
Although limited, research has found support for
the role of performance, vicarious, imagined, and
verbal experiences in developing heroic self-
efficacy beliefs, and in heroes’engagement in
heroic behavior.
Research on individuals who risked their lives
to save others found that they shared several char-
acteristics (Kohen et al. 2017). These heroes had
previously imagined situations where help might
be needed and how they would respond; they
regularly helped others; and they had skills and
experience that made them feel confident they
could successfully execute the heroic action
required (Kohen et al. 2017). These shared char-
acteristics suggest that both imagined and perfor-
mance experiences were sources of their heroic
self-efficacy beliefs. For other heroes –dissident
artists in communist Poland –vicarious and verbal
sources influenced their self-efficacy beliefs. Hav-
ing a positive dissident role model in their family
during their formative and/or adult years provided
a role model for heroic behavior, and in some
cases an initiator into dissident behavior with
other artists (Csikszentmihalyi et al. 2017).
Being part of a group of actively dissident artists
then provided opportunities for performance
experiences of heroism that further developed
their heroic self- and collective efficacy beliefs
(Csikszentmihalyi et al. 2017).
Similar influences on heroic self-efficacy
expectations were found in studies of social activ-
ists, whose performance experiences and vicari-
ous experiences influenced the development and
evolution of their heroic self-efficacy beliefs over
their lifespan. The activists all demonstrated
value-oriented challenges to unjust authorities by
late adolescence, with some starting to challenge
authority as early as childhood, providing them
with graduated performance experiences of heroic
actions (Condren 2019). As adults, seeing an
activist group’s public demonstrations and com-
munications –role modeling heroic behaviors –
functioned as a vicarious source of self-efficacy
beliefs that spurred them to join the group
(Csikszentmihalyi et al. 2017). These heroes fre-
quently described their decision to join as an
epiphany moment, which clarified what needed
to be done and empowered them to feel confident
in their ability to respond effectively in this situa-
tion (Csikszentmihalyi et al. 2017). Their self-
2 Heroic Self-efficacy
efficacy beliefs were subsequently enhanced by
participation in the group and its collective effi-
cacy beliefs (Condren 2019).
This research suggests that vicarious experi-
ences of seeing others acting heroically triggered
these heroes’heroic imagination, which is defined
as the mindset to help others and take risks on
behalf of others and/or a moral cause (Franco et al.
2011). This mindset is thought to be developed
over the life span through interacting with one’s
environment, and heroic mindset beliefs can influ-
ence one’s development of heroic self-efficacy
(Allison et al. 2017). Accordingly, hero training
programs focus on developing participants’
heroic imagination and heroic consciousness in
order to build heroic self-efficacy. Programs such
as the Heroic Imagination Project and others use
vicarious and imagined experiences based on real-
life role models to train participants to imagine
how they would respond in situations requiring
heroic response (Riches et al. 2020). Training
potential heroes to develop heroic self-efficacy
underlines the important role that heroic self-
efficacy beliefs play in the lifelong developmental
process that is heroism (Allison et al. 2017).
Cross-References
▶Empowerment
▶Epiphany
▶Heroic Imagination
References
Allison, Scott T., George R. Goethals, and Roderick
M. Kramer. 2017. Introduction: Setting the scene: The
rise and coalescence of heroism science. In Handbook
of heroism and heroic leadership, ed. Scott T. Allison,
George R. Goethals, and Roderick M. Kramer, 1–16.
New York: Routledge/Taylor & Francis Group. https://
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Bandura, Albert. 1977. Self-efficacy: Toward a unifying
theory of behavioral change. Psychological Review
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———. 2000. Exercise of human agency through collec-
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Condren, Michael. 2019. Self-directed universalists: Social
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science/vol4/iss2/8
Csikszentmihalyi, Mihaly, Michael Condren, and Izabela
Lebuda. 2017. Deviant heroes and social heroism in
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Kohen, Ari, Matt Langdon, and Brian R. Riches. 2017.
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