Article by Anne Simon B.Sc
Have you ever wondered why people start exercising and then stop?
While there are many many reasons, one of them could be that the individual does not believe that they will be “good” at it and won’t be successful at it. In psychological terms this is known as low self-efficacy.
Self-Efficacy
Definition: the belief in ones capabilities to perform a task successfully. In other words it’s the belief in the ability to succeed in a particular situation. It is a determinant of how people think, behave and feel.
This is situation specific. This means that you may have high self efficacy that you can cook a lovely Sunday roast, but have low self efficacy that you can work the machines in the gym by yourself, last a whole aerobics class or work hard enough in a PT session to make it worth doing.
Everyone has goals they want to achieve and things about their life they would like to change. People often set off on this journey not realising how difficult change may be. Self-efficacy plays a major role in mastering challenges and particularly challenges that are not comfortable such as exercise.
People with a strong self-efficacy;
- Meet challenges head on and try to master them
- Commit themselves to their interests
- Overcome setback
People with a low self-efficacy
- Avoid challenging tasks
- Believe that the challenges are beyond their abilities
- Focus on negative feelings and outcomes
- Lose confidence in their own ability
Do you recognise some of your clients in the descriptions and behaviour
Bandura (1977) (a well known and well respected psychologist) developed a self efficacy theory This has several underlying premises that include, if someone has the motivation and the skills needed to do something then what will make them decide to do it (or not) will be self efficacy. BUT self-efficacy alone will not be enough for them to be successful; they also need the motivation and the ability.
Self-efficacy also affects a person’s choice. If an individual believes that they will be successful, they will make the choice to take up exercise and the choice to come to the gym or exercise class.
Self-efficacy can transfer to other similar skills or situations, so someone who starts going to classes and gains in confidence may feel that they could also go to the gym etc.
Self-efficacy is also related to goal setting – the higher the self-efficacy the more likely they are to set challenging goals, so you would need to consider this when working with you clients
According to Bandura, people’s feelings of self-efficacy can be derived from several principal sources including:
- Performance accomplishments
- Vicarious experiences
- Verbal persuasion
- Imaginable experiences
- Physiological states
- Emotional states
Performance Accomplishments
This provides the most dependable basis for self-efficacy, because there is clear success or failure result. Bandura asserted that people can be persuaded that they can achieve by positive encourgement and goal setting. They are based on the individual successfully mastering the session. For you the instructor, this means that you need to be clear with your explanations and demonstrations, offering progressions and regressions so that the individual leaves your session with a sense of accomplishment.
Success increases self-efficacy while repeated failure results in lower self-efficacy.
Vicarious Experiences
Also known as demonstrations (or modeling). This can be a particularly important source of efficacy information for inexperienced individuals. They will rely on watching others who have achieved. According to Bandura “seeing people similar to oneself succeed by sustained effort raises observers beliefs”. You can also assist them in seeing themselves as achieving the same as successful individuals.
You can assist throughout your session with praise and direct examples i.e. your posture on that exercise was perfect, you have really mastered it. You have really achieved it the same way as …………..Positive feedback is the basis of the modeling.
Verbal Persuasion
On exercise that they may be unsure of, not tried before or just not good at, its important to reinforce to individuals that they will get the hang of it, not to give up. Repeated coaching points and positive feedback will reinforce this.
Imaginable Experiences
Using imagery to generate belief about self-efficacy (or in-efficacy). Imagining a successful outcome will increase self-efficacy. At the end of your sessions allow the individual to reflect on how well they have done, what they have achieved and what they can achieve if they continue to attend. Work with them to have a picture in their mind of what achieving their goal may look like and keep reinforcing it. i.e., that dress you have picked out, can you see yourself in it and how fantastic you will look.
Physiological States
Physiological state may influence self-efficacy, especially when associated with aversive symptoms of a physiological state. If an individual becomes aware of an unpleasant physiological state (e.g. racing heart, breathlessness) they are more likely to doubt their competence and this reduces self-efficacy. So explain at the beginning of each session what they should expect. If they know their heart rate should go up and they should become breathless, then they know that when it happens to them they must be doing it right.
Emotional States
Emotional state will impact greatly on self efficacy, an individual feeling anxious about their progress may have lower feelings of self efficacy while someone feeling positive about the changes they have made will be experiencing increased feelings of self efficacy. This feeling and response may be based on past experiences.
A great teacher will recognise these changes and respond to them in an appropriate way. All the way through your clients programme, or through your classes, counseling, encouraging, helping them compose a script of positive statements may mean that you, the instructor, is going the extra mile. i.e. you are a regular exerciser; you have great healthy lifestyles etc. Don’t we all want to be known as ‘star’ teachers?
While a verbal Par-Q at the beginning of every session is a must, developing a questioning process that identifies a clients self efficacy level will help you, help them stick to their programme. It will allow you to hold their hand more effectively to build the bridge between their current health status and their goals. Remember leaving your comfort zone becomes uncomfortable. If this is too uncomfortable clients will revert back to known comfort zone behaviour. Knowing your clients self-efficacy level will help you the teacher manage their stress or anxiousness, elevating their mood and perception of achievement.
Helping them build self-efficacy, increasing it through your teaching, can only lead to success. Ignoring will often lead them to failure.
If you are taking one to one sessions you are in the ideal position to find out from your client how they feel about their chances of succeeding and then to be able to increase their self-efficacy by wise choices of exercise intensity and complexity. If you are teaching in a group session, speaking to people individually throughout your class, at the beginning and the end, making conscious notes on individuals, developing group questions to help them analyse themselves will increase their self-efficacy. This, along with your motivational skills, should mean that your clients achieve what they set out to achieve and will be happy with their results. You will be part of them changing their lives and becoming exercisers.