Albert Bandura is best known for his theory of
self-efficacy and his work in
social learning, including the famous "Bobo doll" experiment. In addition, Bandura served as President of the American Psychological Association in 1974 and continues to research and teach at Stanford University. Below are just a few quotations from Bandura's writings.
Selected Albert Bandura Quotes
- "Self-efficacy is the belief in one's capabilities to organize and execute the sources of action required to manage prospective situations."
From Social Foundations of Thought and Action: A Social Cognitive Theory, 1986.
- "A theory that denies that thoughts can regulate actions does not lend itself readily to the explanation of complex human behavior."
From Social Foundations of Thought and Action: A Social Cognitive Theory, 1986.
- "If efficacy beliefs always reflected only what people can do routinely they would rarely fail but they would not set aspirations beyond their immediate reach nor mount the extra effort needed to surpass their ordinary performances."
From Encyclopedia of Human Behavior, 1994.
- "Self-belief does not necessarily ensure success, but self-disbelief assuredly spawns failure."
From Self-efficacy: The exercise of control, 1997.
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- "People not only gain understanding through reflection, they evaluate and alter their own thinking."
From Social Foundations of Thought and Action, 1986.
- "By sticking it out through tough times, people emerge from adversity with a stronger sense of efficacy."
From Encyclopedia of Human Behavior, 1994.
- "People who regard themselves as highly efficacious act, think, and feel differently from those who perceive themselves as inefficacious. They produce their own future, rather than simply foretell it."
From Social Foundations of Thought and Action: A social Cognitive Theory., 1986.
- "People with high assurance in their capabilities approach difficult tasks as challenges to be mastered rather than as threats to be avoided."
From Encyclopedia of Human Behavior, 1994.
- "We are more heavily invested in the theories of failure than we are in the theories of success."
From APA address, 1998.
- "Once established, reputations do not easily change."
From Encyclopedia of Human Behavior, 1994.
