self-confidence self-confidence is a feeling of trust in one's abilities qualities and judgments Mike Piazza was a catcher for the New York Mets he once said I'm going to tell you dude it's just a feeling in my hands I can tell you if I'm going to have a good day or a bad day at the plate just by the feeling in my hands it comes and goes when it's there I feel like all I have to do is drop the barrel of the bat on the ball and boom even Elite athletes can have self-doubt however they typically tend to hold the belief that they can still perform at high levels there can be some struggle between feelings of self-confidence and recognizing one's weaknesses we hear the term self-confidence a lot but it's not easy to Define Sports psychologists Define self-confidence as the belief that you can successfully perform a desired Behavior self-confidence was first viewed as both a disposition and as a state but the latest sport self-confidence suggests that it is a social cognitive construct that can be more trait-like or more state-like depending on the temporal frame of reference being used trait self-confidence is a self-confidence that may be part of your personality and thus is very stable the degree of certainty individuals usually possess about their ability to succeed State self-confidence is confidence that may be something that you feel today and therefore it might be unstable the belief of certainty individuals possess at a particular moment about their ability to succeed confidence is affected by specific organizational culture as well as the general socio-cultural forces surrounding Sport and exercise some believe in the self-fulfilling prophecy this is expecting something to happen which actually helps to cause it to happen this phenomenon is common in both competitive Sport and exercise programs the negative self-fulfilling prophecy is a psychological barrier where the expectation of failure leads to actual failure negative self-fulfilling prophecies lead to a vicious cycle the expectation of failure leads to actual failure which lowers self-image and increases expectations of future failure confidence is a critical determinant of performance it will not overcome incompetence there is an optimal level of self-confidence within this optimal level the individual is so convinced that they will achieve their goal that they strive harder to do so at the other end of the spectrum there's a lack of confidence this occurs when self-doubt creates anxiety breaks the concentration and causes indecisiveness many people have the physical skills to be successful but lack the confidence in their ability to perform these skills under pressure self-doubts tend to undermine performance there is also something called overconfidence or false confidence this occurs when confidence is greater than our actual ability which then causes you to prepare less than you need to perform well overconfident people are falsely confident meaning that their confidence is greater than their abilities performance declines as they believe that they do not need to prepare or exert to complete a job you cannot be overly confident however if your confidence is based on actual skill and ability the inverted U model illustrates the confidence performance relationship the highest point is skewed towards the right performance improves as the level of confidence increases up to an optimal Point whereupon further increases in confidence produce corresponding detriments in performance people strive for an individual optimal confidence level but sometimes become either overconfident or underconfident expectations and performance in recent research the relationship between expectations and performance were examined in nearly all contests the individual who both subjects believe was the strongest won the competition it appears that the most important factor in winning was not actual physical strength but who the competitors expected to win this brings us to self-expectations if we have positive expectations for Success it has been shown to produce positive effects in many Realms of life including sport expecting to beat a tough opponent or successfully performing a difficult skill can produce exceptional performance as psychological barriers are overcome we also have Coach expectations a teacher or a coach's expectations can alter feelings and performance if you are working in a coaching capacity your expectations of others not only affects your own behavior but also the feelings and behavior of others as well self-efficacy is the perception of one's ability to perform a task successfully we use the term self-efficacy and self-confidence interchangeably self-efficacy is the perception of one's ability to perform a task successfully this is a situation-specific form of self-confidence and it also centers around more personal motivators of performance than does self-confidence self-confidence is the belief that you can perform a desired Behavior bandura's theory of self-efficacy psychologist Albert bandura has defined self-efficacy as one's belief in one's ability to succeed in specific situations or accomplish a task one sense of self-efficacy can play a major role in how one approaches goals tasks and challenges this is the belief in one's capability to organize and execute the course of action required to produce given attainments this is especially important when one has the required skills and motivations it affects choices and activities level of effort and persistence bandura and wood in 1989 suggested that this may be because those with high self-efficacy will focus on assessing a problem and finding Solutions while those who lack self-efficacy concentrate on their own deficiencies and become so preoccupied that they cannot devote the necessary attention and skill to the task at hand an individual's self-efficacy is not the same across all situations for instance one person might have strong self-efficacy with regard to playing tennis but low self-efficacy with regard to solving algebraic equations in addition self-efficacy in a particular area can be developed or changed affecting behavior and performance bandura provides the following principles for attaining and influencing self-efficacy beliefs we enact Mastery experiences that provide feedback on Learners own capabilities vicarious experiences that provide comparative information about the attainments of others verbal persuasion which provides the learner with information about what others believe they are capable of doing physiological States and internal Feelings by which the learner judges their ability to engage in the task at hand successful performance self-efficacy is developed from experiencing success in order for self-efficacy to develop with difficult tasks this is unrealistic so we must reduce the difficulty at first we can work on vicarious experiences self-efficacy is developed through the use of models for example participatory modeling the learner first observes a model perform a task then the instructor assists the person in successfully performing the task we can also use verbal persuasion self-efficacy is developed from verbal statements that suggest that the athlete is competent and can succeed positive verbal persuasion is best especially combined with instruction this may also be a form of self-talk and lastly we have emotional arousal self-efficacy is developed from being emotionally and physiologically aroused in order to be attentive to the task at hand the efficacy of this model is well documented self-efficacy Theory provides a model for studying the effects of self-confidence on sport performance persistence and behavior self-efficacy or confidence as it's commonly known is one of the most enabling psychological models to have been adopted into positive psychology it is the optimistic self-belief in our competence or chances of successfully accomplishing a task and producing a favorable outcome self-efficacy plays a major part in determining our chances for success in fact some psychologists rate self-efficacy above talent in the recipe for success we need to pay special attention to self-efficacy when setting goals to make sure that our efficacy beliefs are in line with our aims and not working against them perceived self-efficacy is a strong and consistent predictor of athletic performance High self-evicacy people persist in the task longer and Achieve at a higher level efficacy is highly related to motivation and influenced by perceived outcomes some evidence suggests that situation-specific self-efficacy generalizes to other situations and Global self-confidence there is also a collective self-efficacy self-efficacy is not limited necessarily to one individual groups may also exhibit Collective self-efficacy and can have high or low self-efficacy together the social cognitive theory proposes that personal behavioral and environmental factors operate as reciprocally interacting determinants of each other social cognitive theory holds that portions of an individual's knowledge acquisition can be directly related to observing others within the context of social interactions experience and outside media influences the theory states that when people observe a model performing a behavior and the consequences of that behavior they remember the sequence of events and use this information to guide subsequent behaviors observing a model can also prompt the viewer to engage in behavior that they have already learned in other words people do not necessarily learn new behaviors solely by trying them and either succeeding or failing but rather the survival of humanity is dependent upon the replication of the actions of others depending upon whether people are rewarded or punished for their behavior and the outcome of that behavior The Observer may choose to replicate the behavior modeled media provides models for a vast array of people and many different environmental settings the critical components are personal agency and personal control for self-efficacy to develop we have to believe that we are in control and any act we commit is performed intentionally basically if we believe that we can influence a good outcome we will not be afraid to get in the game the end result then is self-efficacy with self-efficacy we are more motivated to continue to work hard and within this we are more motivated to work hard to ensure success because we believe we can succeed even if failure or less success occurs we can handle the outcome better competence motivation theory is a theory of achievement motivation based on a person's feelings of personal competence according to the theory competence motivation increases when a person successfully Masters a task this encourages the person to master more tasks the theory has been used to explain differences in sport the theory is based on the assumption that humans have an innate motivation to be competent and that feelings of competence are the primary determinant of motivation competence is the ability to do something successfully or efficiently the perception of competence is linked to one's effective state positive feelings or positive affect following success in Mastery attempts whereas negative feelings or negative affect follow lack of success according to harder perceived competence is a predictor of cognitive effective and behavioral outcomes cognitive for example could be self-efficacy and control effective for example could be enjoyment or anxiety and behavioral outcomes for example could be things like achievement according to the theory motivation is influenced indirectly by feelings of control competence and self-worth according to harder difficult but realistic goals can provide the greatest positive feelings and intrinsic motivation successful Mastery attempts promote self-efficacy and feelings of personal competence and this leads to higher motivation research shows that perceptions of competence are stronger in athletes who receive more opportunities to demonstrate physical competence therefore coaches should provide opportunities for Mastery attempts and give Focus feedback on performance according to the theory unsuccessful Mastery attempts result in perceived failure or negative affect and less Mastery attempts the end result is low competency motivation the athlete May ultimately lose motivation and may drop out socializing agents such as parents coaches and peers play a role in the development of children's self-perception and effective responses harder claims that positive and contingent feedback should be given for effort and Improvement to nurture children's perceptions of competence and enjoyment in sport this will increase feelings of control positive affect and intrinsic motivation which are important factors to success in sports there are four elements for developing self-efficacy number one successful performance performance accomplishments particularly clear success or failure provide the most Dependable foundation for self-efficacy judgments because they are based on one's Mastery of experiences if experiences are generally positive the level of self-efficacy will rise repeated failures result in expectations of lower self-efficacy number two vicarious experiences another name for this is demonstration or modeling this can help individuals to learn a new skill this provides efficacy information for performers who lack experiences with a task and rely on others to judge their own capabilities even if people attend to demonstrated physical activities and remember how to do them they still may not be able to perform the skills if they have not learned the motor reproduction the final stage in the modeling process is motivation which affects all other stages motivation allows the participant to attend to the model try to remember what was seen and then to practice the skill number three is verbal persuasion verbally telling participants giving encouragement or giving instruction verbal persuasion for enhancing confidence can take the form of self-persuasion this can also occur in the form of self-talk and lastly number four emotional arousal emotional experiences are not simply the product of a physiological arousal emotions or moods can be an additional course of information about self-efficacy positive emotional states such as happiness exhilaration or Tranquility are more likely to enhance efficacy judgments that are negative emotional states such as sadness anxiety and depression many people believe that you either have confidence or you do not but confidence can be built we can do this by ensuring performance accomplishments successful Behavior increases confidence and leads to further successful Behavior performance accomplishments are the most powerful way to build confidence we can manipulate or create situations that allow participants to succeed and therefore they will have a sense of accomplishment we can act confidently thoughts feelings and behaviors are interrelated the more confident an individual acts the more likely they are to feel confident we can also think confidently confidence consists of thinking that you can and will achieve your goals this is a lot of positive self-talk we can use imagery imagery can help us to build our confidence with imagery we can create situations where you can see yourself doing things that you have either not been able to do or have had difficulty doing but you're doing it successfully in your Imaging we can also prepare a plan gives you confidence because you know what you're going to do in advance many athletes enter a competition without a strategy but there should always be a plan of attack as a side note on another related topic to confidence psychological momentum is the positive or negative change in cognition affect physiology and behavior caused by an event or series of events that affects either the perceptions of the competitors or perhaps the quality of performance and the outcome of a competition positive momentum is associated with periods of competition such as a winning streak in which everything seems to be going right for the competitors in contrast negative momentum is associated with periods such as a losing streak when everything seems to be going wrong psychological momentum affects either the perceptions of the competitors or perhaps the quality of performance and the outcome of a competition most of the analysis on psychological momentum focuses on the quantitative side to try to prove or disprove psychological momentum's effect on individual statistics or team wins and losses this is either a positive or A negative change in cognition affect physiology and behavior this is caused by an event or series of events that will shift performances and the outcomes