About the lecture

In this lecture, we think about what self-efficacy and self-confidence and sport are, focusing in particular on: (i) the common desire amongst athletes to have greater self-confidence; (ii) the tendency for athletes to attribute their success to their self-belief; (iii) differentiating self-confidence and self-efficacy, with the latter being task-specific and the former more generalised; (iv) Bandura’s 1986 definition of perceived self-efficacy; (v) self-efficacy underpinning personal agency, such that those with high self-efficacy are more likely to be motivated towards those specific tasks as they believe they can be successful.

About the lecturer

Dr Jamie Barker is a senior lecturer in the School of Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences at Loughborough University. Dr Barker’s research interests include intervention effectiveness, group dynamics, leadership and resilience within applied sport and performance research. Some of Dr Barker’s recent publications include 'Psychological support for sport coaches: An exploration of practitioner psychologist perspectives' (2018) and 'Investigating the effects of irrational and rational self-statements on motor-skill and hazard-perception performance' (2018).