People Judge Their Capabilities Partly By Comparing

People's Conceptions About Themselves And The Nature Of Things Are Developed And Verified Through Four Different Processes: Direct Experience Of The Effects Produced By Their Actions, Vicarious Experience Of The Effects Produced By Somebody Else's Actions, Judgments Voiced By Others, And Derivation Of Further Knowledge From What They Already Know By Using Rules Of Inference

As A General Rule, Moderate Levels Of Arousal Facilitate Deployment Of Skills, Whereas High Arousal Disrupts It. This Is Especially True Of Complex Activities Requiring Intricate Organization Of Behavior

The Presence Of Many Interacting Influences, Including The Attainments Of Others, Create Further Leeway In How One's Performances And Outcomes Are Cognitively Appraised

People Who Underestimate Their Capabilities Also Bear Costs, Although, As Already Noted, These Are More Likely To Take Self-limiting Rather Than Aversive Forms. By Failing To Cultivate Personal Potentialities And Constricting Their Activities, Such Persons Cut Themselves Off From Many Rewarding Experiences. Should They Attempt Tasks Having Evaluative Significance, They Create Internal Obstacles To Effective Performance By Approaching Them With Unnerving Self-doubts

The Content Of Most Textbooks Is Perishable, But The Tools Of Self-directedness Serve One Well Over Time.