If I could recommend only one concept to learn from the psychology of motivation, it would be Albert Bandura’s concept of self-efficacy.

如果我只能推薦從動(dòng)機(jī)心理學(xué)中學(xué)習(xí)一個(gè)概念，那就是阿爾伯特·班杜拉的自我效能概念。

Self-efficacy helps explain many puzzles of our motivation:

自我效能有助于解釋許多關(guān)于動(dòng)機(jī)的困惑：

• Why do we give up on our fitness plan, even though we know we need to be healthier?

  為什么我們明知要變得更健康，還是放棄了健身計(jì)劃？

• Why do we waste time on our phones instead of studying when the exam date looms close?

  為什么考試一天天臨近，我們還是浪費(fèi)時(shí)間刷手機(jī)而不是學(xué)習(xí)？

• Why do we sometimes feel excited to take on a new challenge but other times shrink away?

  為什么我們有時(shí)因?yàn)橛有绿魬?zhàn)而感到興奮，但有時(shí)卻退縮了？

Understanding self-efficacy can also help us build our motivation. But to appreciate the theory, we need to step back and take a look at an earlier, simpler theory of motivation that self-efficacy was intended to correct.

了解自我效能也能幫助我們建立動(dòng)力。但為了理解這一理論，我們需要退后一步，先看看自我效能想要修正的、早期更簡(jiǎn)單的動(dòng)機(jī)理論。

Rational Expectations: Motivation for Robots

理性期望：機(jī)器人的動(dòng)機(jī)

Rational expectations was a prominent theory of motivation, independently proposed by both Edward Tolman and Kurt Lewin in the first half of the twentieth century.

理性期望曾經(jīng)是一種著名的動(dòng)機(jī)理論，于20世紀(jì)上半葉由愛(ài)德華·托爾曼和庫(kù)爾特·盧因獨(dú)立提出。

It proposes that our subjective feeling of motivation is an unconscious calculation of the benefits and costs we’d experience from taking an action. Put mathematically:

該理論認(rèn)為，我們對(duì)動(dòng)機(jī)的主觀感受，是對(duì)采取行動(dòng)所帶來(lái)的成本收益的下意識(shí)計(jì)算。寫成數(shù)學(xué)算式就是：

Motivation = Benefits x Probability – Costs

動(dòng)機(jī) = 收益 * 概率 - 成本

To use a concrete example, according to rational expectations, the motivation I feel for exercising would come from the benefit I expect to achieve (getting in shape), multiplied by the chance that exercising leads to that benefit, minus the costs of effort of sticking to my fitness program.

舉個(gè)具體的例子，根據(jù)理性期望理論，我鍛煉身體的動(dòng)機(jī)等于期望獲得的收益（塑形），乘以鍛煉真能取得收益的概率，減去堅(jiān)持健身計(jì)劃的努力成本。

As implied by its name, rational expectations are, well, rational. This theory suggests that whenever we don’t feel motivated, it’s simply because we’ve judged another option to be more valuable for us. Accordingly, if we failed to exercise and sat around watching Netflix instead, we valued keeping up on our shows more than having a beach body. No mystery at all.

正如這一理論的名字所暗示的，理性期望是理性的。這一理論認(rèn)為，在任何時(shí)候，缺乏動(dòng)力僅僅是因?yàn)槲覀兣袛嗔硗獾倪x擇對(duì)自己更有價(jià)值。因此，如果我們沒(méi)有鍛煉，而是坐在一旁追劇，那么相比于擁有一副好身材，我們更看重的是追劇。這一點(diǎn)也不神秘。

Rational expectations isn’t a terrible theory—it’s probably a pretty good approximation of why we’re motivated in many cases. But it’s also the kind of motivational theory we’d expect of a robot, rather than a human being—it assumes we perfectly weigh the options and always make the right choice.

理性期望并不是一個(gè)糟糕的理論，它可能很好地概括了我們?cè)诤芏嗲闆r下的動(dòng)機(jī)。但這也是一種針對(duì)機(jī)器人，而不是人類的動(dòng)機(jī)理論，它假定我們能完美地權(quán)衡各種選擇，并始終做出正確的選擇。

Motivation for Humans: Self-Efficacy Intervenes

人類的動(dòng)機(jī)：自我效能干預(yù)

Albert Bandura theorized that what was missing from rational expectations was an intervening step. It isn’t enough to have expectations about the outcomes of our actions; we must also have expectations about our ability to take those actions.

阿爾伯特·班杜拉認(rèn)為，理性期望理論中缺少一個(gè)中間步驟。僅僅有對(duì)行動(dòng)結(jié)果的期望還不夠；我們還必須對(duì)我們執(zhí)行這些行動(dòng)的能力有所預(yù)期。

Consider our exercising example again. Bandura argued it isn’t enough to look at our expectations about outcomes (the chance that exercising will improve our fitness). We must also examine our expectations about our ability to take action (whether we believe we can stick to our exercise program). The former may be high enough to justify the cost, but we’ll be stuck with low motivation if the latter is low.

還是用鍛煉的例子。班杜拉認(rèn)為，僅僅研究我們對(duì)結(jié)果的期望（鍛煉改善身材的可能）是不夠的，我們還必須審視自己對(duì)行動(dòng)能力的期望（是否相信自己能堅(jiān)持鍛煉計(jì)劃）。前者可能高到足以證明付出的代價(jià)是值得的，但如果后者較低的話，我們就會(huì)陷入動(dòng)力不足的困境。

Bandura articulated it in the following way:

班杜拉用以下方式闡述了這個(gè)觀點(diǎn)：

Self-efficacy helps to explain why, even when we want an outcome, we might not work toward it:

自我效能有助于解釋為什么盡管我們很想要一個(gè)結(jié)果，也可能不為之努力。

• It’s not just our desire to graduate, but our belief that we are capable of learning the material.

  不僅僅是我們想畢業(yè)的愿望，還有我們認(rèn)為自己能學(xué)好教材的信念。

• It’s not just our desire to own a business, but our belief that we can make it successful.

  不僅是我們想擁有自己事業(yè)的愿望，還有我們認(rèn)為自己能夠成功的信念。

• It’s not just our desire to have a relationship, but our belief that we can ask someone out without being rejected.

  不僅是想建立一段關(guān)系的愿望，還有我們認(rèn)為自己邀請(qǐng)別人不會(huì)被拒絕的信念。

Bandura’s theory improved on rational expectations because it argued that wanting an outcome isn’t enough to motivate you into action; you must also be confident in your ability to take the actions required to reach that outcome.

班杜拉的理論改進(jìn)了理性期望理論，因?yàn)樗赋?，僅僅想要一個(gè)結(jié)果不足以促使你采取行動(dòng)，你還必須相信自己有能力采取必要的行動(dòng)來(lái)實(shí)現(xiàn)這一結(jié)果。

Common Confusions About Self-Efficacy

關(guān)于自我效能的常見(jiàn)困惑

Before I explain some of the implications of self-efficacy, I want to clarify what self-efficacy is not:

在解釋自我效能的一些含義之前，我想先澄清什么不是自我效能

• Self-efficacy is not self-esteem. Self-esteem is how you value yourself. Self-efficacy is your belief that you can succeed in taking a particular course of action. You can believe you’re wonderful while also believing you’re incapable of learning quantum mechanics.

  自我效能不是自尊。自尊是你對(duì)自己的評(píng)價(jià)，自我效能感是你對(duì)自己采取特定行動(dòng)能夠取得成功的信念。你可以認(rèn)為自己很棒，但同時(shí)認(rèn)為自己學(xué)不懂量子力學(xué)。

• Self-efficacy is not self-concept. Self-concept is how you think about yourself. Self-efficacy is about how you think about your ability to perform a given set of actions.

  自我效能不是自我概念。自我概念是你怎么看待自己，自我效能是你如何看待自己完成特定行動(dòng)的能力。

• Self-efficacy is not confidence. As Bandura explains, “Confidence is a nondescript term that refers to strength of belief but does not necessarily specify what the certainty is about. I can be supremely confident that I will fail at an endeavor.”

  自我效能不是自信。正如班杜拉所解釋的，“自信是一個(gè)模糊的術(shù)語(yǔ)，指的是信念的強(qiáng)度，但并不一定明確指出信念所涉及的具體內(nèi)容。我可以對(duì)自己在一項(xiàng)事業(yè)上失敗非常有信心。”

Self-efficacy may be an academic theory, but we all have some experience with the concept. We can recall situations where we felt assured of our abilities, and others where we seriously doubted we could succeed. We know first-hand the consequences these beliefs had on our motivation.

自我效能或許是一種學(xué)術(shù)理論，但我們每個(gè)人都對(duì)這個(gè)概念有一些經(jīng)驗(yàn)。我們可以回想起自己對(duì)能力感到確信的時(shí)刻，也可以回想起嚴(yán)重懷疑自己能否成功的時(shí)候。關(guān)于那些信念對(duì)動(dòng)機(jī)的影響，我們深有體會(huì)。

Bandura’s contribution goes beyond merely labeling this common experience and suggests important implications for understanding our motivation.

班杜拉的貢獻(xiàn)不僅在于給這種常見(jiàn)的經(jīng)驗(yàn)貼上了標(biāo)簽，還為我們理解動(dòng)機(jī)提供了重要的啟示。

What Causes Self-Efficacy

自我效能的成因

Bandura’s research found that there are four major moderators for self-efficacy.

班杜拉的研究發(fā)現(xiàn)，自我效能有四個(gè)主要調(diào)節(jié)因素。

The first two were weak moderators—they could have small effects, but they weren’t reliable:

前兩個(gè)是較弱的調(diào)節(jié)因子，它們可能產(chǎn)生微小的影響，但并不可靠：

1. Bodily arousal. Think of the sweaty palms and racing heart that accompany stage fright or the queasiness that comes before a big exam. These can make it harder to perform, even if you otherwise would be able to in a relaxed state.

   身體喚醒。想想怯場(chǎng)時(shí)手心出汗、心跳加速的感覺(jué)，或者大考前的緊張，這些都會(huì)增加表現(xiàn)的難度，盡管你在放松狀態(tài)下本可以做到。

2. Verbal persuasion. The crowd cheering as you finish a race. A teacher telling you that you can do it. Simple affirmations that you can or can’t do something can influence self-efficacy, but the impact is unreliable.

   言語(yǔ)說(shuō)服。完成比賽后歡呼的人群，告訴你你能行的老師，對(duì)你能或不能完成某事的簡(jiǎn)單確認(rèn)，也會(huì)影響自我效能，但這種影響并不可靠。

In contrast to these weaker effects, Bandura identified two more consistent sources of self-efficacy:

與這些較弱的影響相比，班杜拉提出了兩種更穩(wěn)定的自我效能來(lái)源：

1. Vicarious experience. Witnessing someone perform the task increases self-efficacy. Firstly, this works by giving us a way to learn an effective strategy: If I watch someone solve a puzzle, I can copy their approach to get the same result. There is also a motivational piece: If I see another spider-phobic person touch a tarantula, I might gain courage to do so as well.

   間接經(jīng)驗(yàn)。目睹別人完成任務(wù)能夠提升自我效能。首先，這為我們提供了學(xué)習(xí)一種有效策略的途徑：如果我看到別人解決一個(gè)難題的過(guò)程，就可以仿照他們的方法，得出同樣的結(jié)果。此外還有一種激勵(lì)作用：如果我看到另一個(gè)怕蜘蛛的人伸手摸了狼蛛，我可能也會(huì)鼓起勇氣去摸。

2. Personal mastery. Personally experiencing success with a task (or something like it) is the most powerful tool improving self-efficacy. I’ll feel more confident I can run a marathon after I’ve run a half-marathon. I’ll feel more confident I can be a software developer after I’ve aced my intro programming class.

   個(gè)人精通。成功完成一項(xiàng)任務(wù)（或類似的事）的親身經(jīng)歷，是提升自我效能最有力的工具。跑過(guò)半程馬拉松后，我會(huì)對(duì)自己跑全馬的能力更有信心；順利通過(guò)編程入門課后，我會(huì)更有信心成為一名軟件開(kāi)發(fā)人員。

It’s likely that people with strong self-efficacy, and thus, high degrees of motivation to work on ambitious goals, have had plenty of both vicarious and personal mastery experiences.

自我效能感強(qiáng)的人通常更有動(dòng)力完成遠(yuǎn)大的目標(biāo)，也更可能擁有大量間接經(jīng)驗(yàn)和個(gè)人精通技藝的經(jīng)歷。

Non-Obvious Implications of Self-Efficacy

自我效能隱含的一些啟示

While the feeling of self-efficacy is something we all know, the implications of the theory are not always obvious.

雖然我們都知道自我效能是什么感覺(jué)，但這一理論的含義并不總是顯而易見(jiàn)的。

Here are a few important corollaries of the theory:

以下是從該理論得出的幾個(gè)重要推論：

1. Motivation builds from success.

動(dòng)力源自成功

Because personal mastery is crucial in building self-efficacy, a long string of failures at the beginning of an endeavor is more likely to demotivate than build grit.

鑒于個(gè)人精通對(duì)于建立自我效能至關(guān)重要，因此在剛開(kāi)始努力時(shí)，一長(zhǎng)串的失敗更可能打擊人的積極性，而不是培養(yǎng)人的毅力。

Does this mean that the best way to motivate is to experience only success? Not quite. As Bandura himself puts it:

這是否意味著只有成功才是獲得動(dòng)力的最佳方式？也不盡然。正如班杜拉自己所說(shuō)的：

Performance accomplishments provide the most dependable source of efficacy expectations because they are based on one’s own personal experiences. Successes raise mastery expectations; repeated failures lower them, especially if mishaps occur early in the course of events. After strong efficacy expectations are developed through repeated success, the negative impact of occasional failures is likely to be reduced. Indeed occasional failures that are later overcome by determined effort can strengthen self-motivated persistence through experience that even the most difficult of obstacles can be mastered by sustained effort. The effects of failure on personal efficacy therefore partly depend on the timing and the total pattern of experiences in which they occur. Once established, efficacy expectancies tend to generalize to related situations.

成就表現(xiàn)是自我效能預(yù)期最可靠的來(lái)源，因?yàn)樗鼈円詡€(gè)人的親身經(jīng)歷為基礎(chǔ)。成功提高了一個(gè)人對(duì)掌握這項(xiàng)任務(wù)的期望，而屢次失敗則降低了人們的期望，如果失敗發(fā)生在早期則更是如此。在經(jīng)過(guò)多次成功，形成了強(qiáng)烈的效能期望后，偶爾失敗帶來(lái)的負(fù)面影響很可能會(huì)降低。事實(shí)上，偶爾的失敗如果后來(lái)通過(guò)堅(jiān)持不懈的努力克服了，反而可以增強(qiáng)自我驅(qū)動(dòng)的持久性，因?yàn)檫@讓人體會(huì)到，即使最困難的障礙，也可以通過(guò)持續(xù)的努力來(lái)克服。因此，失敗對(duì)自我效能的影響，一定程度上取決于失敗發(fā)生的時(shí)間，以及在這件事上經(jīng)歷成功失敗的整體模式。一旦建立效能期望，往往就會(huì)推廣到相關(guān)的情境中。

If you have low self-efficacy, it helps to build a foundation of success. Once you have established a basic level of confidence, mixing challenges with occasional setbacks helps make that self-efficacy more robust. You’ll learn that you can succeed, even in the face of momentary difficulties.

如果自我效能很低，那么先用成功建立基礎(chǔ)會(huì)有所幫助。一旦建立了基本的自信，偶爾的挫折和挑戰(zhàn)會(huì)讓你擁有更強(qiáng)的自我效能。你會(huì)知道，即使暫時(shí)面臨困難，最終也會(huì)成功。

2. The confidence spiral can go up—or down.

自信可以螺旋式上升，也能螺旋式下降

The mathematics of self-efficacy form a positive feedback loop. Consider:

自我效能的數(shù)學(xué)原理構(gòu)成了一個(gè)正反饋循環(huán)?？紤]一下：

1. You have some self-efficacy, which enables you to take action and achieve a result.

   假設(shè)你有一定的自我效能，這使你能夠采取行動(dòng)并取得成果。

2. Success from taking the action increases your self-efficacy.

   行動(dòng)的成功提升了你的自我效能。

3. Next time, you are more motivated to take the previous action.

   下一次，你會(huì)更有動(dòng)力采取之前的行動(dòng)。

4. Repeat.

   重復(fù)以上。

Eventually, your motivation would plateau at the level implied by the rational expectations theory (which is one reason why even some tasks we’re supremely confident in, like washing dishes, don’t inspire ecstatic motivation).

最終，你的動(dòng)力將達(dá)到并停留在理性期望理論所暗示的水平（這也是為什么即使是像洗碗這樣我們非常有信心的任務(wù)，也不會(huì)激發(fā)狂熱動(dòng)力的原因之一）。

Conversely, motivation can also crash as we experience lowered self-efficacy:

相反，在我們的自我效能降低時(shí)，動(dòng)力也會(huì)一路下跌：

1. You have some self-efficacy, and take action, but you fail to follow up or fully complete the action.

   你有一些自我效能，采取了行動(dòng)，但沒(méi)了下文，或者半途而廢，最終沒(méi)有完成。

2. Not achieving the desired result decreases your perceived self-efficacy.

   沒(méi)有達(dá)到預(yù)期結(jié)果削弱了你的自我效能。

3. Next time, you have less motivation to take the previous action.

   下一次，你采取之前行動(dòng)的動(dòng)力會(huì)減弱

4. Repeat.

   重復(fù)以上。

This motivation spiral plateaus at total inhibition to take the desired action. The effect is familiar to anyone who has tried a new pursuit a few times, stumbled, and then found it difficult or aversive to attack the problem again. Low self-efficacy can be a trap we stumble into.

動(dòng)機(jī)螺旋式下降，最終低到完全阻礙你采取預(yù)期的行動(dòng)。任何嘗試過(guò)幾次新目標(biāo)，跌跌撞撞，結(jié)果發(fā)現(xiàn)目標(biāo)很難或者不想再次面對(duì)問(wèn)題的人，對(duì)這種影響都似曾相識(shí)。低自我效能可能成為我們跌入的一個(gè)陷阱。

3. Learn from Others, Succeed Yourself.

學(xué)習(xí)他人，成就自己

Self-efficacy was only a part of Bandura’s broader social learning theory. In it, he argued that most of what we know comes from other people, and we learn how to do most things by witnessing the behavior of others—not through our own trial-and-error.

自我效能只是班杜拉更廣泛的社會(huì)學(xué)習(xí)理論中的一部分。在社會(huì)學(xué)習(xí)理論中他指出，我們所知道的大部分知識(shí)都來(lái)自他人，我們通過(guò)觀察他人的行動(dòng)，而不是自己試錯(cuò)，來(lái)學(xué)習(xí)大部分事情的做法。

This suggests that a critical way to build self-efficacy is to closely study people who are successful in the pursuit you care about—see how they do it until you understand the actions they’re taking and why. Their success isn’t a mystery; it’s a logical outcome of the series of decisions they have made and actions they have taken.

這表明，建立自我效能的一個(gè)重要方法，就是仔細(xì)研究那些在你關(guān)心的領(lǐng)域取得成功的人——看他們是怎么做的，直到你理解了他們采取的行動(dòng)，以及背后的原因。他們的成功并不神秘，而是他們做出的一系列決定、采取的一系列行動(dòng)順理成章的結(jié)果。

If you combine this careful study approach with taking the same actions yourself, you’re using the two most powerful levers Bandura identified to increase your self-efficacy and, thus, your motivation for working on challenging goals.

如果把仔細(xì)研究他人和自己采取相同的行動(dòng)結(jié)合起來(lái)，你就在同時(shí)使用班杜拉指出的兩種最有力的工具，幫助你提升自我效能感，因此也就是提升動(dòng)力去實(shí)現(xiàn)有挑戰(zhàn)的目標(biāo)。

Sources:

Bandura, Albert. Self-Efficacy: The Exercise of Control. New York: W.H. Freeman and Company, 1997.

Bandura, Albert. Social Learning Theory. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1977.