Dr Suzy Green & Associates

Welcome back!  Well what a month it’s been!  A month of mixed emotions - more uncertainty and fear as the global financial market crises continues to make headline news and this week for many – joy and hope as the first African American president is elected! 

Well you might say these aren’t the emotions you’re experiencing at all!  That reminds us that it’s how we perceive events, rather than the events themselves, that leads to our emotional response.  It’s a great opportunity to revisit some of the information we covered in my series on “emotional intelligence” (e-news April, May, June & July 08).  What are some of the thoughts that you’re having or have had in response to these events?  There are often a lot of “what ifs” that drive fear!  So ask yourself the question – am I creating hope or fear? 

From time to time, particularly as we mature, It’s worth holding up our thoughts (or attitudes) for consideration and investigation.  Ask yourself the key question – Is this thought helping me (or others)?  Sometimes we become so attached to our thinking that we hold onto assumptions that are no longer true or useful and now might be a great time to reflect on this and change your thinking (see e-news May, June, July & August 07!

Whether you’re fearful or joyous, cultivating hope in the face of uncertainty or adversity has been shown to lead to better outcomes.  Several models have proposed that positive experiences and self-affirmations work as a resource upon which individuals can draw in time of need.  At an emotional level, when people are in a more positive emotional state, they can confront information and events that might otherwise put them in a negative mood (Carver, 2003).

Hope as referred to here, is a well-validated psychological construct conceptualized as a goal-directed cognitive process.  Snyder, Harris et al. (1991) defined hope as, "a cognitive set that is based on a reciprocally derived sense of successful agency (goal-directed determination) and pathways (planning to meet goals)" (p. 572). As such, hopeful thinking always includes three components: goals, pathways thinking, and agency thinking.

In the december e-news I will provide a complete overview of the construct of Hope however If you’ve been reading my e-news over the past two years then hopefully (pardon the pun!) you’re already on your way to becoming a High Hoper – if you’re not one already!

Last month I introduced you to the concept of psychological capital or PsyCap. PsyCap is not a new concept by any means.  If you recall it is comprised of four well-validated psychological constructs being:  self-efficacy, optimism, hope (yes again!) and resilience.  This month I’ll cover “self-efficacy” in a little more detail – so read on! (Sorry to those that were expecting a discussion on “hope” this month - I have decided to delay this discussion till next month!)

Month 11 - 2008 –Building PsyCap:  Developing confidence (aka self-efficacy)

Confidence is something we all want!  It’s so hot right now!  In the past month, I’ve had two requests by the media to discuss confidence – one in regard to general confidence and the benefits it has to us and the other in regard to it’s effect on our sex appeal!  Think Angelina Jolie or Barack Obama!  Many would say that’s what Barack Obama has that influenced the majority to vote for him! 

Confidence, or the lack thereof, affects almost every part of our lives, from our work to our relationships.  It’s a clear delineator of who “thrives” rather than who just “survives”.  Those with confidence take risks, stepping out of their comfort zones to pursue their goals.  Doing so provides evidence for our brains that we are capable which then positively affects our self-confidence.  And, it can work the other way too i.e. if you don’t push yourself out of your comfort zone, then there is a lack of evidence for your brain that you are capable and then you tend to avoid situations that will stretch you!  Which cycle are you currently in??

This Month's Action Plan -Repeat after me:  I think I can, I think I can!

Albert Bandura (1997) referred to the probability that people estimate that they can take on a particular task as an estimate of their self-efficacy.  You can ask yourself the question right now in regard to one of your life dreams e.g. to walk the Kokoda Trail– can I do it?  The probability with which you associate being able to do this is a level of self-efficacy.

Whilst self-efficacy can vary from situation to situation, there is increasing recognition that we can have a “generalised” level of self-efficacy across domains (Parker, 1998).  As such we can be fairly confident in our roles at work, despite various levels of challenges and tasks being presented to us.

In their book “Psychological Capital”, Luthans et al (2007) suggest you spend some time personally reflecting on what they refer to as “PsyCap Efficacy” as follows:

1. Select a specific domain of your life that you feel very confident about e.g. your job, your relationship, your education, your favourite sport or a leadership role. 
2. Carefully note the various tasks you need to perform in this domain to achieve success e.g. using your social intelligence and your written communication skills in your role as a leader.  The list may be long as you start to break down the specific tasks.
3. Prioritise your list:  focus on the most critical three or four tasks, those having the biggest impact on success. 
4. On a scale of 0-100%, determine how confident you are that you can do the following:  at least get by on these tasks; meet your own and others’ expectations in performing these tasks; and excel in accomplishing these tasks.
5. NOW, leave your comfort zone and focus on your life dreams – choose any life domain.
6. Using a similar process to above, break it down into critical tasks or components.
7. Finally, using the 3 questions in item 4 above, assess your level of confidence for each component.

Luthans et al, suggest you reflect on this process.  Did you choose a life goal far from your level of mastery i.e. did you step outside your “comfort zone”?  Reflect on your learnings from this exercise and I’ll review some of the discoveries about building self-efficacy next month!

In the meantime, continue to watch those ANTS (automatic negative thoughts) and remember the little engine that could and repeat after me “I think I can, I think I can”!

Next Month…I’ll be continuing my discussion on psychological capital with a focus on hope!

Believe in yourself! Have faith in your abilities! Without a humble but reasonable confidence in your own powers you cannot be successful or happy…. Formulate and stamp indelibly on your mind a mental picture of yourself as succeeding. Hold this picture tenaciously. Never permit it to fade. Your mind will seek to develop the picture … Do not build obstacles in your imagination … Do not be awestruck by other people and try to copy them. Nobody can be you as efficiently as you can.