Quiz — Chapter 10: Self-Esteem and Self-Efficacy

25 questions. Multiple choice unless otherwise indicated. Answers with explanations at the end.

1. Self-esteem is defined as:

a) Confidence in one's ability to perform specific tasks b) The evaluative component of self-concept — the extent to which a person values or approves of themselves c) The collection of beliefs a person holds about their skills and abilities d) The sum of positive social feedback a person receives

2. Research suggests that _ may be as important as level in determining the psychological consequences of self-esteem.

a) The specific domains in which self-esteem is grounded b) How self-esteem compares to peers of the same age c) Stability — how much self-esteem fluctuates in response to events d) Whether self-esteem was developed in childhood or adulthood

3. Contingent self-esteem is characterized by:

a) Self-worth that is stable regardless of performance outcomes b) Self-worth that depends on meeting specific conditions (performing well, being approved of, comparing favorably with others) c) Self-worth developed through genuine mastery and competence d) Self-worth based on unconditional acceptance

4. The "self-esteem treadmill" describes:

a) The progressive development of self-esteem through accumulated accomplishments b) The cycle in which each achievement temporarily boosts self-esteem but the boost fades, requiring the next achievement to maintain self-worth c) The process of running from one contingency domain to another d) The relationship between physical exercise and self-esteem

5. Baumeister and colleagues' 2003 review of the self-esteem literature found that high self-esteem reliably predicts:

a) Academic performance b) Quality of social relationships c) Subjective wellbeing and initiative-taking d) Reduced antisocial behavior

6. Which of the following is NOT a well-supported finding from the self-esteem literature?

a) High self-esteem predicts subjective wellbeing b) High self-esteem predicts academic performance c) High self-esteem predicts initiative and willingness to attempt things d) High self-esteem predicts resilience after failure

7. Kristin Neff's self-compassion framework includes three components. Which of the following is NOT one of them?

a) Self-kindness b) Common humanity c) Self-improvement orientation d) Mindful awareness

8. Research comparing self-compassion to self-esteem has found:

a) Self-esteem is consistently more predictive of wellbeing than self-compassion b) Self-compassion, unlike high self-esteem, is not associated with narcissism or defensive reactions to threats c) Self-compassion reduces motivation by reducing concern about performance d) Self-compassion and self-esteem are essentially the same construct

9. Self-efficacy, as defined by Albert Bandura, refers to:

a) The global sense of being a worthy and valuable person b) The belief in one's ability to successfully perform a specific task or class of tasks c) The actual level of skill or ability a person possesses d) The tendency to explain one's failures in stable, global terms

10. Which of the following correctly describes the relationship between self-esteem and self-efficacy?

a) They are the same construct measured at different levels of specificity b) Self-esteem is more predictive of behavior in applied contexts than self-efficacy c) They are correlated but distinct — a person can have high self-esteem with low self-efficacy in specific domains, or vice versa d) Self-efficacy is always higher than self-esteem in high-performing individuals

11. According to Bandura, which of the following is the most powerful source of self-efficacy?

a) Verbal persuasion from credible sources b) Vicarious experience — watching similar others succeed c) Mastery experiences — directly and successfully performing the relevant task d) Reappraising physiological states as excitement rather than anxiety

12. Vicarious experience increases self-efficacy most effectively when:

a) The model being observed is highly elite and accomplished b) The model is perceived as similar to the observer — "if they can do it, maybe I can" c) The task being modeled is simple and requires little skill d) The model explicitly encourages the observer

13. The finding that verbal persuasion (being told you can do something) increases self-efficacy has an important limitation:

a) Verbal persuasion only works when combined with monetary incentives b) Verbal persuasion that is not grounded in genuine competence sets up failure, which damages self-efficacy more than no encouragement would c) Verbal persuasion only works with extraverted individuals d) Verbal persuasion is less effective than self-affirmation exercises

14. The concept of learned helplessness was originally demonstrated by:

a) Albert Bandura, using children in social learning experiments b) Martin Seligman, in experiments with dogs exposed to uncontrollable shocks c) Kristin Neff, in research on self-compassion and failure d) Roy Baumeister, in reviewing the self-esteem literature

15. Learned helplessness in humans involves:

a) Learning to avoid situations where one previously failed b) Developing the expectation that outcomes are not controllable by one's behavior — producing motivational, cognitive, and emotional deficits c) Becoming unable to learn new skills after repeated failure d) A neurological condition that prevents new learning

16. Seligman's concept of "explanatory style" for bad events describes three dimensions. Which of the following is the "optimistic" explanatory pattern for a personal setback?

a) Permanent, pervasive, personal b) Temporary, specific, external where genuinely external c) Temporary, global, internal d) Permanent, specific, external

17. Research on reappraising physiological arousal before performance situations found:

a) Arousal is always harmful to performance and should be reduced b) Arousal cannot be reappraised — its effects on performance are fixed c) Reappraising anxiety as excitement (rather than suppressing it) improved performance d) Physiological arousal has no meaningful relationship to self-efficacy

18. High self-efficacy affects behavior in four ways. Which of the following is NOT one of Bandura's four effects?

a) Choice — high self-efficacy leads people to take on more challenges b) Effort — high self-efficacy leads to greater investment of effort c) Accuracy — high self-efficacy leads to more accurate self-assessment d) Persistence — high self-efficacy leads to longer persistence in the face of difficulty

19. Impostor phenomenon (impostor syndrome) was originally described by Clance and Imes in:

a) 1955, as a variant of depression b) 1978, primarily among high-achieving women c) 1995, as a feature of narcissistic personality d) 2001, in studies of first-generation college students

20. The attributional pattern characteristic of impostor phenomenon is:

a) Externalizing failure and internalizing success b) Internalizing both success and failure c) Externalizing success (attributing it to luck or timing) and internalizing failure (attributing it to fixed inability) d) Externalizing both success and failure

21. The chapter argues that the route to genuine self-esteem is:

a) Positive self-talk and affirmation exercises b) Eliminating external standards for self-evaluation c) Accumulating genuine competence and mastery, practicing self-compassion, and living in alignment with values d) Receiving unconditional positive regard from others

22. Which of the following is most consistent with a "secure" self-esteem, as described in the chapter?

a) Consistently high performance in the domains that matter most to you b) Receiving frequent validation and positive feedback from others c) Acknowledging mistakes without global self-condemnation; taking on challenges where failure is possible; maintaining stable self-worth across successes and failures d) Setting and achieving goals that are difficult for others but achievable for you

23. Research on self-compassion and motivation found that:

a) Self-compassion reduces motivation because people feel too comfortable with their failures b) Self-compassion is associated with greater willingness to acknowledge mistakes, more motivation after failure, and genuine engagement with growth c) Self-compassion is only beneficial for people with very low self-esteem d) Self-compassion and motivation are unrelated — they affect different domains

24. The chapter argues that the main practical problem with artificial self-esteem inflation is:

a) It causes people to overestimate their abilities in dangerous situations b) It reduces motivation by making people feel too good about mediocre work c) It produces fragile self-esteem that crumbles when the real world offers inevitable resistance, because it is not grounded in genuine competence d) It creates interpersonal conflict because others do not confirm the inflated view

25. (Short answer) Explain why self-efficacy is generally more predictive of behavior than global self-esteem in applied contexts, and give one example that illustrates this difference. (3–5 sentences)

Answer Key

1. b — Self-esteem is the evaluative component of self-concept — the affective-evaluative verdict about the self. Self-efficacy (a) is the capability belief; (c) describes something closer to competence assessments; (d) describes social feedback, not an internal evaluation.

2. c — Stability of self-esteem — how much it fluctuates in response to events — may matter as much as level. Highly contingent, reactive self-esteem is associated with defensiveness and vulnerability even when the average level is high.

3. b — Contingent self-esteem depends on meeting specific conditions. It is the opposite of secure self-esteem (a, d) and is not produced through genuine mastery (c) — or if it is, it cannot maintain itself without ongoing performance.

4. b — The self-esteem treadmill: each achievement temporarily boosts contingent self-esteem, but the boost fades, requiring the next achievement. It is not about progressive accumulation (a) or running between domains (c).

5. c — Baumeister's review found that high self-esteem reliably predicts subjective wellbeing (how good people feel) and initiative (willingness to attempt things). It does not reliably predict academic performance (a), relationship quality (b), or prosocial behavior (d).

6. b — Academic performance is NOT reliably predicted by self-esteem; the causal direction may be reversed (performance → self-esteem). Options (a), (c), and (d) are all supported findings from the literature.

7. c — Neff's three components are self-kindness, common humanity, and mindful awareness. "Self-improvement orientation" is not a component of her framework.

8. b — A key finding in the self-compassion literature is that, unlike high self-esteem, self-compassion is not associated with narcissism or defensive reactions to threats. Options (a), (c), and (d) misrepresent the research.

9. b — Self-efficacy is the belief in one's ability to successfully perform specific tasks. It is domain-specific (not global like self-esteem), about belief (not actual ability), and is not about attribution style.

10. c — Self-esteem and self-efficacy are correlated but distinct. A person can have any combination of high/low on each. Self-efficacy is generally more predictive of behavior in applied contexts (b is reversed).

11. c — Mastery experiences — direct, successful performance — are the most powerful source of self-efficacy. The other options are real sources but weaker. Verbal persuasion (a) is real but fragile; vicarious experience (b) is second most powerful.

12. b — Vicarious experience works most effectively when the model is perceived as similar to the observer. Watching an elite performer does not increase a novice's self-efficacy in the way watching a peer succeed does.

13. b — Verbal persuasion is limited by its accuracy. Encouragement that is not grounded in genuine competence leads to attempts that fail, and failure damages self-efficacy more than no encouragement would have.

14. b — Learned helplessness was originally demonstrated by Martin Seligman in experiments with dogs exposed to uncontrollable shocks who later failed to escape escapable shocks.

15. b — Learned helplessness in humans involves the expectation that outcomes are not controllable — producing motivational deficits (giving up), cognitive deficits (impaired problem-solving), and emotional deficits (depressed affect).

16. b — The optimistic explanatory style for bad events is: temporary (not permanent), specific (not pervasive), and external where genuinely external. Permanent/pervasive/personal (a) is the pessimistic style associated with helplessness.

17. c — Alison Wood Brooks found that reappraising anxiety as excitement (rather than trying to suppress it) improved performance — because both share the same physiological substrate, and excitement is approach-oriented while anxiety is avoidance-oriented.

18. c — The four effects Bandura identifies are: choice, effort, persistence, and resilience. Accuracy (c) is not one of them — high self-efficacy does not necessarily produce more accurate self-assessment.

19. b — Impostor phenomenon was first described by Clance and Imes in 1978, originally in high-achieving women. It has since been found broadly across genders and populations.

20. c — The characteristic pattern: externalizing success (attributing it to luck/timing/error by evaluators) and internalizing failure (attributing it to fixed inability). This maintains the impostor experience regardless of outcomes.

21. c — The chapter argues that genuine self-esteem comes from accumulating real competence, practicing self-compassion, and living in alignment with values. Affirmations (a) and unconditional validation alone (d) produce fragile, ungrounded self-esteem.

22. c — Secure self-esteem allows acknowledging mistakes without global self-condemnation, taking on challenges, and maintaining stable worth across outcomes. It is not dependent on consistent high performance (a), external validation (b), or comparative achievement (d).

23. b — Research consistently finds that self-compassion is associated with greater motivation after failure, greater willingness to acknowledge mistakes, and genuine growth orientation. The intuition that self-compassion reduces motivation is not supported.

24. c — Artificially inflated self-esteem produces fragility: it is not grounded in genuine competence, so it cannot withstand the inevitable failures and resistance of real-world experience. It crumbles when tested.

25. (Model answer) Self-efficacy predicts behavior in applied contexts better than global self-esteem because it is domain-specific — it directly addresses whether a person believes they can perform the relevant task, not just whether they feel good about themselves overall. For example, a person may have high global self-esteem but very low self-efficacy for giving public presentations; the self-efficacy will predict whether they avoid the task, how much effort they invest, and how they recover from a stumble — while the global self-esteem may not change at all across these performance situations.