Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 3
The correct answer is Option (3) → Social learning theory
Option (1) Classical conditioning theory — Incorrect. Classical conditioning (Pavlov) explains learning by temporal association, two events repeatedly occurring close together in time. It is a learning theory, but not the one self-efficacy comes from.
Option (2) Psychodynamic theory — Incorrect. Freud’s psychodynamic theory explains personality through unconscious instincts and the conflict of id, ego and superego, with defence mechanisms against anxiety. Learning by observation, the root of self-efficacy, has no place in it.
Option (3) Social learning theory — Correct. Self-efficacy is a person’s belief that she or he has the ability or behaviours a situation requires. The notion is based on Bandura’s social learning theory: Bandura found that people learn by observing and imitating others, and that their expectations of mastery and convictions about their own effectiveness decide what they attempt.
Option (4) Analytical psychology — Incorrect. Jung’s analytical psychology sees personality as competing forces within the individual, with a collective unconscious of inherited archetypes. Beliefs about one’s own ability do not come from it.
Note: A similar question was also asked in CUET (UG) 2023 on 22-06-2023 (Slot 3), in CUET (UG) 2025 on 20-05-2025 (Slot 1), and in CUET (UG) 2026 on 29-05-2026 (Slot 2) and 06-06-2026 (Slot 1).
NCERT (2025-26): “Self-efficacy … Self-efficacy is another important aspect of our self. People differ in the extent to which they believe they themselves control their life outcomes or the outcomes are controlled by luck or fate or other situational factors, e.g. passing an examination. A person who believes that s/he has the ability or behaviours required by a particular situation demonstrates high self-efficacy. The notion of self-efficacy is based on Bandura’s social learning theory. Bandura’s initial studies showed that children and adults learned behaviour by observing and imitating others. People’s expectations of mastery or achievement and their convictions about their own effectiveness also determine the types of behaviour in which they would engage, as also the amount of risk they would undertake.…” |