The notion of self-efficacy is based on the theory of:

Answer & explanation

Correct answer: option 1

The correct answer is Option (1) → Bandura’s social learning theory

Option (1) Bandura’s 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 (2) Erikson’s social identity theory — Incorrect. Erikson’s theory stresses conscious ego processes and ego identity, with the identity crisis of adolescence at its centre. It is a theory of the search for identity across life, not of one’s belief in one’s own competence; the option joins Erikson’s name to a label that is not his.

Option (3) Freud’s psychoanalytic theory — Incorrect. Freud explained 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 (4) Jung’s analytical psychology — Incorrect. Jung saw 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 1: A similar question was also asked in CUET (UG) 2026 on 06-06-2026 (Slot 1).

Note 2: A similar question was also asked in CUET (UG) 2022 on 16-07-2022 (Slot 1), in CUET (UG) 2023 on 22-06-2023 (Slot 3), and in CUET (UG) 2025 on 20-05-2025 (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.…”

“Erik Erikson : Search for Identity … In his theory, development is viewed as a lifelong process, and ego identity is granted a central place in this process. His concept of identity crisis of adolescent age has drawn considerable attention.…”