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. 2024 Feb;28(1):11-53.
doi: 10.1177/10888683231178056. Epub 2023 Jun 29.

Believing That We Can Change Our World for the Better: A Triple-A (Agent-Action-Aim) Framework of Self-Efficacy Beliefs in the Context of Collective Social and Ecological Aims

Karen R S Hamann  1   2 , Marlis C Wullenkord  1   3 , Gerhard Reese  1 , Martijn van Zomeren  4
Affiliations

Believing That We Can Change Our World for the Better: A Triple-A (Agent-Action-Aim) Framework of Self-Efficacy Beliefs in the Context of Collective Social and Ecological Aims

Karen R S Hamann et al. Pers Soc Psychol Rev. 2024 Feb.

Abstract

Many people do not act together against climate change or social inequalities because they feel they or their group cannot make a difference. Understanding how people come to feel that they can achieve something (a perception of self-efficacy) is therefore crucial for motivating people to act together for a better world. However, it is difficult to summarize already existing self-efficacy research because previous studies have used many different ways of naming and measuring it. In this article, we uncover the problems that this raises and propose the triple-A framework as a solution. This new framework shows which agents, actions, and aims are important for understanding self-efficacy. By offering specific recommendations for measuring self-efficacy, the triple-A framework creates a basis for mobilizing human agency in the context of climate change and social injustice.

Keywords: agency; climate change; collective efficacy; environmental protection; perceived behavioral control; perceived consumer effectiveness; response efficacy; self-efficacy; self-efficacy theory; social justice.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of Conflicting InterestsThe author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Understanding of Efficacy Beliefs and Outcome Expectancies in Self-Efficacy Theory (Bandura, 1997, p. 22).
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
The Triple-A (Agent-Action-Aim) Framework of Self-Efficacy Beliefs in the Context of Collective Social and Ecological Aims.
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
Decision matrix for making choices about self-efficacy types in the prediction of behaviors connected to collective social and ecological aims. Note. Quadrants include the self-efficacy constructs that we recommend to focus on with examples. For instance, Quadrant 1 applies if the efficacy of a personal agent regarding a specific action is to be investigated.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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