Psychology Cannot Tell People How They Ought

When Actions Are Followed By Events That Are Not Causally Related To The Prior Acts, People Often Erroneously Perceive Contingencies That Do Not, In Fact, Exist

Stringent Standards Of Self-evaluation [can] Make Otherwise Objective Successes Seem To Be Personal Failures

Perceived Self-efficacy Also Shapes Causal Thinking. In Seeking Solutions To Difficult Problems, Those Who Perceived Themselves As Highly Efficacious Are Inclined To Attribute Their Failures To Insufficient Effort, Whereas Those Of Comparable Skills But Lower Perceived Self-efficacy Ascribe Their Failures To Deficient Ability

Accurate Processing Of Information About Outcomes Is No Simple Task Under The Variable Conditions Of Everyday Life . . . Usually, Many Factors Enter Into Determining What Effects, If Any, Given Actions Will Have, Actions, Therefore, Produce Outcomes Probabilistically Rather Than Certainly. Depending On The Particular Conjunction Of Factors, The Same Course Of Action May Produce Given Outcomes Regularly, Occasionally, Or Only Infrequently

People Who Underestimate Their Capabilities Also Bear Costs, Although, As Already Noted, These Are More Likely To Take Self-limiting Rather Than Aversive Forms. By Failing To Cultivate Personal Potentialities And Constricting Their Activities, Such Persons Cut Themselves Off From Many Rewarding Experiences. Should They Attempt Tasks Having Evaluative Significance, They Create Internal Obstacles To Effective Performance By Approaching Them With Unnerving Self-doubts