Tired of baking banana bread for the kids?

Here is a treat for you. The recipe for the most delicious cake; the parenting self-efficacy cake.

It is Sunday morning. The kids are already up, watching cartoons. You are enjoying your cup of coffee, feeling -at last- well-rested. Sundays you get to be with the family, playing games, laughing, baking delicious cakes… Oh, cakes!

Tired of baking the same recipe over and over again? Want to find something new, that will be… extra tasty, as it can help you, as a parent, believe in your parental superpowers?

We have the recipe. Please, do try it at home next Sunday.

Ingredient 1: One tablespoon of mastery experience. (gluten-free)

Let’s say it is your first time making this cake. It is a new experience. You might accidentally add more or less of an ingredient and the recipe might not work. It is okay. Why so? You tried! And this attempt is going to be a mastery experience, where you took a new challenge and learned through it.

“Mastery experiences are the most influential source of efficacy information because they provide the most authentic evidence of whether one can master whatever it takes to succeed. Success builds a robust belief in one’s personal efficacy. Failures undermine it, especially if failures occur before a sense of efficacy is firmly established” (Bandura, 1997).

Ingredient 2: A pinch of vicarious experiences (attention: it must be provided by social models)

Observing someone close to you making the cake successfully, after systematic trials and errors, will probably make you think that you too have what it takes! After all, you have seen all the episodes of Master Chef.

“Seeing people similar to oneself succeed by sustained effort raises observers’ beliefs that they too possess the capabilities to master comparable activities to succeed.” (Bandura, 1977).

Ingredient 3: 2 teaspoons of verbal persuasion (suitable for vegans too)

So the first time that you will try it, you could use a little help from an experienced baker. If this baker praises your technique, admires the detailed attention you measure the ingredients, and shows you gratitude for leaving the kitchen clean, you most likely will believe that you indeed have the skills and capabilities to make it again in the future.

Ingredient 4: 1 cup of physiological feedback (it might contain nuts)

So, if you try to make the recipe while angry, or frustrated and you throw all ingredients in a bowl, aggressively steering and making a mess, do you think that the cake will be a success?

In other words, your emotional, physical, and psychological well-being can indeed influence how you feel about your capabilities in making the recipe.

Bonus ingredient for extra flavor: A pinch of visualisation

Since this is not a common cake and is the self-efficacy cake, you will need to perform a small parent — spell. Do not worry, it is not in some ancient language, you can google translate it.

Repeat the following words, while stirring the pot:

“I am visualizing myself succeeding as a parent. I can almost see how happy I am with my accomplishments. My kids can see it too”.

Repeat three times with a clear and steady voice.

….and there, you have it! The self-efficacy cake is ready!

For the record, parenting self-efficacy- which is we, as parents, believe in our ability to perform our parental role successfully- has been linked with resilience to adversity and stress, healthy lifestyle habits, and overall personal accomplishment (Bandura, 1977).

What are you waiting for? Let’s bake!

Bon appetit.