Helen Keller’s self-efficacy in Helen Keller’s autobiography: The story of my life

ABSTRACT

Self-efficacy is the person’s belief about their ability to organize and execute the courses of action necessary to achieve a goal. Many people uses sense of self- efficacy to build their believe when face the difficult problem. That condition can be seen in an autobiography of Helen Keller entitle The Story of My Life. The Story of My Life is an autobiography written by Helen Keller in 1903. This autobiography contains self-efficacy value of Helen Keller as a deaf and blind child since two years old. From the explanation above, we can see that there are many self-efficacy values of Helen Keller. Therefore, that autobiography motivated us to be strong and beliefs with our ability to be success person although we have limited condition. Because of that reason, that autobiography is important to be analyzed using self-efficacy theory.

This study has three research questions those are; (1) what are the sources of Helen Keller’s Self-efficacy in Helen Keller’s autobiography: The Story of My Life? , (2) what are the dimensions of Helen Keller’s Self-efficacy in Helen Keller’s
autobiography: The Story of My Life? , (3) how is the process of Helen Keller’s Self- efficacy in Helen Keller’s autobiography: The Story of My Life?. This study is literary criticism because to discuss this topic and needs the theory of self-efficacy. Self- efficacy is underground by the main character of The Story of My Life. So, the researcher discusses the psychological problem underground by fictitious character. That is why, the researcher uses psychological approach since it enables the
researcher observe the fictitious character by using psychological theory. Then, the data are collected by downloading the autobiography, reading it, coding every paragraph which identify self-efficacy of Helen Keller, the last selecting the potential data which can answer the research questions.

The findings show that sources of self-efficacy on Helen’s autobiography are
mastery experience, vicarious experience, social persuasion, and physiological condition. Four of them have related each other, those are give important way to sprout up of self-efficacy. Then, dimension of self-efficacy found three dimensions are level, generality, and strength. Level when Helen got difficult exam, then she still continue to finish it with high believe could finish it. Moreover, the researcher found three processes those are cognitive, motivational, and affective process. Whereas, for
selection process the researcher does not found the data which is identify the selection process.

In addition, since this research only identify self-efficacy happened in an autobiography, so for the next researchers, they can analyze self-efficacy in other subject such poem because the language use of both are different so it will provide different result, and it will enlarge the empirical data of self-efficacy.