Week Six: Motivation 

Self-efficacy

Self-efficacy is the belief one has about the ability and probability of one achieving a desired outcome. Self-efficacy beliefs are directly related to motivation to perform difficult or novel tasks. Importantly, self-efficacy is relevant to specific dimensions. For example, if one has high self-efficacy for taking Math courses, one may not have high self-efficacy for taking Humanities courses. The main sources of self-efficacy in descending hierarchy of strength are history of mastery (when individuals were able to master similar tasks in the past), vicarious experiences through similar models (directly related to Bandura’s modeling theory in which one observes action and internalizes it as personal learning), verbal persuasion for external regulation (positive and negative reinforcements), and physiological states (arousal or depression). Finally, it is noteworthy that self-efficacy is ephemeral, it is a fickle trinket that is hard to find and easy to lose.

 

Team Free Will and the Self-efficacy Guardian Angel

 

Castiel was one of the great Host of Heaven. He was one of the angels in charge of protecting and guiding humanity, the replacement garrison after the fallen Watchers. Castiel fought countless battles against the demons and won. As Ruby, a high-level demon servant to Lilith herself, shakingly cries: “We only heard stories of a being like this. We never seen one. When it bleeds, the ground shakes. When it speaks, the heavens tremble. When it comes, I will be running.” Castiel’s incursion of Hell blazes through the deepest layers of perdition to raise Dean back to life. At the biggening of Castiel’s arch, he has very high self-efficacy. There is no doubt in his mind that he will fulfill his mission, just like he has done since time immemorial. Because of such prolific past instances of mastery, Cass has high expectancies for his future performances, building monuments to his resolve and motivation. He is the implacable instrument of Heaven’s wrath.

But in the deepest recesses of his mind, Cass is like no other angel. Whereas his brethren in arms are resolute and instrumental, Cass is sensitive and intellectually autonomous. He listens to his heart as well as his orders. He has always had his questions about the intent and the methods of Heaven. He is the only angel that even suspected the highest secret of the Archangels: that God left a long time ago. Heaven is arbitrary and the Devine Order is merely angelic politics. Cass always knew this, but his self-efficacy was always firmly grounded in obedience. He lacked the motivation to break free from its shackles because he never experienced anything outside of blind submission.

Until he met Dean. Dean’s autonomous volition and purity of heart showed Cass another way. Through modeling (another source of self-efficacy), Cass caught a glimpse of what it is to be human: defiance and anthropogeny. He flirted with the possibility of being like Dean and making his own choices based on his intrinsic motivation rather than external regulation. His self-efficacy changes from very high when based on his past, to much lower when based on his potential of being like his model, Dean. Modeling becomes the nexus of all the permutations of Castiel.

This proves to be a serious issue. Because Castiel’s new self-efficacy and motivations are based on the example of Dean, when Dean breaks down, Cass loses his mind. After much pressure, Dean decides to give in to the plans of heaven. Dean agrees to relinquish the innermost fiber of his essence as he agrees to become processed by the Archangel Michael. This event would start the Apocalypse –and cause the death of billions in the process. This is the very thing that Castiel fell from Heaven to avoid. Castiel beats Dean senseless as punishment. “I disobeyed because of YOU!” “I fell because of YOU!” “How dare you be so weak? Are the angels right about men? Was I wrong?”

Cass lost self-efficacy because he lost his model. His motivation was gone, and he became confused. Ultimately, his confusion and alienation from Dean causes him to spiral and do the unthinkable. He follows the path of Satan and decides to become the new God. The angels whisper that they were right about his ostracism. They whisper that Falling is indeed condemnation. They see that freedom is folly and that it is not better to rule in Hell than to serve blindly in heaven. However, Cass recovers his motivation through words of encouragement from none other than Dean. He experiences verbal persuasion, another source of self-efficacy, when Dean confesses his friendship and appreciation for the angel. Cass has broken the seal of purgatory to absorb the souls therein onto himself. This has granted him immeasurable power. However, he has also absorbed the primordial monsters Leviathan. They poison and corrupt Cass from within, eventually causing his death (at least one of them). Because of the Herculean task ahead of him, Cass does not believe he can solve this issue. He never had Leviathan inside of him before. The ritual to extract them is dangerous and he will lose his power. Dean encourages Cass to follow his heart and do the right thing in difficult situations. He encourages the angel to look back as his past instances of mastery and realize that his heart is always right, and then they will get through things together. Cass recovers his motivation and is able to defeat the Leviathan in Purgatory.

Dean successfully breaks Cass out of his learned helplessness caused by the self-fulfilling prophecies that he placed upon himself. Deep down, Cass believed that he was alone again. He believed that he could not trust Dean (because of his idea to give in to Heaven’s demands earlier) and that he could not find a connection with mankind again. Cass placed himself in the cage of learned helplessness, in the cage of loneliness. Dean’s true friendship breaks him free and reframes his mind into a growth mindset. In this paradigm, one believes that challenges are merely opportunities to grow due to high self-efficacy. Drawing power from their friendship, Cass is able to believe in humanity and in himself again. This makes him realize that the Leviathan crisis was nothing but another opportunity to grow in his campaign against the heavenly despots and the tyranny of fate.

Sisyphus pushes the boulder again. According to Snyder (1991) hope is a positive mental state based on the determination of achieving a goal. Castiel never lost hope because he never lost track of his goal. Either as the pawn of heaven, as a member of Team Free Will, or as the new God/Satan, Cass has always had one goal in mind: love and protect mankind. He has always been resolute in building intimacy with his friends and understanding the human condition. He has always been pushing the boulder of agency and justice across the peak of destiny to protect those he loves, to protect Dean.