Bandura's concept of self-efficacy refers to what?

• A. Self-efficacy is the same as self-esteem.
• B. Higher self-efficacy leads to greater effort, persistence, and resilience.
• C. Self-efficacy only affects academic tasks.
• D. It reduces motivation.

Answer: (B)

Self-efficacy is the belief in your own ability to succeed at a specific task, and Bandura shows how this belief shapes motivation and action. When you have higher self-efficacy, you expect you can influence outcomes, so you invest more effort, choose more effective strategies, and persist longer in the face of obstacles. This also helps you recover from setbacks more quickly, keeping you engaged and motivated. It’s not the same as self-esteem, which is about overall worth rather than task-specific capability, and it doesn’t reduce motivation—in fact, it tends to boost it by making challenges feel controllable. So the statement that best captures this is that higher self-efficacy leads to greater effort, persistence, and resilience.