Final answer:
Self-efficacy is an individual's belief in their own capability to successfully perform a behavior. It plays a critical role in how a person approaches goals, tasks, and challenges.
Step-by-step explanation:
An individual's belief about his or her own ability to perform a behavior successfully is called self-efficacy. This concept was introduced by Albert Bandura and refers to the confidence one has in their abilities to achieve a task. People with high self-efficacy are more likely to set challenging goals, persist in the face of setbacks, and view difficult tasks as opportunities to learn and grow. Meanwhile, those with low self-efficacy may doubt their skills, avoid hard tasks, and be less resilient after failure. It is distinct from locus of control, which deals with an individual's belief about whether their outcomes in life are controlled by internal or external factors.