Final answer:
Self-efficacy, as described by Bandura, is one's belief in their capacity to handle specific situations and tasks effectively and is crucial for motivation and accomplishment.
Step-by-step explanation:
According to Albert Bandura, self-efficacy is defined as your judgment of how well you can deal with particular situations. This concept is a central element to Bandura's social cognitive theory. Specifically, self-efficacy is the belief in one's own abilities to meet the challenges ahead and complete a task successfully. This confidence is fostered by our previous experiences, victories, as well as our social environment, and it significantly influences our motivation and persistence in facing new tasks.
Self-efficacy is not just about the notion that you control your own fate, which relates more to locus of control, another psychological concept introduced by Julian Rotter. It also isn't merely about maintaining a favorable self-perception but is rather a refined measure of our perceived competency in specific areas of our life and undertakings. People with high self-efficacy set challenging goals, are committed, and recover more rapidly from setbacks, whereas those with low self-efficacy may avoid difficult tasks and focus on potential failures.
Therefore, the answer to the student's schoolwork question is D. Self-efficacy is your judgment of how well you can deal with particular situations.