Social-Cognitive Theory What defines personality? Albert Bandura

DEFINITION: Personality theory that views behavior as the product of the interaction of cognitions, learning and past experiences, and the immediate environment. Cognitions: How people think about a situation and their behavior in that situation. Learning includes: reinforcement, punishment and modeling. Your interpretations of the environment determine personality, behavior and your general outlook on life.

Albert Bandura (B. 1925) Suggested that people evaluate a situation based on certain internal expectancies such as personal preferences. This evaluation has an effect on one’s behavior. Example: Two people play a video game for the first time and score similarly low scores. One may find the experience fun and want to try again to improve, whereas the other may be disheartened by the low score and never want to play again.

Components of Personality

Locus of Control 1950’s theory by Julian Rotter (B. 1916) and supported by Bandura. It explains an expectancy in regards to whether reinforcement is under internal or external control Internal: convinced they can control their own fate. They believe that through hard work, skill and training, it is possible to find reinforcements and avoid punishments. External: convinced they cannot control their own fate. Instead, they are convinced that chance, luck and the behavior of others determine their destiny and threat they are helpless to do anything about it.

Social-Cognitive Theory Continued… General expectancies or explanatory styles (such as optimism or pessimism) can have significant effects on behavior. Example: WWII vets interviewed every five years since returning from battle. Interviews concluded if subjects were overall more optimistic or pessimistic. Those men who were optimists at age 25 tended to be healthier at age 65, while the health of the pessimist had begun to deteriorate at about age 45. The study showed that pessimists were less careful about their health than the optimists.

Social-Cognitive Theory Continued… Another way to view explanatory style is in terms of self-efficacy Self-Efficacy: used to describe the degree to which one expects their efforts will be successful. Performance Standards: Standards that people develop to rate the adequacy of their own behavior in variety of situations. Reciprocal Determinism: The concept that the person influences the environment and is in turned influenced by the environment.

Social-Cognitive Theory Continued… “What is crucial in all of this is that Bandura believes that people internally organize their expectancies and values to control their own behavior. These personal standards form a unique constellation for each person, one that grows out of the person’s life history (Morris, 1996, p. 473). ” The social-cognitive theory revolves around the process of knowledge acquisition (or learning) directly correlated to the observation of models. This, in turn, shapes personality.