Bandura: Social Cognitive Theory

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Overview of Bandura's Social Cognitive Theory

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Bandura's social cognitive theory takes an agentic perspective, meaning that humans have some limited ability to control their lives. In contrast to Skinner, Bandura (1) recognizes that chance encounters and fortuitous events often shape one's behavior; (2) places more emphasis on observational learning; (3) stresses the importance of cognitive factors in learning; (4) suggests that human activity is a function of behavior and person variables, as well as the environment; and (5) believes that reinforcement is mediated by cognition.

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Observational Learning

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The heart of observational learning is modeling, which is more than simple imitation, because it involves adding and subtracting from observed behavior.

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At least three principles influence modeling

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(1) people are most likely to model high-status people, (2) people who lack skill or status are most likely to model, and (3) people tend to model behavior that they see as being rewarding to the model.

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Bandura recognized four processes that govern observational learning

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(1) attention, or noticing what a model does; (2) representation, or symbolically representing new response patterns in memory; (3) behavior production, or producing the behavior that one observes; and (4) motivation; that is, the observer must be motivated to perform the observed behavior.

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Enactive Learning

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All behavior is followed by some consequence, but whether that consequence reinforces the behavior depends on the person's cognitive evaluation of the situation.

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Triadic Reciprocal Causation

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Social cognitive theory holds that human functioning is molded by the reciprocal interaction of (1) behavior; (2) personal factors, including cognition; and (3) environmental events—a model Bandura calls triadic reciprocal causation.

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Differential Contributions

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Bandura does not suggest that the three factors in the triadic reciprocal causation model make equal contributions to behavior. The relative influence of behavior, environment, and person depends on which factor is strongest at any particular moment.

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Chance Encounters and Fortuitous Events

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The lives of many people have been fundamentally changed by a chance meeting with another person or by a fortuitous, unexpected event. Chance encounters and fortuitous events enter the triadic reciprocal causation paradigm at the environment point, after which they influence behavior in much the same way as do planned events.

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Human Agency

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Bandura believes that human agency is the essence of humanness; that is, humans are defined by their ability to organize, regulate, and enact behaviors that they believe will produce desirable consequences.

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Core Features of Human Agency

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Human agency has four core features: (1) intentionality, or a proactive commitment to actions that may bring about desired outcomes: (2) foresight, or the ability to set goals; (3) self-reactiveness, which includes monitoring their progress toward fulfilling their choices; and (4) self-reflectiveness, which allows people can think about and evaluate their motives, values, and life goals.

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Self-Efficacy

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How people behave in a particular situation depends in part on their self-efficacy, that is, their beliefs that they can or cannot exercise those behaviors necessary to bring about a desired consequence. Efficacy expectations differ from outcome expectations, which refer to people's prediction of the likely consequences of their behavior. Self-efficacy combines with environmental variables, previous behaviors, and other personal variables to predict behavior.

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SELF EFFICACY is acquired, enhanced, or decreased by any one or combination of four sources

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(1) mastery experiences or performance, (2) social modeling, or observing someone of equal ability succeed or fail at a task; (3) social persuasion or listening to a trusted person's encouraging words; and (4) physical and emotional states, such as anxiety or fear, which usually lowers self-efficacy. High self-efficacy and a responsive environment are the best predictors of successful outcomes.

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Proxy Agency

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Bandura also recognizes the influence of proxy agency through which people exercise some partial control over everyday living. Successful living in the 21st century requires people to seek proxies to supply their food, deliver information, provide transportation, etc. Without the use of proxies, modern people would be forced to spend most of their time securing the necessities of survival.

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Collective Efficacy

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Collective efficacy is the level of confidence that people have that their combined efforts will produce social change. At least four factors can lower collective efficacy. First, events in other parts of the world can leave people with a sense of helplessness; second, complex technology can decrease people's perceptions of control over their environment; third, entrenched bureaucracies discourage people from attempting to bring about social change; and fourth, the size and scope of worldwide problems contribute to people's sense of powerlessness.

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Self-Regulation

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By using reflective thought, humans can manipulate their environments and produce consequences of their actions, giving them some ability to regulate their own behavior. Bandura believes that behavior stems from a reciprocal influence of external and internal factors.

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Two external factors contribute to self-regulation:

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(1) standards of evaluation, and (2) external reinforcement. External factors affect self-regulation by providing people with standards for evaluating their own behavior.

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Internal requirements for self-regulation include:

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(1) self-observation of performance; (2) judging or evaluating performance; (3) and self reaction, including self-reinforcement or self-punishment.

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Self-Regulation through Moral Agency

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Internalized self-sanctions prevent people from violating their own moral standards either through selective activation or disengagement of internal control.

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Selective activation

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refers to the notion that self-regulatory influences are not automatic but operate only if activated. It also means that people react differently in different situations, depending on their evaluation of the situation.

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Disengagement of internal control

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means that people are capable of separating themselves from the negative consequences of their behavior.