Transcript The Social-Cognitive Perspective

The Social-Cognitive
Perspective
Social-Cognitive Perspective
Albert Bandura (1925- )
• Perspective stating that understanding
personality involves considering the
situation and thoughts before, during,
and after an event
• How do your thoughts, behaviors &
environment influence your
personality?
Social-Cognitive Perspective
• Play “The Social-Cognitive Model”
(5:43) Segment #27 from Psychology:
The Human Experience (5:43).
• Albert Bandura explains his theory.
• Social-Cognitive Model is used to
explain the personality of Nelson
Mandela.
Social Cognitive differs from
Humanistic & Psychoanalytic
Perspectives in Three Ways:
1. It relies heavily on experimental findings
2. It emphasizes conscious, self-regulating
behavior
3. It emphasizes that our sense of self
(personality) can vary, depending on our
thoughts, feelings, and behaviors in a
given situation.
The Social-Cognitive
Perspective:
Interacting with Our
Environment
Social Cognitive Perspective
Key Terms
• Reciprocal determinism - explains
personality as the result of behavioral,
cognitive, and environmental interactions
• Self-efficacy—belief that people have about
their ability to meet demands or control
aspects of a specific situation
Reciprocal Determinism: Three
Factors Shape Personality
• We develop personality by choosing which
environment to be in, which exposes us to
certain situations, which in turn leads us
make certain choices, which leads us to
choose an environment…
• An interaction of three factors:
– The environment
– A person’s experiences & behaviors
– Thoughts or cognitions
Reciprocal Determinism
Self-Efficacy
• The sense that one can control the outcome of
one’s environment
• We develop this in childhood but it continues as a
lifelong process.
• A person’s cognitive skills, abilities & attitudes
create our self-system
• We develop new behaviors and strengthen our
self-efficacy by observing others and through
mastery experiences.
• Different from Self-Esteem which is more global
– How you feel about yourself in overall.
Achievement Motivation
• Play “Self-Efficacy” (5:00) Segment
#19 from Psychology: The Human
Experience.
The Social-Cognitive
Perspective:
Personal Control
Internal Locus of Control
• The perception that we control our own fate
External Locus of Control
• The perception that chance, or forces beyond a
person’s control, control one’s fate
Learned Helplessness
• The hopelessness and passive resignation an animal
or human learns when unable to avoid repeated bad
events
• Martin Seligman studied dogs that were unable to
escape a painful stimulus and eventually stopped
trying to escape.
Learned Helplessness
Reciprocal Determinism
The Social-Cognitive
Perspective:
Evaluating the
Perspective
Evaluation of Social Cognitive
Perspective
• Well grounded in empirical, laboratory research
• However, laboratory experiences are rather simple
and may not reflect the complexity of human
interactions
• Ignores the influences of unconscious, emotions,
conflicts instead placing responsibility of behavior
firmly on ourselves.
Freud vs. Bandura on
Human Aggression
• Freud – Human aggression is a universal
unconscious instinct controlled by the
superego and restraints of society.
• Bandura – All behavior is driven by
conscious goals and motives. Aggression is
the result of a deliberate, rational choice in a
particular situation.