Social Cognitive Theory

1
Social Cognitive Theory

• Originally known as social learning theory
• Changed to reflect importance of cognitive
  processes
• We are shaped by three different forces
• Environment
• Cognitive Factors
• Behavior
• Julian Rotter
• Expectancy theory
• Learned cognitive expectancies guide behavior
• high or strong expectancies confidence the
  behavior will result in the outcome
• Locus of Control-Internal External

2
Bandura

• Banduras Social Cognitive Theory
• Reciprocal Determinism
• Thought, environment, and behavior all interact.
  Each can only be understood relative to the other
  two.
• Example Basketball
• Seeing a basketball (environment) leads to
  thinking about basketball (cognitive), which in
  turn might lead you to play basketball (behavior)

3
Other Social Cognitive Concepts

• Locus of Control (Rotter)
• Internal External
• Self-Efficacy (Bandura)
• Learned expectations of your capabilities
• Delay of Gratification (Walter Mishcel)
• willpower
• Higher D.o.G. tended to be more intelligent,
  greater social responsibility, and strive for
  higher achievement.

4
Trait Approach

• 3 basic assumptions
• Everyone has stable, long-lasting tendencies
  certain behaviors, attitudes, and emotions
• These dispositions appear in many situations
• Everyone has a different set of dispositions or
  dispositions of varying strength.

5
Trait Approach

• Gordon Allport-Trait Theory
• Traits continuous dispositions that individuals
  posses in different amounts
• Central traits broadly characterize a persons
  behavior (friendly implication of friendly most
  of the time)
• Secondary traits situation-specific (friendly
  while on vacation)

6
Trait Approach

• Raymond Cattell
• Factor-Analytic Approach, used Factor Analysis to
  find relationships between traits
• 35 to 16 to eventually 5
• THE BIG FIVE openness, conscientiousness,
  extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism
  (OCEAN)

7
Person-Situation Interaction

• Walter Mischel
• Individual traits interact with situation
  variables
• Traits affect behavior only in relevant
  situations
• Behaviors due to traits can alter situations,
  which in turn promote new behavior
• People w/ different traits choose different
  situations
• Traits are more influential in certain situations
  than in others

8
Analysis of Trait Theory

• Describe personality more than they explain it
• Barnum Effect