Scientific Theories of Personality Development: Behaviorism & Social Cognitive Theory

Personality Defined

• Personality refers to long-standing traits and patterns that lead people to consistently think, feel, and behave in specific ways.

Behaviorist Theory of Personality

• Core Idea: Personality is learned; it is a function of the people around us and the environment we are in.
  • Personality results from feedback from the environment.
• Mechanisms: Rewards and Punishments:
  • Behaviorism focuses on rewards and punishments as primary motivators.
    • People tend to do things they find rewarding and avoid things they are punished for.
  • Examples:
    • If parents reward a child for being helpful, they will do more helpful things and grow into a helpful adult.
    • If a child is punished for being selfish (e.g., not sharing toys), they may stop being selfish over time and become a less selfish adult.
• Implications for Change:
  • If personality is learned through environmental feedback, changing one's personality requires changing one's environment.
  • New rewards for different traits can lead to the development of those traits.
• Limitations:
  • While rewards and punishments influence behavior, they are not the only motivators.
  • The theory is incomplete because it doesn't account for internal cognitive processes (thoughts, decisions).
  • Individuals can choose to ignore rewards or punishments if they have internal reasons to do so.
• Strengths:
  • Can generate testable hypotheses; experiments can be designed to observe behavioral changes based on rewards.
  • Recognized as valid but incomplete.

Social Cognitive Theory of Personality

• Overview: This theory accounts for environmental feedback (like behaviorism) but also incorporates cognitive processes.
  • "Social" element: Refers to social feedback from the environment, including positive or negative input from other people.
  • "Cognitive" element: Refers to how our cognitions (thoughts, thinking) and beliefs determine our personality.
  • Personality results from both learning and cognition.
• Reciprocal Determinism:
  • Main Idea: Personality is shaped by a continuous, mutual interaction among three factors, where each factor influences and is influenced by the others (a "two-way street").
  • Model Components:
    1. Behavior: What a person does.
    2. Cognitive Factors: Internal thoughts, beliefs, expectations, and personality traits (how one thinks about oneself and abilities).
    3. Situational Factors: External environmental influences, including rewards, punishments, and other feedback.
  • Interaction Explained: Arrows point in both directions between these three boxes, indicating that each factor can impact or determine the others.
    • Example: Behavior can impact how you think about yourself, and how you think about yourself can impact your behavior.
  • Example Scenario: Child who dislikes school.
    • Starting with Cognitive Factor: Child thinks, "I don't like school." (Cognitive Factor)
    • Impact on Behavior: This belief leads the child to misbehave in class (Behavior).
    • Impact on Situational Factors: Misbehavior leads to the teacher yelling (Situational Factor - negative feedback/punishment).
    • Reinforcing Cognitive Factors: The teacher yelling reinforces the child's belief of disliking school, making the belief even stronger.
    • This creates a feedback loop where things can spiral, leading to worsening behavior and stronger negative beliefs.
  • Intervention and Change: Changing personality involves addressing one or more of these factors.
    • Example: If the child's misbehavior stems from bullying, resolving the bullying (Situational Factor) can change their perspective on school (Cognitive Factor) and lead to better behavior (Behavior).

Key Cognitive Beliefs (Identified by Social Cognitive Theorists)

• These beliefs significantly impact personality and cut across various situations.

  • Self-Efficacy

    • Definition: Our belief about how capable or effective we are at performing specific tasks or succeeding in particular situations. It's about how effective we think we are.
      • Not a general self-esteem measure; it is situation-specific.
    • Scope: We can have high self-efficacy in some areas (e.g., math) and low self-efficacy in others (e.g., driving).
    • Learning Self-Efficacy: It is learned through experience.
      • Example: A new driver will have low self-efficacy for driving, while an experienced math student will have high self-efficacy for math.
    • Impact on Behavior (via Reciprocal Determinism):
      • Low self-efficacy belief (a Cognitive Factor) in math can lead to not studying (Behavior).
      • Not studying results in failing a test (Situational Factor).
      • Failing the test reinforces the belief of being bad at math (Cognitive Factor), creating a negative feedback loop.
    • Practical Application & Intervention: To increase a person's chances of success, self-efficacy should be increased in specific relevant areas.
      • Instead of general praise, create situations where individuals (e.g., children in math) can experience success with simpler tasks.
      • Success builds expectation of future success, leading to increased effort and better outcomes.

  • ### Locus of Control

    • Definition: A belief about what determines what happens in one's life—internal forces (one's own actions) or external forces (outside circumstances).
    • External Locus of Control: Belief that things happen to you; outside forces determine outcomes.
      • Associated Phrases: "Why is it always me?", "There's nothing I can do about my future," "Why bother?", "Things happen to me," "I just get lucky or unlucky."
    • Internal Locus of Control: Belief that one's own actions and efforts determine outcomes; what one does matters.
      • Associated Phrases: "I determine my future," "I'm going to give this a go," "I make things happen."
    • Predictive Power & Success: Individuals with an internal locus of control are generally more likely to succeed.
      • They believe trying harder makes a difference (e.g., studying harder for an exam, working harder for a promotion).
      • This belief leads to increased effort and, consequently, more frequent success.
    • Learned Helplessness & Learning Control: Locus of control can be learned.
      • Extreme Example: Children or adults in emotionally abusive situations may learn that their actions don't matter, and they have no control over their lives, leading to a strong external locus of control (learned helplessness).
      • Individuals can also learn to recognize and take more control, often requiring specific experiences and support.
    • Understanding a person's locus of control offers significant insight into their personality and can predict behavior.

Conclusion

• Social cognitive theory is considered the best scientific theory for personality development because it integrates environmental influences with cognitive factors.
• It can generate testable hypotheses, allowing for empirical investigation into how changes in cognitive beliefs or environmental feedback impact behavior and personality.