Social Cognitive Theory

SOCIAL COGNITIVE THEORY

• Theory Essence:
  • Behavior, personal factors, and environmental factors interact with each other.
  • Changing one factor changes them all; this is known as Reciprocal Determinism, which is foundational to Social Cognitive Theory.

INDIVIDUAL'S BEHAVIOR

• Explained by the Interaction of:
  • Behavioral
  • Social-environmental
  • Personal
  • Cognitive
  • Reciprocal Determinism

CONSTRUCTS OF SOCIAL COGNITIVE THEORY

• Self-efficacy
• Observational learning (modeling)
• Expectations
• Expectancies
• Behavioral capability
• Reinforcement
• Locus of control

SELF-EFFICACY

• Definition:
  • Confidence in one's ability to perform a specific behavior.
• Key Insight:
  • People will only attempt what they believe they can achieve.

OBSERVATIONAL LEARNING

• Definition:
  • Learning that occurs by watching others, termed modeling.
• Influencing Factors:
  • Attractiveness of the model
  • Circumstances of observation
  • Personal motivation to learn
  • Importance of learning the behavior
  • Complexity of the behavior

EXPECTATIONS

• Definition:
  • Anticipated outcomes of a behavior.
• Influencing Factors:
  • Past experiences in similar situations
  • Observing others' outcomes
  • Emotional or physical responses resulting from the behavior

EXPECTANCIES

• Definition:
  • Value placed on the expected outcomes.
• Categories:
  • Good / Bad
  • Positive / Negative
  • Useful / Useless
  • Healthy / Unhealthy

BEHAVIORAL CAPABILITY

• Definition:
  • Possessing the knowledge and skills to perform a behavior.
• Prerequisites for Action:
  • Knowledge of the task
  • Proficiency in how to execute it

REINFORCEMENT

• Definition:
  • Involves rewards and punishments.
• Purpose:
  • To encourage positive behavior through rewards
  • To discourage negative behavior through avoidance of punishment.
• Examples:
  • Quitting smoking for reduced premiums (reward)
  • Quitting smoking to avoid higher premiums (punishment)

REINFORCEMENT STRATEGIES

• Effective Reinforcement:
  • Rewarding positive health behaviors is more likely to yield persistent positive behavior change.
• Example:
  • Providing extra vacation days for maintaining healthy habits is preferable to punishing overweight individuals by taking days away.

LOCUS OF CONTROL

• Definition:
  • The degree to which people feel they can control events affecting them.
• Types:
  • Internal Locus of Control:
  • Belief that outcomes are the result of personal decisions.
  • External Locus of Control:
  • Belief that outcomes are dictated by fate or luck.

SELF-REGULATION

• Definition:
  • Ability to manage energy, emotions, and behaviors positively.
• Types:
  • Cognitive regulation
  • Behavioral regulation

APPLICATION OF SOCIAL COGNITIVE THEORY (SCT)

• Class Activity:
  • Discuss personal experiences with bullying, identify commonalities, and characteristics (bully and victim).
• Application of Theory:
  • Use SCT to explain bullying behavior and brainstorm prevention strategies.

READING ASSIGNMENTS

• Article:
  • Swearer et al. (2014) discusses reducing bullying through SCT.
• Reflection Questions:
  • How is bullying learned via SCT constructs?
  • What personal and environmental factors contribute to bullying?
  • Compare your understanding and prevention ideas with those presented in the article.