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.