1. Social-Cognitive Theories

2. Social Cognitive Theory
Social-cognitive perspective
Behavior is influenced by the interaction of people’s traits (including thinking) and their social context
Just like Nature & Nurture work together, so do individuals and their situations.
11.11 How do Mischel and
Bandura address the situation–
trait debate?

3. Social Cognitive Theory
Behavioral approach
We are conditioned to repeat behavior
We learn by observing and imitating (this is the social part)
Cognitive approach
What we think about our situations affects our behavior
How do we interpret and respond to events?
11.11 How do Mischel and
Bandura address the situation–
trait debate?

4. Social Cognitive Theory
Instead of focusing solely on how the environment controls us (as the behaviorists do), social-cognitive theorists focus on how we develop by interacting with the environment.
11.11 How do Mischel and
Bandura address the situation–
trait debate?

5. Reciprocal Determinism
The interaction of behavior, internal cognition and the environment

6. Reciprocal Determinism
Do you control your environment or does your environment control you?
Does it simply depend on the situation?
Or is there more to it than that?

7. Reciprocal Determinism
Do you control your environment or does your environment control you?
Does your personality shape how you interpret and react to events or do events shape your personality?

8. Reciprocal Determinism
Do you control your environment or does your environment control you?
Does your personality shape how you interpret and react to events or do events shape your personality?
The answer:
Behavior emerges from the interplay of external and internal influences!
YES!

9. Reciprocal Influences
Individuals and the environment interact in a reciprocal relationship
Different people choose different environments
Example:
You choose the music you listen to, the books you read, the friends you hang with … then these things shape you!

10. Reciprocal Influences
Individuals and the environment interact in a reciprocal relationship
Our personalities shape how we interpret and react to events
Example:
Anxious people are attuned to potentially threatening events, then perceive the world as threatening!

11. Reciprocal Influences
Individuals and the environment interact in a reciprocal relationship
Our personality help create situations to which we react
Example:
How we treat people tends to be the way they treat us back

12. Social-Cognitive Theories Subcategories
Personal Control
Internal locus of control
External locus of control
Optimism versus Pessimism
Positive expectations often motivate eventual success