Page 404 - Understanding Psychology

Figure 14.10 Bandura’s Social Cognitive Theory
According to Bandura’s theory, a person’s personality is shaped by an interaction among three forces—cognitive factors, behaviors, and environmental factors. What are the cognitive factors?
1. Cognitive-Personal Factors:
our beliefs, expectations, values, intentions, social roles, as well as our emotional makeup and biological and genetic influences
2. Behaviors:
our personal actions
3. Environmental Factors:
our social, political, and cultural influences and our personal learning experiences
Personality Development
1. Review the Vocabulary According to behaviorism, what is the proper subject matter of psychology? How does this relate to the study of personality?
2. Visualize the Main Idea Using a dia- gram similar to the one below, compare and contrast the following theories of behavior: behaviorism and social cognition.
3. Recall Information Why do you think people have different personalities? How would behaviorists explain the differences?
4. Think Critically How would behavior- ists and social learning theorists explain a person’s persistence in becoming an accomplished tennis player?
Behaviorism Similarities
Social Cognition
5. Application Activity
Choose a behavior of a younger sibling or of a friend that you would like
to see change. Suggest a way to do so, using rein- forcers to change the particular behavior.
Bandura has made sig- nificant contributions to the development of behavioral theories of personality. His social cognitive theory (1986) recognizes the inter- action called reciprocal deter- minism that occurs among the observing individual, the behavior of that individ- ual, and the environment in which the behavior occurs (see Figure 14.10). One important concept that governs our behavior is our view of our ability to suc-
ceed, which Bandura called self-efficacy. You decide whether to go on a date by assessing the environment—the weather, your parents’ current state of mind, your potential date’s recent behaviors—the effects of your own past behavior, and your long-term past successes and failures. This leads to the development of an expectancy of success. As the behavior unfolds, you also develop outcome expectations. As long as they remain pos- itive, you will keep trying.
Whereas psychoanalytic theories emphasize the influence of child- hood experiences, irrational thoughts, and unconscious forces, the advan- tage of learning theories of personality is that they focus on concrete actions that can be tested and measured. However, critics argue that the learning theories do not explain personality, nor do they give enough attention to the influence of genetic factors, emotions, and childhood experiences on personality.
Assessment
390 Chapter 14 / Theories of Personality