Psychology – Theories of Personality
Study Guide
Western Mindanao State University
I. Overview of Bandura’s Social Cognitive Theory
Bandura’s social cognitive theory takes an agentic perspective, meaning that humans have some
limited ability to control their lives. Bandura (1) recognizes that chance encounters and
fortuitous events often shape one’s behavior; (2) places more emphasis on observational
learning; (3) stresses the importance of cognitive factors in learning; (4) suggests that human
activity is a function of behavior and person variables, as well as the environment; and (5)
believes that reinforcement is mediated by cognition.
II. Biography of Albert Bandura
Albert Bandura was born in Canada in 1925, but he has spent his entire professional life in the
United States. He completed a Ph.D. in clinical psychology at the University of Iowa in 1951
ans since then has worked almost entirely at Stanford University, where he continues to be the
most active of all personality theorists in investigating his own hypotheses.
III. Human Agency
Bandura believes that human agency is the essence of humanness; that is, humans are defined
by their ability to organize, regulate, and enact behaviors that they believe will produce
desirable consequences.
Human agency has four core features:
(1) intentionality, or a proactive commitment to actions that may bring about desired outcomes;
(2) foresight, or the ability to set goals;
(3) self-reactiveness, which includes people monitoring their progress toward fulfilling their
choices; and
(4) self-reflectiveness, which allows people to think about and evaluate their motives, values
and life goals.
IV. Reciprocal Determinism
Social cognitive theory holds that human functioning is molded by the reciprocal interaction of
(1) behavior; (2) person variables, including cognition; and (3) environmental events-a model
Bandura calls reciprocal determinism.
A. Differential Contributions
Bandura does not suggest that the three factors in the reciprocal determinism model make equal
contributions to behavior. The relative influence of behavior, environment and person depends
on which factor is strongest at any particular moment.
B. Chance Encounters and Fortuitous Events
The lives of many people have been fundamentally changed by a chance meeting with another
person or by a fortuitous, unexpected event. Chance encounters and fortuitous events enters the
reciprocal determinism paradigm at the environment point, after which they influence behavior
in much the same way as do planned events.
Study Guide
Western Mindanao State University
I. Overview of Bandura’s Social Cognitive Theory
Bandura’s social cognitive theory takes an agentic perspective, meaning that humans have some
limited ability to control their lives. Bandura (1) recognizes that chance encounters and
fortuitous events often shape one’s behavior; (2) places more emphasis on observational
learning; (3) stresses the importance of cognitive factors in learning; (4) suggests that human
activity is a function of behavior and person variables, as well as the environment; and (5)
believes that reinforcement is mediated by cognition.
II. Biography of Albert Bandura
Albert Bandura was born in Canada in 1925, but he has spent his entire professional life in the
United States. He completed a Ph.D. in clinical psychology at the University of Iowa in 1951
ans since then has worked almost entirely at Stanford University, where he continues to be the
most active of all personality theorists in investigating his own hypotheses.
III. Human Agency
Bandura believes that human agency is the essence of humanness; that is, humans are defined
by their ability to organize, regulate, and enact behaviors that they believe will produce
desirable consequences.
Human agency has four core features:
(1) intentionality, or a proactive commitment to actions that may bring about desired outcomes;
(2) foresight, or the ability to set goals;
(3) self-reactiveness, which includes people monitoring their progress toward fulfilling their
choices; and
(4) self-reflectiveness, which allows people to think about and evaluate their motives, values
and life goals.
IV. Reciprocal Determinism
Social cognitive theory holds that human functioning is molded by the reciprocal interaction of
(1) behavior; (2) person variables, including cognition; and (3) environmental events-a model
Bandura calls reciprocal determinism.
A. Differential Contributions
Bandura does not suggest that the three factors in the reciprocal determinism model make equal
contributions to behavior. The relative influence of behavior, environment and person depends
on which factor is strongest at any particular moment.
B. Chance Encounters and Fortuitous Events
The lives of many people have been fundamentally changed by a chance meeting with another
person or by a fortuitous, unexpected event. Chance encounters and fortuitous events enters the
reciprocal determinism paradigm at the environment point, after which they influence behavior
in much the same way as do planned events.
