Docsity
Docsity

Prepare for your exams
Prepare for your exams

Study with the several resources on Docsity


Earn points to download
Earn points to download

Earn points by helping other students or get them with a premium plan


Guidelines and tips
Guidelines and tips

Social Cognitive Perspective and Albert Bandura: Reciprocal Determinism and Self-Efficacy, Lecture notes of Cognitive Sociology

An overview of the Social Cognitive Perspective, with a focus on the work of Albert Bandura. The theory emphasizes the interaction between thinking, behavior, and the environment, and the role of self-efficacy in shaping behavior. Reciprocal determinism is discussed as a key concept, with examples given of how behavior, thoughts, and the environment influence each other. The document also covers the strengths and weaknesses of the Social Cognitive Perspective, as well as a comparison with the trait approach to personality. Hans Eysenck's work on personality is mentioned as a contrast to the Social Cognitive Perspective.

What you will learn

  • What is the Social Cognitive Perspective and how does it differ from psychoanalytic theories?
  • What is reciprocal determinism and how does it apply to behavior, thoughts, and the environment?
  • What are some strengths and weaknesses of the Social Cognitive Perspective?
  • What role does self-efficacy play in the Social Cognitive Perspective?
  • How does the Social Cognitive Perspective compare to the trait approach to personality?

Typology: Lecture notes

2021/2022

Uploaded on 03/31/2022

anahitay
anahitay 🇺🇸

4.7

(16)

255 documents

1 / 15

Toggle sidebar

This page cannot be seen from the preview

Don't miss anything!

bg1
The Social Cognitive perspective and Albert Bandura
For more information on Albert Bandura and the Social
Cognitive Perspective, see Chapter 5: Learning and Chapter 8:
Motivation and Emotion.
Social cognitive theory emphasizes the social origin of
thinking and behavior as well as active cognitive processes
(unlike the psychoanalysts). Our sense of self can vary
depending on our thoughts, feelings and behaviors in a
given situation (context).
It emphasizes conscious self-regulated behavior, rather than
unconscious motives and drives. The person is an active
participant in their environment. People do not simply
react to the social environment, but they actively create
their own environment and acts to change them. Thinking,
the environment, and behavior all interact; each can only be
understood relative to each other.
Based on beliefs we have, we act a certain way and chose
to act in certain social environments. Personality is shaped
by through reciprocal determinism. Our social
environment affects our thoughts and actions, our thoughts
and actions affect the social environment we choose, our
actions influences our thoughts and social environment we
choose…
pf3
pf4
pf5
pf8
pf9
pfa
pfd
pfe
pff

Partial preview of the text

Download Social Cognitive Perspective and Albert Bandura: Reciprocal Determinism and Self-Efficacy and more Lecture notes Cognitive Sociology in PDF only on Docsity!

The Social Cognitive perspective and Albert Bandura

For more information on Albert Bandura and the Social Cognitive Perspective, see Chapter 5: Learning and Chapter 8: Motivation and Emotion.

  • Social cognitive theory emphasizes the social origin of thinking and behavior as well as active cognitive processes (unlike the psychoanalysts). Our sense of self can vary depending on our thoughts, feelings and behaviors in a given situation (context).
  • It emphasizes conscious self-regulated behavior, rather than unconscious motives and drives. The person is an active participant in their environment. People do not simply react to the social environment, but they actively create their own environment and acts to change them. Thinking, the environment, and behavior all interact; each can only be understood relative to each other.
  • Based on beliefs we have, we act a certain way and chose to act in certain social environments. Personality is shaped by through reciprocal determinism. Our social environment affects our thoughts and actions, our thoughts and actions affect the social environment we choose, our actions influences our thoughts and social environment we choose…

Reciprocal Determinism

For example: Playing basketball (a behavior) leads to thinking about basketball, which in turn may lead to playing basketball. Seeing a basketball (in the environment) leads to thinking about basketball, which in turn increases the chances of noticing people playing basketball. Playing basketball may lead to environmental rewards, which in turn reinforce basketball playing. All three elements—behavior, thought, and environment—take turns influencing or being influenced by each other.

Cognitive factor I don’t think I can learn to play a musical instrument

Behavior factor I don’t play any musical instruments.

Environmental factor I avoid situations that require me to display my lack of musical talent.

Strengths and Contributions of the Social Cognitive Perspective

  • The understanding human behavior comes from insights based on experimental findings, not clinical observations such as with the Freudians and Humanists. The social cognitive approach is based on good scientific data that can predict behavior—people who’s self-efficacy was raised were more likely to find a job after being laid off. Clinical observations have difficulties predicting behavior.

Weaknesses and Problems of the Social Cognitive Perspective

  • Some researchers claim that social cognitive perspective describes people better in artificial situation of the laboratory and not in the complex real world, where real external factors are constrained.
  • The social cognitive perspective ignores the unconscious influences of our emotions, subjective experience, internal conflicts we may have and genetic and biological issues. This perspective focuses only on a limited aspect of personality and not the whole person and the context in which they live.

The Trait perspective of personality

There are relatively stable, enduring predispositions to consistently behave in a certain way. The trait approach to personality focuses primarily on individual differences.

  • Raymond Cattell (16 personality factors)
  • Hans Eysenck (3 dimensions of personality) o Extraversion / Introversion o Neurotic / Stable o Psychoticism
  • The Five Factor Model (5 dimensions of personality) o O penness to experience o C onscientiousness o E xtraversion o A greeableness o N euroticism

Eysenck contends that individual differences arise from biological differences. Introverts require less cortical stimulation and arousal than extroverts to operate efficiently and perform at optimal levels (also see arousal motivation in Chapter 8: Motivation and Emotion).

  • For example, introverts tend to need less barbeque sauce to like a hamburger,
  • more sensitive to lemon juice,
  • like a lower volume of music to feel comfortable, etc.
  • Interestingly, when assigned to a task, extraverts perform at an initial high level and gradually declines. Introverts will perform at a consistently at a moderate level.

Sample items from Eysenck’s Personality Questionnaire

Extraversion

  1. Do you like mixing with people?
  2. Do you like going out a lot?
  3. Would you call yourself happy-go-lucky?

Neuroticism

  1. Does your mood often go up and down?
  2. Do you often feel “fed-up”?
  3. Are you an irritable person?

Psychoticism

  1. Do you enjoy cooperating with others?
  2. Do you try not to be rude to people?
  3. Do good manners and cleanliness matter to you?

The Five Factor Model of Personality

Factor Low High

O penness to down-to-earth^ imaginative

Experience conventional, uncreative

original, creative

prefers routine prefers variety

C onscientiousness lazy^ hardworking

aimless ambitious quitting persevering

E xtraversion reserved^ affectionate

loner joiner quiet talkative

A greeableness antagonistic^ acquiescent

ruthless softhearted suspicious trusting

N euroticism calm^ worrying

even tempered, unemotional

temperamental, emotional hardy vulnerable

Strengths and Contributions of the Trait Perspective

  • Several independent researchers find similar results (the five factors OCEAN) in their factor analysis, and the five factors reliably appear across a wide range of cultures.
  • Traits are relatively stable over time.

Weaknesses of the Trait Perspective

  • Trait theories don't really explain personality. They simply label general predisposition.
  • Trait theories don't attempt to explain how or why individual differences develop.
  • Trait approaches fail to address basic motives that drive people and the role of unconscious thought processes, beliefs about the self or how people develop over the lifespan.
  • Traits are poor predictors of behavior in specific situations. However, it tends to predict how the person will behave “on the average”. Supporters of the trait perspective argue that personality traits have a stronger influence in situations that are less socially structured, more familiar, informal or private.

The Major Ego Defense Mechanisms

Defense Mechanism Explanation Example

Repression Unacceptable or unpleasant impulses are pushed back into the unconscious

A woman is unable to recall that she was raped

Displacement The expression of an unwanted feeling or thought is redirected from a more threatening, powerful person to a weaker one

A brother yells at his younger sister after a teacher gives him a bad grade

Sublimation Diversion of unwanted impulses into socially approved thoughts, feelings, or behaviors

A person with strong feelings of aggression becomes a soldier

Rationalization A distortion of reality in which a person justifies what happens (also known as sour grapes)

A person who is passed over for an award says she didn’t really want it in the first place

Projection Attributing unwanted impulses and feelings to someone else

A man who is angry at his father acts lovingly to his father but complains that his father is angry with him

Reaction Formation Thinking or behaving in a way that is the extreme opposite of unacceptable urges or impulses

Threatened by their awakening sexual attraction to girls, adolescent boys often go out of their way to tease and torment adolescent girls

Denial Refusal to accept or acknowledge an anxiety- producing piece of information

A person who is convicted for DUI three times this year denies that he has a problem with alcohol.

Undoing A form of unconscious repentance that involves neutralizing or atoning for an unacceptable action or thought with a second action or thought

A woman who gets a tax refund by cheating on her taxes makes a larger than usual donation to the church collection on the following Sunday

Regression People behave as if they were at an earlier stage of development

A boss has a temper tantrum when an employee makes a mistake

What are examples of behaviors/experiences that are inconsistent with your self-concept that can cause one to use a defense mechanism (and which one)?