Chapter 17 Bandura: Social Cognitive Theory 523Bandura’s mechanisms of moral disengagement and theory of efficacy on
both the individual and the collective level provide an excellent foundation for
creating intervention efforts to put an end to bullying. An ambitious anti-bullying
program to do so in Norway addressed the issue at the individual student, parent,
classroom, school, and even entire community level, and evaluation of the program
showed excellent results (e.g., Olweus & Limber, 2010).
Social Cognitive Theory “Goes Global”
Albert Bandura’s most recent work is taking social cognitive theory in brave, new
applied directions to find solutions to global problems such as soaring population
growth. In collaboration with the Population Media Center, a group who brings
entertainment-education for social change to Africa, Asia, and Latin America,
Bandura has helped to produce serial dramas that encourage evidence-based pos-
itive change behaviors for television and radio audiences to model via observa-
tional learning. These mass media productions have been shown to improve
viewers’ perceived efficacy to determine their family size, increase the use of
contraceptives, and promote the status of women in family, social, and educational
life (Bandura, 2002c). Newer work in this collaborative team is exploring the
efficacy of similar serial dramas to improve environmental preservation practices.
In a presentation he gave to the British Psychological Society in 2009 on
this remarkably effective application of his work, Bandura ended with the follow-
ing call to action:
Global problems instill a sense of paralysis in people. They feel that there is
little they can do to reduce such problems. The mantra ‘think globally, act
locally’ is an effort to localize the global. Our global applications increase the
scale and scope of social cognitive theory in promoting personal and social
changes. They illustrate how a collective effort, combining the expertise of
different players, can have a worldwide impact on seemingly insurmountable
problems. As a society, we enjoy the benefits left by those before us who
collectively worked for social changes that improved our lives. Our own
collective efficacy will determine whether we pass on a habitable planet to our
grandchildren and future generations. So, as you bring our knowledge, and your
personal influence to bear, on saving our battered planet: May the efficacy force
be with you! (Bandura, 2009, p. 506)
This exciting new collaborative work is a powerful illustration of how a per-
sonality theory can frame solutions to global social problems. Self-efficacy is clearly
a construct with far-reaching implications not only for our own personal lives, but
for collective action. Given this, it is easy to see why Albert Bandura’s theory
continues to generate the impressive amount of research and application it does.
Critique of Bandura
Albert Bandura has evolved his social cognitive theory by a careful balance of the
two principal components of theory building—innovative speculation and accurate
observation. His theoretical speculations have seldom outdistanced his data but have
been carefully advanced, only one step in front of observations. This scientifically