Chapter 17 Bandura: Social Cognitive Theory 525cognitive capacity for observational learning that enables them to shape and
structure their lives through the power of modeling” (Bandura 2002a, p. 167).
Bandura believes that people are quite plastic and flexible, and that
plasticity and flexibility are the essence of humanity’s basic nature. Because
humans have evolved neurophysiological mechanisms for symbolizing their
experiences, their nature is marked by a large degree of flexibility. People
have the capacity to store past experiences and to use this information to
chart future actions.
People’s capacity to use symbols provides them with a powerful tool
for understanding and controlling their environment. It enables them to solve
problems without resorting to inefficient trial-and-error behavior, to imagine
the consequences of their actions, and to set goals for themselves.
Humans are goal-directed, purposive animals who can view the future
and bestow it with meaning by being aware of the possible consequences
of future behavior. Humans anticipate the future and behave accordingly in
the present. The future does not determine behavior, but its cognitive rep-
resentation can have a powerful effect on present actions. “People set goals
for themselves, anticipate the likely consequences of prospective actions,
and select and create courses of action likely to produce desired outcomes
and avoid detrimental ones” (Bandura, 2001, p. 7).
Although people are basically goal oriented, Bandura believes that
they have specific rather than general intentions and purposes. People
are not motivated by a single master goal such as striving for superiority
or self-actualization but by a multiplicity of goals, some distant and some
proximate. These individual intentions, however, are not ordinarily anar-
chical; they possess some stability and order. Cognition gives people the
capacity to evaluate probable consequences and to eliminate behaviors
that do not meet their standards of conduct. Personal standards, there-
fore, tend to give human behavior a degree of consistency, even though
that behavior lacks a master motive to guide it.
Bandura’s concept of humanity is more optimistic than pessimistic, because
it holds that people are capable of learning new behaviors throughout their lives.
However, dysfunctional behaviors may persist because of low self-efficacy or
because they are perceived as being reinforced. Nevertheless, these unhealthy
behaviors need not continue, because most people have the capacity to change
by imitating the productive behaviors of others and by using their cognitive
abilities to solve problems.
Bandura’s social cognitive theory, of course, emphasizes social factors
more than biological ones. However, it recognizes that genetics contributes
to the person (P) variable in the triadic reciprocal causation paradigm. But
even within this model, cognition ordinarily gains ascendance, so biological
factors become less important. Moreover, social factors are clearly more
crucial to the other two variables—environment (E) and behavior (B).
We rate Bandura high on freedom versus determinism because he
believes that people can exercise a large measure of control over their lives.
Although people are affected by both their environment and their experiences
with reinforcement, they have some power to mold these two external condi-
tions. To some extent, people can manage those environmental conditions