Feist−Feist: Theories of
Personality, Seventh
EditionV. Learning Theories 16. Bandura: Social
Cognitive Theory(^492) © The McGraw−Hill
Companies, 2009
with his cousin Bertha Goodman, but he was too bashful to express his love. One day
while he was visiting his cousin’s home, Bertha’s older sister pushed him toward his
beloved cousin, saying: “For the love of Pete, kiss her, will ya!” (Hoffman, 1988, p.
29). Maslow did, and to his surprise, Bertha did not fight back. She kissed him, and
from that moment, Maslow’s previously aimless life became transformed.
Also, Hans Eysenck, the noted British psychologist, came to psychology com-
pletely by chance. He had intended to study physics at the University of London, but
first he had to pass an entrance examination. After waiting a year to take the exam,
he was told that he had prepared for the wrong test, and that he would have to wait
another year to take the right one. Rather than delaying his education further, he
asked whether there might be any scientific subject that he could pursue. When told
that he could enroll in a psychology program, Eysenck asked, “What on earth is psy-
chology?” (Eysenck, 1982, p. 290). Eysenck, of course, went on to major in psy-
chology and to become one of the world’s most famous psychologists.
Fortuity adds a separate dimension in any scheme used to predict human be-
havior, and it makes accurate predictions practically impossible. However, chance
encounters influence people only by entering the triadic reciprocal causation para-
digm at point E (environment) and adding to the mutual interaction of person, be-
havior, and environment. In this sense, chance encounters influence people in the
same manner as do planned events. Once a chance encounter occurs, people behave
toward their new acquaintance according to their attitudes, belief systems, and inter-
ests as well as to the other person’s reaction to them. Thus, whereas many chance en-
counters and unplanned events have little or no influence on people’s behavior, “oth-
ers have more lasting effects, and still others thrust people into new life trajectories”
(Bandura, 2001, p. 12).
Chance encounters and fortuitous events are not uncontrollable. Indeed, peo-
ple can make chance happen. A divorced man looking for an opportunity to remarry
will increase his chance of meeting a potential wife by perusing a proactive course
of action, for example, by joining a singles club, going to places where he is likely
to find single women, or asking a friend to introduce him to an eligible potential
mate. If he meets an eligible and desirable woman, he increases his chances for a
lasting relationship if he has prepared himself to be attractive or interesting to
women. Bandura (2001) quotes Louis Pasteur: “Chance favors only the prepared
mind” (p. 12). Conversely, the prepared person is able to escape unpleasant chance
encounters and fortuitous events by anticipating their possibility and taking steps to
minimize any negative impact they may have on future development.
Human Agency
Social cognitive theory takes an agentic view of personality, meaning that humans
have the capacity to exercise control over their own lives (2002b). Indeed, human
agencyis the essence of humanness. Bandura (2001) believes that people are self-
regulating, proactive, self-reflective, and self-organizing and that they have the
power to influence their own actions to produce desired consequences. Human
agency does not mean that people possess a homunculus—that is, an autonomous
agent—making decisions that are consistent with their view of self. Neither does it
mean that people react automatically to external and internal events. Human agency
486 Part V Learning Theories