Feist−Feist: Theories of
Personality, Seventh
EditionV. Learning Theories 16. Bandura: Social
Cognitive Theory(^508) © The McGraw−Hill
Companies, 2009
ordinarily the first step in treatment. Patients typically begin by observing models or
by having their emotional arousal lessened through systematic desensitization,
which involves the extinction of anxiety or fear through self-induced or therapist-
induced relaxation. With systematic desensitization, the therapist and patient work
together to place fearsome situations on a hierarchy from least to most threatening
(Wolpe, 1973). Patients, while relaxed, enact the least threatening behavior and then
gradually move through the hierarchy until they can perform the most threatening
activity, all the while remaining at a low state of emotional arousal.
Bandura has demonstrated that each of these strategies can be effective and
that they are most powerful when used in combination with one another. Bandura
(1989) believes that the reason for their effectiveness can be traced to a common
mechanism found in each of these approaches, namely, cognitive mediation.When
people use cognition to increase self-efficacy—that is, when they become convinced
that they can perform difficult tasks—then, in fact, they become able to cope with
previously intimidating situations.
Related Research
The social cognitive theory of Albert Bandura continues to produce a great deal of
research in several domains of psychology, with the concept of self-efficacy alone
generating several hundred studies a year. Self-efficacy has been applied to a wide
variety of domains, including academic performance, work production, depres-
sion, escaping homelessness, coping with terrorism, and health-related behaviors.
Below we have selected just a couple of the many interesting applications of Albert
Bandura’sconcept of self-efficacy: coping with the threat of terrorism and manag-
ing Type 2 diabetes.
Self-Efficacy and Terrorism
Terrorism has long been a threat to modern societies, but as anyone who remembers
2001 knows, on September 11 of that year terrorism reached a new level of peril and
struck fear in people across the globe. Psychologists, particularly in areas of the
world commonly affected by terrorism, have always been interested in both how in-
dividuals get drawn into the terrorist culture and how innocent people cope with the
constant threat of terrorism (Ben-Zur & Zeidner, 1995; Moghaddam & Marsella,
2004; Zeidner, 2007). But this interest in terrorism increased exponentially after
2001, and it was in the post-9/11 frame of mind that some researchers began con-
sidering how self-efficacy might help people cope with terrorism.
In the wake of a terrorist attack, people report experiencing less personal se-
curity (Gallup, 2002). Oftentimes, terrorist attacks seem to come out of nowhere,
and therefore people feel as if they have no control over preventing or avoiding such
attacks. Belief that we can control events is the essence of what Bandura meant by
self-efficacy. Therefore, an increased sense of self-efficacy might help to alleviate
the negative feelings and sense of insecurity associated with terrorist attacks. Al-
though it may seem unlikely that any given person has a great deal of power to pre-
vent the next big attack, just the sense you can do something to make an attack
less likely can be helpful. Maybe this means taking concrete actions like keeping a
502 Part V Learning Theories