Feist−Feist: Theories of
Personality, Seventh
EditionV. Learning Theories 16. Bandura: Social
Cognitive Theory(^504) © The McGraw−Hill
Companies, 2009
box of Figure 16.2). Bandura (1986, 1999a) recognized at least three techniques of
distorting or obscuring the detrimental consequences of one’s actions. First, people
can minimize the consequences of their behavior. For example, a driver runs a red
light and strikes a pedestrian. As the injured party lies bleeding and unconscious
on the pavement, the driver says, “She’s not really hurt badly. She’s going to be
okay.”
Second, people can disregard or ignore the consequences of their actions,as
when they do not see firsthand the harmful effects of their behavior. In wartime,
heads of state and army generals seldom view the total destruction and death result-
ing from their decisions.
Finally, people can distort or misconstrue the consequences of their actions,as
when a parent beats a child badly enough to cause serious bruises but explains that
the child needs discipline in order to mature properly.
Dehumanize or Blame the Victims
Third, people can obscure responsibility for their actions by either dehumanizing
their victims or attributing blame to them(see upper-right box in Figure 16.2).
In time of war, people often see the enemy as subhuman, so they need not feel
guilty for killing enemy soldiers. At various times in U.S. history, Jews, African
Americans, Hispanic Americans, Native Americans, Asian Americans, homosexuals,
and street people have become dehumanized victims.Otherwise kind, considerate,
and gentle people have perpetrated acts of violence, insult, or other forms of
mistreatment against these groups in order to avoid responsibility for their own
behavior.
When victims are not dehumanized, they are sometimes blamedfor the perpe-
trator’s culpable conduct. A rapist may blame his victim for his crime, citing her
provocative dress or behavior.
Displace or Diffuse Responsibility
The fourth method of dissociating actions from their consequences is to displace or
diffuse responsibility(see lower box in Figure 16.2). With displacement,people min-
imize the consequences of their actions by placing responsibility on an outside
source. Examples include an employee who claims that her boss is responsible for
her inefficiency and a college student who blames his professor for low grades.
A related procedure is to diffuse responsibility—to spread it so thin that no one
person is responsible. A civil servant may diffuse responsibility for her actions
throughout the entire bureaucracy with such comments as “That’s the way things are
done around here” or “That’s just policy.”
Dysfunctional Behavior
Bandura’s concept of triadic reciprocal causation assumes that behavior is learned as
a result of a mutual interaction of (1) the person, including cognition and neuro-
physiological processes; (2) the environment, including interpersonal relations and
socioeconomic conditions; and (3) behavioral factors, including previous experi-
498 Part V Learning Theories