The Social-Cogntive Perspective

Welcome back to the second of the personality perspectives. Today, we’re covering the social-cognitive perspective.

Do we control our personalities, or do our environments shape us? The social-cognitive theory, pioneered by Albert Bandura, suggests that both play a role. Unlike traditional views that see personality as something fixed, this theory argues that behavior, environment, and personal thought processes interact to shape who we are.

A key concept in this theory is reciprocal determinism—the idea that our behaviors influence our environment, and our environment influences our behaviors in return. For example, a student who believes they are good at math (personal factor) may study harder (behavior), leading to praise from teachers (environment), which further reinforces their confidence.

Bandura also introduced the concept of self-efficacy, which is our belief in our ability to succeed. People with high self-efficacy tackle challenges with confidence, while those with low self-efficacy may give up easily. This theory is especially relevant in today’s world, where social media, culture, and personal choices all play a role in shaping our identities. If personality is a product of our experiences and choices, then we have more power over who we become than we might think.

The key difference between the humanistic and social-cognitive perspectives is the reliance of external factors in social-cognitive perspective. Humanistic is all to do with you, whereas social-cognitive depends on our experiences and interactions with the environment.