The Behaviorist and Social Cognitive View of Personality

Behaviorist View of Personality

• Behaviorist view of personality = habits

– Everything a person or animal does is a response to some environmental stimulus that has been reinforced or strengthened by reward in some way.

Behaviorist View of Personality• Explanation of a shy personality

– In childhood, parent has a harsh discipline style (stimulus)

– The child is negatively reinforced to keep quiet to avoid punishment

– Later, the child may generalize their approach to other adults, such as teachers

– Thus…..the habit of shyness develops

Social Cognitive Learning Theorists and Views

• Social Cognitive Learning Theorists

– Suggest that observational learning, modeling, and other cognitive learning techniques can lead to the formation of patterns of personality

• Social Cognitive View

– Behavior is generated by external stimuli, response patterns, and cognitive processes such as anticipations, judging, memory, and imitation of models

Albert Bandura (Social-Cognitive View)

• 3 factors determine ones’ personality: environment, behavior, and personal/cognitive factors (early experiences)

• Factors work in reciprocal determination….

– They affect one another and work according to a give-and-take relationships

Albert Bandura’s Factors

• Environment– Actual physical surroundings, the other people who

may or may not be present, and the potential reinforcement in the surroundings

• Behavior– Intensity and frequency of behavior will be

influenced by the environment as well as have an impact on the environment

• Personal/Cognitive Factors– Previously reinforced responses and processes such

as thinking and anticipating • Example: 530 (should read!!!!!)

Albert Bandura• Self Efficacy

– Individual’s expectancy of how effective his or her efforts to accomplish a goal will be in any particular circumstance

– High or low depending on past, similar circumstances, what other people tell them, and their own assessment of their abilities

– High self-efficacy

• More persistent and expect to succeed

– Low self-efficacy

• Expect to fail and tend to avoid challenges

Julian Rotter

• Believed peoples’ personalities are motivated to seek reinforcement to avoid punishment

• If people act or respond in a way they are reinforced…..that way of responding may become a pattern and part of one’s personality

Julian Rotter

• Locus of Control

– Tendency for people to assume that they have control or do not have control over events and consequences in their lives

– Internal

• High achievement motivation

– External

• Fall into patterns of learned helplessness and depression

Julian Rotter

• Expectancy

– A person’s subjective feeling that a particular behavior will lead to a reinforcing consequence

• “If you believe you will succeed….. You will!”

Current Thoughts and Criticisms on ….

• Behaviorism

– Theory does not take mental processes into account when describing behavior

– Theory does not take social influences on learning into account

Current Thoughts and Criticisms on ….

• Social Cognitive

– Theory has been tested under scientific conditions

– Theory does take into account social and mental processes on one’s behavior