Social-Cognitive View
The social-cognitive theory is by definition views behavior as influenced by the interaction between persons (and their thinking) and their social context. This theory was proposed by Albert Bandura. He believed that individuals and their situations worked similarly to nature and nurture. This theory says that 1) most of our behaviors come from observing others and modeling our behavior after theirs (social) and that 2) what we think about our situations affects our behavior. A term that describes this perfectly would be reciprocal determinism. It is simply the interacting influences between personality and environmental factors. This definition sums up all that I've said. From Albert Bandura's perspective, persoanlity is influenced by the interactions between those we are around and the environmental factors around us.
Internal Locus of Control vs. External Locus of Control
An internal locus of control is the perception that an individual controls his or her own fate. Because of this, these individuals tend to have better health, do better in school, feel less depressed, and act more independently than those who have an external locus of control.
An external locus of control is the perception that an individual's fate is determined by chance or other outside forces.
The social-cognitive perspective proposes that an individual's behavior is determined by the interaction of a person's traits and their social context. In relation to the social-cognitive view, loci of control play a role as the internal locus of control focuses the interaction on a more personal, internal manner; whereas the external locus of control defines the social-cognitive perspective as it leads a person to believe that their fate is determined by outside forces due to the interaction of their traits and the outside world.
An external locus of control is the perception that an individual's fate is determined by chance or other outside forces.
The social-cognitive perspective proposes that an individual's behavior is determined by the interaction of a person's traits and their social context. In relation to the social-cognitive view, loci of control play a role as the internal locus of control focuses the interaction on a more personal, internal manner; whereas the external locus of control defines the social-cognitive perspective as it leads a person to believe that their fate is determined by outside forces due to the interaction of their traits and the outside world.
Learned Helplessness vs. Personal Control
When an individual is unable to avoid repeated negative events, they learn to become passive and resigned to their fate. This is considered learned helplessness. In relation to the social-cognitive view, this learned helplessness contrasts with personal control in which an individual believes they can manipulate the events that concern or affect them. In relation to the social-cognitive perspective, learned helplessness plays a role as people tend to thrive under conditions in which they have personal freedom. This means that it is better for individuals to have a greater personal control.
Explanatory Style
The explanatory style refers to how individuals explain what happens in their lives. There are three aspects that are important to the explanatory style: stable versus unstable; global versus local; and internal versus external. With stable versus unstable, the question of whether the event is changing or unchanging across time is put into place. With global versus local, the event could be universal throughout one's life or specific to a certain part of it. If the event is within an individual, it is considered internal; if it is outside an individual, it is considered external. The explanatory style relates to the social-cognitive theory because how individuals explain events in their lives determines whether they are optimistic or pessimistic. This is because the traits of an individual determine how they interact with their surroundings, especially how they explain events.
Criticisms of the Social-Cognitive Theories
One of the charges against the social-cognitive perspective is that it focuses so much on the situation that it fails to appreciate the person's inner traits. The question posed for this criticism is where is the person in this view of personality and where are the human emotions. It is agreed that a situation guides our behaviors, but in many instances our unconscious motives, our emotions, and our pervasive traits shine through. It has been demonstrated that personality traits predict a person's behavior at work, love, and play, so therefore, our biologically influenced traits are quite important.