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Essay on Social Cognitive Theory

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Social Cognitive Theory

Nowadays, many people both young and old tend to engage in health compromising behaviors. Some of which include: alcohol abuse, drug abuse, smoking, and the specific topic interest condom use, or maybe in this case condom non-use. From these particular behaviors a question poses: Why do people engage in health compromising behaviors? There are in fact many theories or processes that can give explanations to this particular question. One theory that can be related to this specific question is the Social Cognitive Theory (SCT). Dr. Albert Bandura originated social Cognitive Theory in the early 1960's. It actually stems from the Social Learning Theory. It has origins in the discipline of psychology, with …show more content…

The third concept associated with the SCT is vicarious capability. Vicarious processes refer to the human ability to learn not only from direct experience, but also from the observation of others. Observational learning allows one to develop an idea of how a new behavior is performed with actually performing the behavior oneself. Forethought capability is the fourth concept that is associated with the SCT. It implies that most human behavior is purposive and is regulated by this. Forethought is a person's capability to motivate themselves and guide their actions anticipatorily. It mentions that previous experiences create expectations of the outcome that will occur as a result of performing a behavior, before the behavior is performed. These expectations influence the likelihood that a behavior will be performed again. In the case of the scenario, this concept implies that if the two had been in this predicament prior to that specific time, then it is likely that they would already know what was going to happen. The fifth concept incorporated into the SCT is self-regulatory capability. This allows people to have personal control over their own thoughts, feelings, motivation, and actions. It is important because it allows the gradual substitution of internal controls for external controls of behavior. With this concept applied to the scenario, it simply refers to the

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