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When We Think We Can, We Do. When We Think We Can’t, We Don’t.

Albert Bandura, one of the world’s most influential social psychologists, who revolutionized Behaviorism and gave rise to Social Cognitive Theory, would have turned 99 in December.

Born in 1925 in Alberta, Canada, he was the youngest of six children, raised by Eastern European immigrants who instilled in him the value of hard work and education. 

Bandura enrolled in college after high school and went west to Vancouver at his parents' urging. His early morning commute to campus left a hole in his schedule that needed filling, and by chance, he chose an Intro to Psychology course, igniting a lifelong passion.

After getting his BA in psychology, he moved to the States. He got his M.A. and Ph.D. in clinical psychology, studying under Kenneth Spence, a well-known learning theorist, and Kurt Lewin, a social psychology pioneer. 

Social Learning Theory, a branch of psychology focused on observational learning, lit a fire under Bandura. In the early 1960s, he began conducting experiments that challenged the prevailing view of Behaviorism, which had taken the field of psychology by storm.

Behaviorism is the belief that human behavior is shaped and influenced through conditioning by external stimuli—punishments and rewards—and that cognitive processes, or internal experiences, play no role. 

Bandura was skeptical.

He understood that cognitive processes were not fixed and demonstrated how people learn by imitating what they see, even without direct commands. 

In his most famous study, the Bobo Doll Experiment, he illustrated how children learn aggressive behavior simply by watching violent adult models. 

The study showed children a film of adults yelling aggressive insults and beating up Bobo, a doll. Afterward, the same children were allowed to play with Bobo. Those who’d seen the film imitated the adult violence and aggression they’d seen and beat the doll.

They’d received no rewards or punishments.

They’d imitated behavior they’d witnessed. 

The doll study challenged the prevailing view that internal processes did not influence or shape behavior and offered a revolutionary perspective that accounted for cognitive processes. 

It was clear to Bandura the role of cognitive processes and social influence in shaping behavior. This gave rise to his Social Cognition Theory (SCT). This theory considered how people acquired and maintained behaviors, including the environments in which these behaviors were performed.

Bandura set out to prove that behavior results from an interplay between a person’s history, environmental influences, cognitive processes, and emotional factors. His interest in vicarious learning led him to develop the concept of self-efficacy.

Self-efficacy is the belief in one’s capacity to execute behaviors to achieve a specific performance. It reflects confidence in one's ability to control behavior despite external motivation and social environment. 

He had a theory about fear.

My most profound insights don't go in the free version—they're distilled from my 27 years in therapy, decades of independent study, and work as a mental health advocate. These frameworks and perspectives are reserved for readers committed to going deeper.

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