Social cognitive theory
We learn behavior by observing others, with self-efficacy deciding whether learning becomes action.
What it means
Social cognitive theory (SCT) is Bandura's account of how people learn and act, holding that much human behavior is acquired by observing others (observational learning or modeling) rather than only through direct reinforcement. Its organizing principle is reciprocal determinism: personal factors (beliefs, expectations, self-efficacy), behavior, and the environment continuously influence one another, so the person is neither a passive product of the environment nor wholly autonomous. The mechanism of observational learning has four components — attention to a model, retention of what was observed, reproduction of the behavior, and motivation to perform it, the last shaped by expected outcomes and by whether the model was rewarded or punished (vicarious reinforcement). Two cognitive constructs are pivotal: self-efficacy (belief in one's capability), which governs whether observed behavior is attempted and sustained, and outcome expectations about the likely consequences of acting. The famous Bobo doll studies demonstrated that children imitate aggression modeled by adults, especially when the model was rewarded. It matters because it underpins interventions that use role models, demonstration, and efficacy-building across education, health, media, and behavior change, showing that people can learn powerfully from watching others.
Examples
A teenager takes up a behavior they have seen admired peers perform — but only if they believe they can pull it off themselves.
A new nurse learns to break bad news by watching a senior colleague do it well and rehearsing it privately, but only tries it alone once she believes she can hold the room.
Staff start cutting the same corners as the colleague who cut them and got promoted anyway. Nobody taught the behavior; they simply watched it pay off.
First described in Albert Bandura (1986); Bobo doll studies (1961).