Social Cognitive Theory Perspective Research Articles

Modeling of Public Risk Perception and Risk Communication Research: In A Social-Cognitive Direction

This study begins with a review of commonly discussed dimensions of public risk perception that may influence public opinion toward risks. Factors that have been revealed by the literature to have substantial impact on risk perception, such as demographic background, trust, and media environment, are also discussed. Meanwhile, we evaluate two well-known research models in the realm of risk analysis: 1) the psychometric paradigm, and 2) the social amplification of risk framework (SARF). Based on a literature review, this study suggests that, besides the psychological and social approach, models of risk perception and risk communication research should shift to a more comprehensive one by considering the interrelations between laypeople and the environment. This study proposes a research model from the perspective of social cognitive theory (SCT) as a potential framework for future studies: 1) in the societal environment, individuals' risk perception and information seeking behavior, which is determined by risk perception will be influenced by trust in regulators and interpersonal trust; 2) in the media environment, individuals' risk perception and information seeking behavior will be influenced by individuals' perceived information characteristics. Knowledge about risk accumulated through information seeking will change risk perception in a longitudinal process.

A Social Cognitive Theory: Perspective of the Sugary Drink Cup Size Policy

In an attempt to fight the obesity epidemic, an unprecedented policy banning the sale of sugary beverages in containers over 16 ounces in selected public venues was proposed the city of New York. This policy is not without opposition from different sectors including the sugary beverage industry and civil organizations that portray it as a violation of consumers’ rights to choose. We explore the likelihood of such policy to be successful in curbing the obesity epidemic from a Social Cognitive Theory perspective.

Examining the Relationships Among Self-Efficacy, Coping, and Job Satisfaction Using Social Career Cognitive Theory

Using a social cognitive career theory perspective, the relationships among self-efficacy, coping styles, and job satisfaction were examined in a sample of 314 nurses employed in regional hospitals in Taiwan. Results indicated that self-efficacy was positively associated with problem-focused coping style and job satisfaction and negatively associated with emotion-focused coping. The influence of self-efficacy on job satisfaction was indirect and partially mediated by coping styles. Psychologists and health care managers may use these findings to design relevant intervention programs to enhance nurses’ coping effectiveness and self-efficacy.

Patterns of engagement: the relationship between efficacy beliefs and task engagement at the individual versus collective level

AbstractThis study examines the relationship between efficacy beliefs and task engagement in and over time, at both the individual and collective levels. We conducted latent growth curve analyses using data from 372 university students (individual level) who were assigned to one of 79 e‐work groups (collective level). The participants carried out three collaborative tasks in a laboratory setting. Results reveal, at both levels, that the level of task engagement of participants and groups with high initial levels of efficacy beliefs remained stable, whereas the level of task engagement of participants and groups with low initial levels of efficacy beliefs decreased significantly over time. Moreover, the relationships linking the parallel constructs were functionally equivalent across levels. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed from the perspective of Bandura's social cognitive theory.

La autorregulación en el aprendizaje, la luz de un faro en el mar

Self-regulation has becoming a transversal competence, common to all health professions, because this competence is relevant during the learning process and professional development. Its definition, from the social cognitive theory perspective, highlights the individual compromise and achievements during the learning process acquired as a continuous, autonomous and independent process. Its elements and leverages are described. How self-regulated learning is taught and evaluated is discussed, and supported with studies from the last five years, with some examples included.

Successful After-School Physical Activity Clubs in Urban High Schools: Perspectives of Adult Leaders and Student Participants

Grounded in social cognitive theory, the purpose of this study was to examine leaders’ and students’ perspectives of factors that contribute to effective voluntary after-school physical activity clubs. Data were collected over two-years via field observations (n= 115) and interviews with students (n = 278) and adult leaders (n = 126). Results highlighted interconnections among personal and environmental facilitators such as enthusiastic and caring leaders, multidimensional recruiting strategies, supportive and friendly club climates, and culturally relevant physical activities. Structural barriers such as a lack of administrative support, student hunger, and inadequate transportation options were also identified by leaders and students. While previous after-school physical activity club research has focused primarily on measuring physical activity increases, these students and leaders voiced valuable perspectives that contribute to understand why some initiatives fail and others succeed from a social cognitive theory perspective.

The Effects of Word-of-Mouth Communication on Consumer Healthful Lifestyle Change

Word-of-mouth (WOM) communication is a socially mediated pathway that helps people overcome perceived barriers to healthful behavioural change. A study was conducted in Singapore to examine the effects of person-to-person WOM communication on people’s healthful lifestyle changes. The study draws from the interactional perspective of Social Cognitive Theory (SCT) [1–2], which posits that environmental (social and physical) and personal factors determine behaviour change in a prescribed sequence of operations. Focusing on positive valence, oral communication and the receiver’s perspective, three key constructs underlying WOM were analysed for their contribution to behavioural change in physical activity and healthier diet: i) strong-tie social networks, comprising family, friends and a significant other; ii) interpersonal relational attributes, comprising trust, commitment, relationship quality and satisfaction; and iii) social support, comprising emotional, functional, companionship and informational supports. Using a survey (N=156) and follow-up interviews with a subset of 14 respondents, the study found that social networks, relational attributes and social support significantly influenced healthful behavioural change. Further, individual variables and their subcomponents appeared to have varying effects on different people and different types of healthful behavioural change, suggesting that health promotion marketing should be highly differentiated to be effective.

A social-cognitive approach to online game cheating

Drawing upon social cognitive theory, the present study constructed a conceptual model to provide an in-depth understanding of the key psychosocial factors shaping the cheating behavior in online multiplayer games. An online survey approach and structural equation modeling were adopted to investigate the hypothesized relationships and to assess the fitness of the model. The findings of this study provided support for the research model and the social cognitive theory perspective on game cheating behavior. The cheating behavior was found to be influenced by both external and self-generated factors. Specifically, individual gamers’ social environment (peer influence), their own attitude towards game cheating, and evaluation of cheating outcomes played an important role in shaping this problematic behavior in online games. Game cheating self-efficacy was interestingly found to be an insignificant factor for the game cheating behavior. The study fills a gap in the current literature on games and cheating, specifically on the social cognitive mechanisms of the cheating behavior in online multiplayer games.

The Antecedents of Moral Imagination in the Workplace: A Social Cognitive Theory Perspective

As corporate scandals proliferate, organizational researchers and practitioners have made calls for research providing guidance for those wishing to influence positive moral decision-making and behavior in the workplace. This study incorporates social cognitive theory and a vignette-based cognitive measure for moral imagination to examine (a) moral attentiveness and employee creativity as important antecedents of moral imagination and (b) creativity as a moderator of the positive relationship between moral attentiveness and moral imagination. Based on the results from supervisor–subordinate dyadic data (N = 162) obtained from employed students, hypotheses were largely supported as expected. Implications are discussed.

ERP success in the SMEs: The perspectives of Service Quality and Social Cognitive Theory

Since the service-oriented ERP systems have become essential to SMEs, the service quality of IS characteristics and the user's internal expectations are considered the key factors of ERP success. With the purpose of understanding how service quality influences user's satisfaction through psychological constructs, based on the Social Cognitive Theory and the framework of D&M IS Success Model, this study starts from the point of service quality to create a conceptual research model. The model and relevant hypotheses are tested in a survey of 205 Taiwan SMEs with the ERP system. The results show that the most significant linkages between service quality and psychological factors are tangibles and personal outcome expectations, responsiveness and assurance and performance outcome expectations, and tangibles and performance outcome expectations. Nevertheless, only the construct of responsiveness and assurance has a significant positive correlation with computer self-efficacy. It is suggested that the model provides fruitful implications for both academia and practical world.

The Impact of Computer Self-Efficacy and Technology Dependence on Computer-Related Technostress: A Social Cognitive Theory Perspective

Professionals and end users of computers often experience being constantly surrounded by modern technology. One side effect of modern technology is termed technostress, which refers to the “negative impact on attitudes, thoughts, behaviors, or body physiology that is caused either directly or indirectly by technology” (Well and Rosen, 1997). Based on social cognitive theory, this study developed a conceptual model in which computer-related technostress was studied as consequences of computer self-efficacy and technology dependence. Results show that (a) employees with higher level of computer self-efficacy have lower level of computer-related technostress, (b) employees with higher level of technology dependence have higher level of computer-related technostress, and (c) employees under different individual situations may perceive different levels of technostress. Contributions of this research and implications for theory and managerial practice are also discussed.

Science motivation questionnaire II: Validation with science majors and nonscience majors

AbstractFrom the perspective of social cognitive theory, the motivation of students to learn science in college courses was examined. The students—367 science majors and 313 nonscience majors—responded to the Science Motivation Questionnaire II, which assessed five motivation components: intrinsic motivation, self‐determination, self‐efficacy, career motivation, and grade motivation. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses provided evidence of questionnaire construct validity. The motivation components, especially self‐efficacy, were related to the students' college science grade point averages. The science majors scored higher than the nonscience majors on all of the motivation components. Among both science majors and nonscience majors, men had higher self‐efficacy than women, and women had higher self‐determination than men. The findings suggest that the questionnaire is a valid and efficient tool for assessing components of students' motivation to learn science in college courses, and that the components play a role in students' science achievement. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 48: 1159–1176, 2011

A Social Cognitive perspective on Positive Psychology

This article addresses positive psychology from the agentic perspective of social cognitive theory. There is a difference between pursuing happiness and achieving it through meaningful pursuits. Perceived well-being and satisfaction are derived from how one lives one's life not just from episodic good feelings or transient pleasures. Social cognitive theory addresses well-being and satisfaction in terms of commitment to a valued future and enablement to take the steps to realise it. The state of one's satisfaction and well-being is determined, in large part, relationally rather than solely by objective life conditions. Self-satisfaction and subjective well-being are rooted in temporal comparison on whether one's life is better or worse than in the past; social comparison on whether the quality of one's life compares favourably or unfavourably with the quality of life others enjoy; and aspirational comparison on how one's life status measures against the life ambition one set for oneself.

Gender role and the use of university library website resources: A social cognitive theory perspective

Existing studies have reported that significant gender differences exist in the use of technology. For example, males have higher levels of computer self-efficacy, which enable them to utilize technology more so than their counterparts. This difference could create a potential disparity in the benefits of the utilization of university library website resources (ULWR). The findings of this study show that male and female users’ computer self-efficacy is very different. Female users have lower levels of computer self-efficacy and subsequently, their intention to use ULWR is derived from a website’s ease-of-use. In contrast, male users’ intentions to use ULWR are derived from the subjective norm, a finding that challenges expectations based on social cognitive theory which posits that females are more likely than males to be influenced by others’ opinions. It is interpreted that males are much more goal- and performance-oriented than females. Detailed theoretical and managerial implications are offered.

A Social Cognitive Theory Approach to the Effects of Mediated Intergroup Contact on Intergroup Attitudes

This research applies a social cognitive theory perspective to the study of mediated intergroup contact. It was hypothesized that exposure to positive intergroup contact on television would be associated with more positive intergroup attitudes. Some support for this hypothesis was found for exposure to gay-straight and Black-White interactions. It was also hypothesized that identification with a character belonging to the viewer's ingroup and perceived typicality of a character from an outgroup would be associated with more positive intergroup attitudes. Some support for these hypotheses emerged with regard to associations between exposure to televised gay-straight interactions and homophobic attitudes.

Constructing the search for a job in academia from the perspectives of self-regulated learning strategies and social cognitive career theory

Four international doctoral graduates who found jobs in American academia wrote narratives about their job search process and were interviewed afterwards for this descriptive qualitative study. Retrospective narratives, responses to open-ended questions, and discussions in focus groups supported the integration of the self-regulated learning strategies into the social cognitive career theory to explain the learning aspect of the job search process. The strategies used by the participants during the job search process were identified with most categories of the self-regulated learning strategies in the literature, and the participants’ self-oriented cultural perspectives and how these cultural perspectives interacted with perceptions about the job search process in the academic world of work were examined. The findings of this study contribute to the social cognitive career theory by introducing the job candidates’ self-regulated learning procedure and could be resources for doctoral students who plan to make a successful transition from students to professors and/or researchers.

The gendered nature of career related learning experiences: A social cognitive career theory perspective

The learning experiences questionnaire (LEQ; Schaub & Tokar, 2005) was used to examine learning experiences as they relate to SCCT ( Lent, Brown, & Hackett, 1994) across the Holland (1997) RIASEC typology. In particular, differences in men’s and women’s career related learning experiences were examined. A sample of 319 undergraduates at a public Midwestern university completed an online survey. Gender differences were observed in reported levels of some learning experiences; similar to prior findings for self-efficacy and interests, women reported more learning experiences in the Social domain, and men reported more experiences in the Realistic and Investigative domains. Results also supported that more reported learning experiences in a given domain relate to higher self-efficacy and outcome expectations in that domain.

Early Adolescent Social and Overt Aggression: Examining the Roles of Social Anxiety and Maternal Psychological Control

This study examined the factors contributing to the self-reported use of social and overt aggression among 745 10–14-year-old European American and Latino adolescents. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses showed that dispositional social evaluative anxiety was uniquely positively associated with boys’ and girls’ social aggression and negatively associated with boys’ overt aggression. Maternal psychological control was positively associated with overt aggression for all boys, but with social aggression only for Latino boys. Although maternal psychological control also was associated with girls’ use of overt aggression, this effect was stronger among older than among younger females. The relationship between maternal psychological control and girls’ social aggression was mediated by social evaluative anxiety. Implications for elevated levels of social evaluative anxiety are discussed within a social cognitive theory perspective and for maternal psychological control within a social learning theory perspective.

Health promotion by social cognitive means.

This article examines health promotion and disease prevention from the perspective of social cognitive theory. This theory posits a multifaceted causal structure in which self-efficacy beliefs operate together with goals, outcome expectations, and perceived environmental impediments and facilitators in the regulation of human motivation, behavior, and well-being. Belief in one's efficacy to exercise control is a common pathway through which psychosocial influences affect health functioning. This core belief affects each of the basic processes of personal change--whether people even consider changing their health habits, whether they mobilize the motivation and perseverance needed to succeed should they do so, their ability to recover from setbacks and relapses, and how well they maintain the habit changes they have achieved. Human health is a social matter, not just an individual one. A comprehensive approach to health promotion also requires changing the practices of social systems that have widespread effects on human health.

Representations of Race in Television Commercials: A Content Analysis of Prime-Time Advertising

Given the paucity of contemporary examinations of racial/ethnic minority portrayals in television advertisements, this study analyzed the frequency, context, and quality of 2,3 15 speaking characters in a one-week sample of prime-time television commercials. Results reveal different patterns of portrayals when African American, Asian American, Latino, Native American, and White characters are featured in television advertisements. The implications of these images are examined from the perspective of social cognitive theory to provide insights into their possible impact on audience members' self-perceptions.