#behaviorist perspective

[vegalcor-blog]

[metapers]

Social-Cognitive Theory

The behaviorist perspective seems to be out of context when talking about personality, but maybe it actually is adequate to define personality through the use of behavior as means of expressing one’s personality. As Albert Bandura’s reciprocal determinism states, there are three interplaying factors: behavior, external determinants and internal determinants. Each factor interacts and influences the others, and there can be times where a factor dominates the rest. Maybe different external events seem the same to you, so you do the same behavior because you followed the same beliefs and expectations for both events. Or maybe the possibility of achievement (external factors) may hinder the feeling of hunger (internal factors) even though food is nearby and you haven’t eaten breakfast (previous behavior) so you still continue on your project (current behavior).

Imagination was also stated by Bandura as a system in which scenarios are created in the mind to determine the reinforcing or punishing potential of an event. In here, one does calculations and probabilities in the goals he sets in life along with the strategies that go with it. I guess everyone chooses the positive chances that they might have encountered as they imagined scenarios, so that they will be rewarded when they accomplish the task. However, not always will the desired outcome happen. For example, I confessed to a girl that I really liked before, but then she didn’t seem to like me back the way I do. Maybe she’s still holding on to her first love or maybe I expected too much of her. However, it wasn’t so bad that I felt punished for what I have done. I imagined that it would be nice to be accepted but I would most likely be rejected since she cannot move on. She still loves him very much and sees a future with him, even if, presently, the guy doesn’t seem to notice her anymore.

In lieu of loving, it seems that people are very resilient when it comes to things that they love. In here, self-regulation occurs so that they wouldn’t lose hope if the first time doesn’t work. Behaviorism supports this: internal reinforcement increases the probability of people behaving the same way again, and would come back to a more predictable state. This manifests in the workplace where an employee may receive a bonus when he does his job very well, which apparently reflects his love for the job. He will then continue serving the company and expect a higher raise after a few months. Exploitation might then occur because the company may be trying to grab his best traits through intermittent operant conditioning in order to keep him on the job, so that he can continue making more money for the company. This may also happen at home, where the parents will try everything to make a certain behavior manifest, without concern for the internal processes of their child. The child might grow up into a confused adult because he is made to do things without apparent purpose but with reinforcement.