fei75766_ch18_569-609.indd 587  02/24/20 10:50 AM
Chapter 18     Rotter and Mischel: Cognitive Social Learning Theory587
faulty nature oftheirgoals andtoteach them constructive means ofstriving toward 
realistic goals. Rotter andHochreich (1975) listed three sources ofproblems that
follow from inappropriate goals.
First, twoormore important goals maybeinconflict. Forexample, adolescents 
frequently value bothindependence andprotection-dependency. Ontheonehand, 
theywishtobefreefrom theirparents’ domination andcontrol, butontheother, they
retain theirneed foranurturing person tocareforthem andprotect them from pain-
fulexperiences. Their ambivalent behaviors areoften confusing bothtothemselves 
andtotheirparents. Inthissituation, thetherapist maytrytohelpadolescents see
howspecific behaviors arerelated toeachofthese needs andproceed towork with
them inchanging thevalue ofoneorbothneeds. Byaltering need value, patients 
gradually begin tobehave more consistently andtoexperience greater freedom of
movement inobtaining theirgoals.
Asecond source ofproblems isadestructive goal. Some patients persistently 
pursue self-destructive goals thatinevitably result infailure andpunishment. Thejob
ofthetherapist istopoint outthedetrimental nature ofthispursuit andthelikelihood 
thatitwillbefollowed bypunishment. Onepossible technique usedbyatherapist in
these cases istopositively reinforce movements away from destructive goals. Rotter, 
however, isbothpragmatic andeclectic andisnotbound toaspecific setoftech-
niques foreachconceivable problem. Tohim,theappropriate procedure istheone
thatworks withagiven patient.
Third, many people findthemselves introuble because theysettheirgoals too
highandarecontinually frustrated when theycannot reach orexceed them. High 
goals leadtofailure andpain, soinstead oflearning constructive means ofobtaining 
agoal, people learn nonproductive ways ofavoiding pain. Forexample, aperson may
learn toavoid painful experiences byphysically running away orbypsychologically 
repressing theexperience. Because these techniques aresuccessful, theperson learns 
touseflight andrepression inavariety ofsituations. Therapy inthiscasewould con-
sistofgetting thepatient torealistically reevaluate andlower exaggerated goals by
reducing thereinforcement value ofthese goals. Because highreinforcement value 
isoften learned through generalization, thetherapist would work toward teaching 
patients todiscriminate between pastlegitimate values andpresent spurious ones.
Eliminating Low Expectancies
Inaddition tochanging goals, thetherapist triestoeliminate patients’ lowexpectan -
ciesofsuccess anditsanalog, lowfreedom ofmovement. People mayhavelowfree-
domofmovement foratleastthree reasons.
First, theymaylacktheskills orinformation needed tosuccessfully strive 
toward theirgoals (Rotter, 1970). With suchpatients, atherapist becomes ateacher, 
warmly andemphatically instructing them inmore effective techniques forsolving 
problems andsatisfying needs. Ifapatient, forexample, hasdifficulties ininterper -
sonal relationships, thetherapist hasanarsenal oftechniques, including extinguishing 
inappropriate behaviors bysimply ignoring them; using thetherapist-patient relation -
shipasamodel foraneffective interpersonal encounter thatmaythengeneralize 
beyond thetherapeutic situation; andadvising thepatient ofspecific behaviors to
tryoutinthepresence ofthose other people whoaremost likely tobereceptive.Final PDF to printer