fei75766_ch18_569-609.indd 599  02/24/20 10:50 AM
Chapter 18     Rotter and Mischel: Cognitive Social Learning Theory599
Affective Responses
During theearly1970s, 
Mischel’s theory was
mostly acognitive the-
ory.Itwasbased onthe
assumption thatpeople’s 
thoughts andother cogni -
tiveprocesses interact with
aparticular situation to
determine behavior. Since 
then, however, Mischel 
andcolleagues (Mischel &
Ayduk, 2002; Mischel &
Shoda, 1998, 1999) have
added affective responses 
tothelistof important 
cognitive- affective units. 
Affective responses include 
emotions, feelings, and
physiological reactions. 
Mischel seesaffective 
responses asinseparable 
from  cognitions and
regards theinterlocking 
cognitive-affective units 
asmore basic thanthe
other  cognitive- affective 
units. 
Affective responses, 
then, donotexist in
isolation. Notonlyare
theyinseparable from cognitive processes butalsotheyinfluence eachoftheother 
cognitive-affective units. Forexample, theencoding ofaperson’s viewofselfincludes 
certain positive andnegative feelings. “Iseemyself asacompetent psychology stu-
dentandthatpleases me.”“I’mnotverygood atmathematics andIdon’t likethat.” 
Similarly, people’s competencies andcoping strategies, theirbeliefs andexpectan -
cies,andtheirgoals andvalues areallcolored bytheiraffective responses. 
Mischel andShoda (1995) stated:
Cognitive-affective representations arenotunconnected discrete units thatare
simply elicited as“responses” inisolation: These cognitive representations and
affective states interact dynamically andinfluence eachother reciprocally, and
itistheorganization oftherelationships among them thatforms thecoreofthe
personality structure andthatguides andconstrains theirimpact. (p.253)
Insummary, interrelated cognitive-affective units contribute tobehavior as
theyinteract withstable personality traits andareceptive environment. Themost 
important ofthese variables include (1)encoding strategies, orhowpeople construe orOnereason fortheinconsistency inpeople’s behavior istheirinability to
predict thebehavior ofothers. ThinkStock/SuperStock
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