fei75766_ch17_534-568.indd 536  02/24/20 10:49 AM
Part VI    Learning-Cognitive Theories536
ofthetriadic reciprocal causation model isself-efficacy .People’s performance isgen-
erally enhanced when theyhavehighself-efficacy: thatis,theconfidence thatthey
canperform those behaviors thatwillproduce desired behaviors inaparticular situa-
tion.Inaddition toself-efficacy, bothproxy agency andcollective efficacy canpredict 
performance. With proxy agency ,people areabletorelyonothers forgoods and
services, whereas collective efficacy refers topeople’s shared beliefs thattheycanbring 
about change. 
Fourth, people regulate theirconduct through bothexternal andinternal fac-
tors.External factors include people’s physical andsocial environments, whereas 
internal factors include self-observation, judgmental process, andself-reaction. 
Fifth, when people findthemselves inmorally ambiguous situations, theytypi-
callyattempt toregulate theirbehavior through moral agency, which includes rede-
fining thebehavior, disregarding ordistorting theconsequences oftheirbehavior, 
dehumanizing orblaming thevictims oftheirbehavior, anddisplacing ordiffusing 
responsibility fortheiractions.
Biography of Albert Bandura
Albert Bandura wasbornonDecember 4,1925, inMundare, asmall town onthe
plains ofnorthern Alberta. Hegrew uptheonlyboyinafamily offiveolder sis-
ters.Both parents hademigrated from eastern European countries while stillan
adolescent—his father from Poland andhismother from theUkraine. Bandura was
encouraged byhissisters tobeindependent andself-reliant. Healsolearned self-
directiveness inthetown’s tinyschool, which hadfewteachers andlittleresources. 
Hishighschool hadonlytwoinstructors toteach theentire curriculum. Insuchan
environment, learning waslefttotheinitiative ofthestudents, asituation thatwell
suited abrilliant scholar likeBandura. Other students alsoseemed toflourish inthis
atmosphere; virtually allofBandura’s classmates went ontoattend college, avery
unusual accomplishment during theearly 1940s.
After graduating from highschool, Bandura spent asummer intheYukon 
working ontheAlaska highway. Thisexperience brought himintocontact witha
widevariety offellow workers, many ofwhom werefleeing creditors, alimony, or
theirdraft board. Inaddition, several ofhiscoworkers manifested various degrees of
psychopathology. Although hisobservations ofthese workers kindled inhimaninter-
estinclinical psychology, hedidnotdecide tobecome apsychologist untilafterhe
hadenrolled intheUniversity ofBritish Columbia inVancouver. 
Bandura toldRichard Evans (Evans, 1989) thathisdecision tobecome apsy-
chologist wasquite accidental; thatis,itwastheresult ofafortuitous event. Incol-
lege,Bandura commuted toschool withpremed andengineering students whowere
early risers. Rather thandonothing during thisearly hour, Bandura decided toenroll 
inapsychology class thathappened tobeoffered atthattimeperiod. Hefound the
class fascinating andeventually decided totakeapsychology major. Bandura later
came toconsider fortuitous events (such asriding toschool withstudents whowere
early risers) tobeimportant influences inpeople’s lives. 
After graduating from British Columbia injust3years, Bandura looked fora
graduate program inclinical psychology thathadastrong learning theory base. HisFinal PDF to printer