Motivation and social cognitive theory Schunk, Dale H.; DiBenedetto, Maria K.
Contemporary educational psychology,
January 2020, 2020-01-00, Volume:
60
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
•Social cognitive theory is a major theory of motivation.•The theory postulates that internal processes lead to behavioral outcomes.•The conceptual framework is based on reciprocal interactions ...between variables.•Researchers continue to address key issues and new research directions.
This article discusses motivation from the perspective of Bandura’s social cognitive theory. Motivation refers to processes that instigate and sustain goal-directed activities. Motivational processes are personal/internal influences that lead to outcomes such as choice, effort, persistence, achievement, and environmental regulation. Motivation has been a prominent feature of social cognitive theory from the early modeling research to the current conception involving agency. The conceptual framework of reciprocal interactions is discussed, after which research is summarized on behavioral, environmental, and personal influences on motivation. Key internal motivational processes are goals and self-evaluations of progress, self-efficacy, social comparisons, values, outcome expectations, attributions, and self-regulation. Critical issues confronting the theory include diversity and culture, methodology, and long-term effects of interventions. The article concludes with additional recommendations for future research on contexts, conceptual clarity, and technology.
The cognitive theory of panic disorder proposes that individuals with panic disorder have a relatively enduring tendency to catastrophically misinterpret bodily sensations resulting in panic attacks.
...We investigated whether the evidence is consistent with the theory and its predictions, if updates are required and sought to identify future research considerations.
We searched Scopus, Web of Science, PsycInfo, EMBASE, MEDLINE and CINAHL (1986 to July 2024). Inclusion criteria were studies collecting quantitative data derived from panic disorder patients, testing one of the predictions and using appropriate outcome measures. Exclusion criteria were non-English language publications, all participants under the age of 18 and studies that were not published in a peer-reviewed journal. Quality was assessed using ‘QualSyst’ and synthesis was based on each prediction tested. PROPSERO registration #CRD42022332211.
53 studies were identified amongst 49 publications. There was substantial evidence for all predictions. Three studies did not support the prediction tested and none were inconsistent.
Most studies were ‘medium’ in quality and were predominately from female samples.
Findings are consistent with the theory and its predictions. Higher quality research is needed and implications for future research are discussed.
•Predictions for the cognitive theory of panic disorder were systematically evaluated.•Fifty-three studies testing four predictions of the theory were identified.•Findings were consistent with the predictions with three studies not consistent.•Most studies were rated ‘medium’ in quality.•Findings support the use of the theory in understanding and treating panic disorder.
Studies of innovative behavior (the generation, dissemination, and implementation of new ideas) have generally overlooked the agency perspective on this important type of performance behavior. Guided ...by social-cognitive theory, we propose a moderated mediation relationship to explain why and how employees become motivated to make things happen through their innovative endeavors. First, we propose that within-individual increases in organizational trust and perceived respect by colleagues promote within-individual increases in creative, persuasion, and change self-efficacy over time. Second, we propose that within-individual increases in self-efficacy beliefs promote within-individual increases in idea generation, dissemination, and implementation over time. Finally, we propose that psychological collectivism (a between-individual variable) is a moderator, and that a higher level of psychological collectivism weakens the positive relationship between within-individual increases in self-efficacy beliefs and within-individual increases in innovative behavior. Repeated measures collected from 267 employees in Italy at 3 time points over an 8-month period generally support our proposed dynamic moderated mediation relationship.
Although research on organizational ambidexterity has exploded in the past several years, the determinants of individual‐level ambidexterity have received little scholarly attention. This is ...surprising given that management scholars increasingly highlight the benefits of combining explorative and exploitative activities in individual employees’ work roles. Using data collected by a two‐wave survey of 638 employees nested in 173 groups across 34 organizations, our research demonstrates that both psychological factors and leadership predict employees’ ambidextrous behaviour. Our results demonstrate that general self‐efficacy positively predicts ambidextrous behaviour through learning orientation. In addition, we show that employees exhibit higher ambidexterity when their group managers demonstrate paradoxical leadership; that is, a leadership style that couples strong managerial support with high performance expectations. Paradoxical leadership also moderates the relationship between learning orientation and individual ambidexterity such that employees’ ambidextrous behaviour is highest when paradoxical leadership and employee learning orientation are simultaneously at high levels.
Based on the understanding that social media can distract athletes and impact performance during major sport events, this research sought to understand how sport organizations help athletes address ...social media distractions. Underpinned by social cognitive theory, the research adopted
a phenomenological qualitative research design to two studies. Study One analyzed sport organizations' social media policies while Study Two used interviews with 15 current Olympians to uncover the effectiveness of their approaches. Three themes emerged including best practices education,
insufficient social media policies and frameworks, and personalized support. The research identified proactive and reactive measures used to manage social media distractions. The findings contribute to social cognitive theory by revealing athletes' openness to learning new ways to manage social
media use during events and draw from the experiences of peers. The findings can inform event management practice through real-time support of athletes on event grounds as well as through active promotion of healthy social media use in and around an event.
One of the major neuropsychological models of personality, developed by world-renowned psychologist Professor Jeffrey Gray, is based upon individual differences in reactions to punishing and ...rewarding stimuli. This biological theory of personality - now widely known as 'Reinforcement Sensitivity Theory' (RST) - has had a major influence on motivation, emotion and psychopathology research. In 2000, RST was substantially revised by Jeffrey Gray, together with Neil McNaughton, and this revised theory proposed three principal motivation/emotion systems: the 'Fight-Flight-Freeze System' (FFFS), the 'Behavioural Approach System' (BAS) and the 'Behavioural Inhibition System' (BIS). This is the first book to summarise the Reinforcement Sensitivity Theory of personality and bring together leading researchers in the field. It summarizes all of the pre-2000 RST research findings, explains and elaborates the implications of the 2000 theory for personality psychology and lays out the future research agenda for RST.
In electronic government (hereafter e-government), a large variety of technology adoption models are employed, which make researchers and policymakers puzzled about which one to use. In this ...research, nine well-known theoretical models of information technology adoption are evaluated and 29 different constructs are identified. A unified model of e-government adoption (UMEGA) is developed and validated using data gathered from 377 respondents from seven selected cities in India. The results indicate that the proposed unified model outperforms all other theoretical models, explaining the highest variance on behavioral intention, acceptable levels of fit indices, and significant relationships for each of the seven hypotheses. The UMEGA is a parsimonious model based on the e-government-specific context, whereas the constructs from the original technology adoption models were found to be inappropriate for the e-government context. By using the UMEGA, relevant e-government constructs were included. For further research, we recommend the development of e-government-specific scales.
•Nine adoption models are reviewed.•29 different adoption constructs are identified.•The UMEGA outperforms all other models for e-government•Government context should be taken into account.•The UMEGA is simpler to use and has a better explanatory power than the UTAUT.
With increased emphasis being placed on entrepreneurial thinking and acting in today's careers, we have witnessed growing research on entrepreneurial self-efficacy (ESE) over the last two decades. ...The present study provides a systematic review of the literature on the theoretical foundations, measurement, antecedents, and outcomes of ESE, and work which treats ESE as a moderator. Based on the review, an agenda for future research is developed and implications for entrepreneurship education and training highlighted. In doing so, the need to consider alternative theoretical perspectives to improve understanding of how ESE influences outcomes at different levels of analysis is highlighted. In addition, the review identifies a need to a) examine the factors which drive short-term fluctuations and long-term changes in ESE, b) examine the developmental precursors of ese in childhood, adolescence and early adulthood, c) examine the negative/curvilinear effects of ESE, d) investigate whether ESE can be treated as a collective level phenomenon, e) look at the effects of ESE on outcomes outside of entrepreneurial contexts, and f) improve measurement and research design.
•We conduct a systematic review of the literature on entrepreneurial self-efficacy.•Prior work has adopted social cognitive theory to explain its development.•Researchers should consider new theoretical perspectives to examine its effects.•Opportunities for empirical advancement are also highlighted.
Immersive virtual reality (VR) is predicted to have a significant impact on education; but most studies investigating learning with immersive VR have reported mixed results when compared to ...low-immersion media. In this study, a sample of 118 participants was used to test whether a lesson presented in either immersive VR or as a video could benefit from the pre-training principle, as a means of reducing cognitive load. Participants were randomly assigned to one of two method conditions (with/without pre-training), and one of two media conditions (immersive VR/video). The results showed an interaction between media and method, indicating that pre-training had a positive effect on knowledge (d = 0.81), transfer (d = 0.62), and self-efficacy (d = 0.64) directly following the intervention; and on self-efficacy (d = 0.84) in a one-week delayed post-test in the immersive VR condition. No effect was found for any of these variables within the video condition.
•An interaction between media and method in learning was investigated.•The pre-training principle was tested when learning about cells with VR and a video.•Pre-training increased knowledge, transfer, and self-efficacy only in VR.•There was a main effect for perceived enjoyment indicating higher enjoyment in VR.•Results provide evidence for a media effect through an interaction with instructional method.
Social cognitive theory is founded on an agentic perspective. This article reviews the core features of human agency and the individual, proxy, and collective forms in which it is exercised. Agency ...operates through a triadic codetermination process of causation. Knowledge from this line of theorizing is widely applied to effect individual and social change, including worldwide applications that address some of the most urgent global problems.
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