Theoretical Analysis: Julian Rotter Social Learning Theory Including Locust Control

Background: Historical Overview

Julian Rotter was born in 1916 in Brooklyn, New York as the third son of Jewish immigrant parents (Walker, 1991). Rotters father had a successful business that was negatively impacted by the great depression. It was due to the great depression that Rotter became aware of social injustice and the impact of the situation environment on individuals. Rotters interest in psychology started in high school when he began reading Adler and Freud books. While in Brooklyn College, Rotter attended seminars given by Adler and attended meetings of Adlers Society of Individual Psychology held in Adlers home. Rotter attended the University of Iowa after graduating from Brooklyn College. He took classes together with Kurt Lewin and minored in speech pathology. Rotter studied with the semanticist Wendell Johnson whose ideas had a lasting impact on Rotters thinking regarding the necessity for careful definitions in psychology and the innumerable pitfalls involved in poorly operationalized and defined constructs. Rotter took a clinical psychology internship at Worcester State Hospital in Massachusetts after finishing his masters degree. Rotter started his PhD at Indian University in 1939 (Walker, 1991). It was one of the few programs offering a doctorate in clinical psychology. By earning a PhD in clinical psychology, Rotter became one of the first clinical psychologists trained in what is currently considered the traditional mode.

After serving in the Army and Air Force in World War II, Rotter accepted an academic position at Ohio State University. Rotter started his major accomplishment of social learning theory at Ohio State University. The theory incorporated learning theory with personality theory. Social Learning and Clinical Psychology was published in 1954. Holding strong beliefs on how clinical psychologists should be educated, Rotter became an active participant in the 1949 Boulder Conference, which defined a training model for clinical psychologists. Rotter pushed for the training of psychologists to be done in the psychology department and not by psychiatrists. Rotters ideas are still influential to this date. Rotter was awarded the American Psychological Associations Distinguished Scientific Contribution award in 1989. He died at the age of 97 on January 6, 2014.

Background: Historical Development

The development of social learning theory was done as an attempt to combine the best elements of behaviorism and gestalt psychology. Rotter liked the theoretical and methodological rigor of behaviorists, but the mechanistic learning theories were too limited to apply to human social behavior. The gestalt theories appealed to him, especially the work of Kurt Lewin, his former professor. However, he became disturbed by their failure and imprecision to generate particular predictions. Social learning theory was seen as an alternative to behaviorism and psychoanalysis that had the potential to become useful for clinicians and researchers. Before Rotter developed his social learning theory, psychoanalysis was the dominant perspective in clinical psychology, focusing on an individuals deep-seated instinctual motives are behavior determinants. People were seen as nave to their unconscious impulses and needed long-term analysis of their childhood experiences during treatment. Drive theory was dominant in learning approaches of the time. Drive theory holds that individuals are motivated by physiologically based impulses that push the person to satisfy them.

The development of social learning theory departed from drive-based behaviorism and instinct-based psychoanalysis. Rotter believed there should be a psychological motivational principle in a psychological theory. The motivating factor chosen by Rotter for his social learning theory was the empirical law of effect. According to the law of effect, individuals are motivated to search for positive stimulation or reinforcement and avoid unpleasant stimuli. Rotters main idea in his social learning theory is that personality represents the individuals interaction with their environment. It is impossible to speak of a personality that is internal to the person independent of their environment. Also, we cannot focus on behavior as constituting an automatic response to some objective set of environmental stimuli. Therefore, we should consider the individual and their environment to understand behavior. Rotter saw personality and behavior as always changing. Changing how a person thinks or changing the environment they are responding to will cause a behavior change. Rotter believed people are optimistic and drawn forward by their goals to maximize their reinforcement and not merely avoid punishment.

Background: Key Concepts

Rotters social learning theory model has four main components that predict behavior. These are behavior potential, expectancy, reinforcement value, and psychological situation. Behavior potential refers to various behaviors a person likely engages in. The concept indicates that people will act in certain ways, and if there are no changes, their most habitual behaviors will emerge in certain situations. Rotter looked at the probability of a person engaging in a certain behavior when faced with a certain situation. In any given situation, there will be multiple behaviors a person can engage in, and for each possible behavior, there is a likely behavior potential (Sue, 1978). According to Rotter, there is a potential behavior for any behavior (Rotter, 1990). A person will react based on their environment.

Expectancy refers to the subjective probability that a given behavior will result in a particular outcome or reinforcer (Rotter et al., 1954). The focus here is on the likelihood of a behavior leading to the desired outcome. When a person has a high or strong expectancy, they are confident their behavior wil lead to the desired outcome. However, when they have low expectancies, it indicates they do not believe their behavior will lead to reinforcement. When the outcomes are equally desirable, the individual will engage in behavior with the highest expectancy. Past experience forms a persons expectancies. When a particular behavior has led to reinforcement in the past, a person is more likely to have a high expectancy of the behavior achieving the outcome now (Williams, 2010). Rotter noted that observation of the outcomes of others behaviors has the potential to impact our expectancies. For example, when we see someone being punished for a certain behavior, we formulate an expectancy that the behavior will be punished even though we have not experienced the punishment. Expectancy is a subjective probability since one source of pathology is irrational expectancies. There is a possibility that there is no relationship between the individuals subjective assessment of the likelihood of how a reinforcer will be and how it is. A person can either overestimate or underestimate the likelihood, and either can be potentially problematic (Rotter, 1960).

Reinforcement value pertains to the desirability of the outcomes of our behavior. We tend to give the things we want and desire a high reinforcement value and a low reinforcement value to the things we wish to avoid (Rotter, 1990). When the possibility of achieving reinforcement is equal, a person will exhibit the behavior with the desired outcome. The social environment plays a key role in shaping a persons behavior. Social outcomes like love, rejection, or approval have a powerful influence on a persons behavior. Reinforcement value is subjective, meaning there is a possibility that the same event can have vastly different desirability based on the persons life experience. For example, punishment is a negative reinforcement for most children and should be avoided. However, a neglected child could give punishment a high reinforcement value since it is better than neglect.

The psychological situation is not a predictor of behavior since it refers to a variable that psychologists must keep in mind. Psychological situation posits that people will view and interpret similar situations differently. Therefore, people will view the environment depending on their subjective interpretation, not stimuli. The subjective view of the situation will determine other factors in the persons behavior.

Background: Theory Used Today

The theory of social learning theory that Rotter developed is used today in cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT). CBT focuses on modifying cognitive distortions and their associated behaviors. Social learning theory identified that people learn how to behave based on their environment (McCullough Chavis, 2011). The analogy developed by Rotter is applied in CBT, where the goal is to modify and challenge an individuals thoughts, attitudes, and beliefs so they can change how they react to certain behaviors in their environment. CBT combines behavioral and cognitive psychology to treat various mental health conditions (McCullough Chavis, 2011). Rotter believed that all behavior is learned. Therefore, treatment should focus on teaching new adaptive behaviors to replace the existing maladaptive behaviors. Social learning theory saw the therapist-client relationship as similar to the teacher-student relationship. When there is a warm relationship between therapist and client, the therapist has more reinforcement value. The therapist can influence the clients behavior through praise and encouragement, similar to CBT.

Rotter noted that behavior is maladaptive because a person did not learn healthy behaviors (Proctor & Niemeyer, 2020). Therefore, the therapist tries to suggest new behaviors to assist the client in developing more effective coping skills. CBT uses the same strategy when treating patients, where the therapist teaches the client new behaviors to replace the negative or unhealthy behaviors they hold. Social learning theory posits that personality constitutes a persons interaction with their environment. Therefore, if there is a change in how a person thinks or an environmental change, there will be a behavior change. The same is true for CBT, where the goal of treatment is to modify the thoughts and beliefs held by a person to alter their behavior.

Evaluation: Position Statement

According to Julian Rotters social learning theory, all behaviors are learned. The social environment, family environment, and culture a person is born into and develop determine a persons behavior. The social learning theory posits that behavior is oriented towards searching for positive reinforcement. Positive reinforcement comes through the responses of the people in the environment with whom the person interacts with in the form of rewards or approval (Jensen, 2018). The individual will be motivated to positive behaviors since they are seeking to avoid punishment. Therefore, behavior is set up from the learning a person has built throughout their life. In essence, we tend to repeat the behavior that generates reinforcement and eliminate behaviors that provoke punishment. We can also learn positive and negative reinforcement by visualizing the consequences of others behaviors. People will learn from their experiences and those of others.

There is a reason we do things the way we do them or act the way we do. It is interesting to note that people will, by default, choose one option over another even if the other option offers better rewards theoretically. Rotters social learning theory explains human behavior in that our behavior results from how we perceive others and the responses we receive from the...

…real-world applicaions. For example, it can help explain why people may resist changing their opinions even in the face of evidence that contradicts them. It can also help explain why people may be more likely to believe information that reinforces their beliefs. However, the theory has its Critics too. Some argue that it does not adequately explain why people sometimes change their beliefs in response to new information. Others say that it overestimates the role of mental discomfort in influencing people's beliefs. Overall, cognitive dissonance theory is valuable for understanding how people process new information and make decisions about their beliefs. However, like all psychological theories, it has its limitations and should be used in conjunction with other theories to get a complete picture of human behavior.

Evaluation: Solutions

While cognitive dissonance and self-efficacy theories are useful in explaining human behavior, they each have limitations. Social learning theory and locus of control address some of the shortcomings of these other theories. Social learning theory emphasizes the role of observation and imitation in human behavior, while locus of control focuses on an individual's belief about their ability to control their environment. These perspectives provide a more comprehensive explanation of human behavior than cognitive dissonance or self-efficacy theory alone.

Evaluation: Contemporary Relevance

Social learning theory and locus of control are thus two theories that attempt to explain human behavior. Both theories have their strengths and weaknesses, but each offers a unique perspective on human nature. Cognitive dissonance theory posits that humans are motivated to reduce the inconsistency between their beliefs and actions. This theory can help explain why people may seek information that confirms their beliefs, even if those beliefs are inaccurate. Self-efficacy theory, on the other hand, suggests that humans are motivated by the belief that they can effectively influence their environment. This theory can explain why people often persevere in the face of adversity, even when the odds are against them.

Despite being formulated over 40 years ago, social learning theory remains relevant today. In our increasingly connected world, we are constantly observing the behavior of others through social media and other platforms. We are also bombarded with messages telling us that we need to buy certain products or behave in certain ways to be happy and successful. It is, therefore, unsurprising that many people today have an external locus of control. To counter this, it is important to be aware of the influence that social learning can have on our behavior and thoughts.

Conclusion: Summary

Julian Rotter developed an interest in psychology from a young age, and the great depression influenced his development of the social learning theory. Social learning theory departs from drive-based behaviorism and instinct-based psychoanalysis. Social learning theory focuses on motivation, where Rotter believed that people are motivated to search for positive stimulation and avoid unpleasant stimuli. Social learning theory looks at the individual and their environment. The social environment plays a key role in shaping a person's behavior. A person's behavior is determined by the social environment, family environment, and culture they are born. This is why individuals have different behaviors based on their upbringing. People are motivated to avoid punishment, and they will seek behaviors that avoid punishment. Individuals will repeat behaviors that generate positive reinforcement and avoid behaviors that provoke punishment. According to Rotter, personality is learned, and it is not innate to humans. Therefore, individuals' different personalities are learned, and they were not born with them. Because behavior is learned, it is possible to modify a person's behavior. Rotter developed the locus of control and noted people either have an internal or external locus of control. Culture plays a key role in determining a person's locus of control. Due to cultural norms that emphasize aggressive behavior in males and submissive behavior in females, we see males have a more internal locus of control over females.

Conclusion: Relevance of the Theory

Social learning theory is relevant because it is used in cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT). To modify distorted cognitions, we can use social learning theory to teach people better behaviors to overcome their current negative behaviors. The analogy developed by Rotter is applied in CBT, where the goal is to modify and challenge the person's attitudes, thoughts, and beliefs. Social learning theory focuses on behavior, and CBT does the same too. Therefore, the theory is relevant to psychology today because we can use it to assist people in changing behavior, beliefs, and attitudes. Since personality is learned, it is easy to teach people new behaviors by using reinforcement so they can continue displaying positive behaviors. Learning is a lifelong thing, and we can use social learning theory to assist people struggling with negative or destructive behaviors to learn new behaviors that will be more productive and beneficial to their life. Living in today's connected world, everyone is on social media, and we are comparing ourselves to others. We are constantly observing the behaviors of others and trying to mimic those behaviors. However, not all behavior portrayed on social media is conducive or beneficial to all individuals. Therefore, we can use social learning theory to educate people on the dangers of blindly following or mimicking what they see online and trying to replicate it in real life. Social learning theory can be used to teach people how…