Social-Cognitive Perspective

Several psychological perspectives define the nature of human behavior. Social cognitive aspect relies on the notion that people learn and adopt behavior through interactions with others in their environment. Social cognition explains that an individual’s behavior is a conditioned response to stimuli in his social environment. According to psychologist Albert Bandura, people reciprocate behavior according to what they see within their surroundings. As such, if an action warrants a reward, others would automatically behave similarly to achieve the same award. On the other hand, if one is punished for a particular behavior other would try to avoid that behavior. Bandura also argued that people would most probably imitate those closest to them, as their interactions are intensive. Bandura tested social cognitive perspective use the experiment of the children with the doll. The research proved that people do imitate each other within their environment. After the first girl punches the toy, the other children would also react with aggression when the same toy is presented. The main concepts of the social cognitive perspective include:

• Reciprocal Determinism- This refers to the interaction between individual experiences, the environment, and behavior. One’s former experience would either motivate or demotivate one from acting.
• Observational learning- Observation of behavior results in the production of the same actions. By examining outcomes of activities carried out by others one model’s appropriate behavior.
• Reinforcements- involves the development of a reward and punishment system to encourage positive behavioral attributes and discourage adverse actions.
• Behavioral Capability- Refers to an individual ability to complete a task or perform a behavior effectively.
• Expectation- Involves the determination of the predictable consequences of an action, it either motivates or discourages one from carrying out the act.
• Self- efficacy- Refers to the intrinsic ability of individuals to control and carry out the desired behavior.

Humanistic Perspective

Humanistic perspective, on the other hand, is built on the notion of inherent goodness exhibited by individuals. According to humanistic philosophy, morality and ethics are the backgrounds of behavior. The theory emphasizes the human need for self-fulfillment, rather than focusing on behavioral attributes.  The humanistic approach argues that humans have the free will to pursue actions that would assist them to achieve self-actualization, this serves as a motivation for behavior. It also explains that existing social problems are as a result of deviation from the path of morality. The humanistic perspective is derived from the ideologies of Abraham Maslow (Psychological hierarchy of needs), and Carl Rogers that highlight the concept of free will and choice. Abraham Maslow developed the hierarchy of needs. According to this ideology, one must first satisfy the basic requirements at the bottom before climbing to the top of the pyramid. From the lowest to the highest level the needs are provided as follows: Physiological needs (Basic needs), safety needs, belongingness (need for social interaction), esteem needs and finally self-actualization. At the top of the hierarchy an individual experiences the highest level of satisfaction. Carl Rogers, on the other hand, developed the theory of self-concept that defined behavior with characteristics associated with selected values and attributes. He argued that individuals have the desire for self-actualization. However, to achieve growth and fulfillment, there is a need for one to receive unconditional positive regard from others in society. For instance, children receive unconditional love from parents that makes them feel approved, thus promoting self-actualization. The basic concepts of the human perspective include:

• Human rationality- Human beings are well aware of the outcomes of their behavior. The consequence can either be rewards or punishment.
• Free will- Human beings have freedom of choice. However, this is attached to consequences and responsibility.
• Self-actualization- Each human has the desire to impact the world.
• Human beings are Holistic- Understanding human behavior is only possible through the exploration of the individual traits and his interaction with others in the universe.
• Human beings are a sum of different parts joined together.

Differences

Although Social Cognitive perspective and Humanistic perspective are psychological theories, they touch different subject matters. Social cognitive argues that behavior is as a result of interactions with people in the environment, while the humanistic approach explains that behavior is developed from motivation to carry out actions that result in inherent good.  Social cognitive perspective defines behavior using the individual subjective experience, in that it provides an outlook of activities based on an individual’s view of his environment. Humanistic perspective determines behavior with regards to internal conscious. According to humanistic approach, an act is defined by dictates of morality and ethics. Social cognitive aspect would blame behavior change on events and modifications within the environment. The humanistic approach would attribute behavior change to the inability of meeting the requirements on the hierarchy of needs and the diversion from the path of morality. Social cognitive approach argues that one’s behavior is developed and motivated by observational learning as per Bandura’s ideology. When an action results in a reward, one will carry out the same deed to achieve the results. According to humanistic human behavior is motivated by the desire to fulfill a need as one goes up Maslow’s hierarchy of needs.

Limitation of Social Cognitive perspective

Social Cognitive perspective dictates the role several levels of social interactions in defining behavior. The principles of social cognitive aspect are highly applicable to field Health care, education as well as psychology. However, the theory has the following limitations.

• The perspective relies on the assumption that change within the environment affects individual behavior. However, this may not be true for all individuals.
• Social cognitive aspect fails to provide an elaborate connection between behavior, the individual and his environment. The theory is too shallow.
• The perspective primary emphasizes the learning experience. It fails to appreciate the role played by biological and hormonal factors that similarly influence behavior.
• The perspective concentrates on past occurrences but pays minimal attention to factors such as emotions and motivation and their role in defining behavior.
• It is difficult to point out the operations of the perspective due to its broad nature.

Limitations of the humanistic perspective.

The application of the principles of humanistic perspective has led to advancement in the field of education, therapy, and healthcare. Humanistic perspective has the following limitations;

• The theory is too subjective; it is difficult to quantify the humanistic ideology due to fundamentality of individual human experience. One cannot appropriate measure whether self-actualization has been achieved or not. As such, it is difficult to collect data and carry out comparative empirical analysis.
• The actions of the humanistic perspective are unverifiable, concepts such as personal fulfillment, and self-actualization cannot be evaluated.
• The approach is general, as such it is not effective in treating mental health conditions as human behavior varies with the individual.
• The humanistic approach also limits the field of study for psychological concepts. According to this perspective, animals cannot be used to study human behavior. However, this is not the case as animals have been beneficial in exploring social behavior concepts. For instance, Ivan Pavlov studied classification condition using the dogs as test subjects.
• The approach also focuses more on the behavioral capabilities of the conscious mind, however, the unconscious mind similar plays an active role in defining behavior.

References

Hariharan, K., & Vivekanand, G. (2018). PERSPECTIVES ON ORGANIZATIONAL LEARNING. Indian Journal of Commerce and Management Studies, 9(1), 81-86. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.18843/ijcms/v9i1/11

Acevedo, A. (2018). A personalistic appraisal of Maslow’s needs theory of motivation: From “Humanistic” psychology to integral humanism. Journal of Business Ethics, 148(4), 741-763. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10551-015-2970-0

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