Often we wonder why we choose to do something or why we avoid certain things. Why do certain brands or movies catch certain audiences? Is there a reason why we might dislike certain subjects in school? It seems that the theory of reciprocal determinism has some answers to these questions and many others, but in this blog I will also explore how it may in fact only hold general answers rather than giving a more accurate individualistic approach. To start I am going to explain what reciprocal determinism and some examples to demonstrate its application.
Reciprocal determinism is a central concept of social cognition theory, it refers to the dynamic and reciprocal interaction of person, environment and behaviour. (LaMorte, 2016). A classic example of this theory can be found with the Bandura’s box experiment, which goes as follows; A child who does not like school may act out in class, resulting in negative attention from classmates and teachers. The example shows the three factors in play, starting with the person, known as the child, who does not like school and acts out, which is the behaviour. Then the teachers and students reacting to his behaviour reinforcing his/her dislike of school and end up creating a hostile environment. (Cherry, 2017). This generic example gives an idea of how the three factors of person, behaviour and environment work together in how we perceive our environment and how we react. Another example to show it being used in a more practical way can be seen with an experiment done with young adults and the task was to predict film exposure choices for the different groups using reciprocal determinism with its three factors of person, behaviour and environment. The study yielded a strong relationship between these three factors and the media effects. (Rasit, Hamjah, Tibek, Sham, Ashaari, Samsudin and Ismail, 2015). This is just one example of how it can be used to help predict behaviour of certain groups with media choices by changing the environment, through changing external stimulus cues around the different groups. The are other studies that use reciprocal determinism to help influence people to buy certain items or participate in certain activities, especially when we choose to do something instinctively rather than rationally.
This gives a general idea of what reciprocal determinism is and how it is applied, but despite its uses it seems to have its limitations, which does not account for more individualistic accounts or cases. Some of the limitations of this theory is that it assumes changes in the environment will automatically lead to changes in the person, which may not always be true and the theory is loosely organized on the basis on the interplay of three factors. As well, it disregards biological and hormonal predispositions and overall, it is difficult to actually operationalize in its entirety. (LaMorte, 2016).
With these limitations, the difficulty of applying the theory to individuals or to specific issues may be due to what we know about perception. Once we gather information from the environment with our different senses, like our eyes sending information to the occipital lobe and our ears transmitting information to the temporal lobe, it is then processed and how we perceive this information will determine what we choose to do or how we behave. The way we perceive this information is bias because perception is an active process where our senses receive input from us that then builds our own reality. Our experiences, expectations, social norms, our desires and the context of situational factors help form our perception or our reality. (Davenport, 2016). With this in mind, the reciprocal determinism theory does not account for perception fully when discussing the dynamics between the person, the behaviour and the environment, which makes the theory more useful for general application rather than applying it in a more individualistic nature.
Reciprocal determinism surely is applicable in a general sense and it helps us predict certain group behaviours quickly and can lead to more avenues of research or questions to be answered. However, as far as it being used to accurately predict an individual’s behaviour accurately without considering perception, hormones or other biological factors is rather limited.
References:
The Social Cognitive Theory, Wayne W. LaMorte. Boston University School of Public Health, April 28 2016.
What is Reciprocal Determinism? Kendra Cherry. http://www.verywell.com, June 25 2017.
Educating Film Audience Through Social Cognitive Theory Reciprocal Model, Rosmawati Mohd. Rasit, Salasiah Hanin Hamjah, Siti Rugayah Tibek, Fariza Md. Sham, Muhamad Faisal Ashaari, Muhammad Adib Samsudin and Adawiyah Ismail. Elsevier LTD, 2015.
How We Perceive The World, Monique Ann Davenport. The Pennsylvania State University, September 10 2016.
Social Cognition 2018 