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Albert Bandura’s Social Learning Theory 

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Albert Bandura’s Social Learning Theory 

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Albert Bandura’s Social Learning Theory (1977) emphasizes that children learn by observing, imitating, and modeling others—particularly caregivers, peers, and media figures. This external, interactive process shapes how children understand themselves, emotions, right and wrong, and gender roles.

“Young children also learn extensively through observing others’ behavior.”
(Santrock, 2023)

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Learning by Example: Bandura's Social Learning Theory Explained

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🧠 Sense of Self: Self-Efficacy Through Modeling

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🧠 Sense of Self: Self-Efficacy Through Modeling

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Children develop self-awareness and begin forming self-concept through physical traits and behaviors (e.g., “I have a bike,” “I’m tall”) (Santrock, 2023).

Bandura introduced self-efficacy, the belief in one’s ability to succeed, formed by observing others (Bandura, 1977).

Children become more confident when they see peers or adults succeed and are rewarded.

“Young children also learn extensively through observing others’ behavior.”
(Santrock, 2023)

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😊 Emotional Development: Learned Emotional Responses

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😊 Emotional Development: Learned Emotional Responses

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Children learn how to express and regulate emotions by watching how others handle frustration, pride, or sadness.

Emotion-coaching parents provide great modeling for emotion regulation, while emotion-dismissing parents do not (Santrock, 2023).

Bandura’s theory aligns with how children learn emotion control through observation and reward.

“Emotion regulation... is a fundamental aspect of developing social competence.”
(Santrock, 2023)

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⚖️ Moral Development: Behavior is Modeled, Not Reasoned

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⚖️ Moral Development: Behavior is Modeled, Not Reasoned

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Children imitate behaviors of adults or peers who are rewarded for honesty, sharing, or helping (Bandura, 1977).

Bandura introduced moral disengagement, which explains how kids learn to justify bad behavior if they see others do it without punishment.

Children are more likely to behave morally when they see prosocial behavior rewarded (Santrock, 2023).

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Gender Roles: Gender is Observed, Reinforced, and Modeled

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Gender Roles: Gender is Observed, Reinforced, and Modeled

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Children as young as 3 begin learning what behavior is “acceptable” for boys and girls based on social feedback (Santrock, 2023).

Bandura’s social cognitive theory of gender explains that children copy gender roles based on what they see rewarded or punished.

Media, parents, and peers all play a role in reinforcing gender-typed behavior.

“Children’s gender development occurs through observing and imitating what other people say and do.”
(Santrock, 2023)

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🧩 4 Principles of Social Learning

From modern interpretations of Bandura’s theory, four key processes explain how children learn from their social environment (TeachThought, 2023):

1. Attention – The child must notice the behavior and find it relevant or valuable.

2. Retention – The child remembers the behavior and its consequences.

3. Production – The child attempts to reproduce the behavior in a similar or new context.

4. Motivation – The child is more likely to repeat the behavior if it is socially rewarded or positively reinforced.

"Learning is directly correlated to social models, which can be observed in person or via the media."
(TeachThought, 2023)

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This classic experiment shows how children imitate aggressive behavior after observing adults act violently toward a Bobo doll. It demonstrates Bandura’s core idea that behavior is learned through observation and modeling even without direct reinforcement.

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The Brain: A Secret History - Emotions; Bandura Bobo Doll Experiment

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Erik Erikson and Albert Bandura offered different but complementary perspectives on how young children develop socially and emotionally. Erikson’s theory focused on internal psychological stages, particularly the initiative vs. guilt stage during early childhood, where children begin to assert themselves and form a sense of purpose through social interaction and exploration (Santrock, 2023). In contrast, Bandura’s Social Learning Theory emphasized that children develop socially by observing and imitating others especially caregivers, peers, and media figures without necessarily passing through fixed stages. Bandura believed that behavior, emotion, and identity are shaped by external modeling and reinforcement rather than internal conflict (Bandura, 1977). As noted by PsychologyWriting.com(2025), while Erikson was influenced by Freudian ideas of stage-based development, Bandura viewed learning as more continuous and based on social experience, highlighting the importance of role models in shaping behavior and self-concept.

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CrashCourse. (2014, October 27). Albert Bandura: Social-cognitive theory [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zerCK0lRjp8

PsychologyWriting. (2025, January 2). Freud’s, Erickson’s, Bandura’s, and Piaget’s developmental theories. https://psychologywriting.com/freuds-ericksons-banduras-and-piagets-developmental-theories/

Santrock, J. W. (2023). Life-Span Development (19th ed.). McGraw-Hill Higher Education (US). https://akademos.vitalsource.com/books/9781266769115

TeachThought. (2023, June 1). 4 principles of social learning theory. https://www.teachthought.com/learning-posts/principles-of-social-learning-theory/

Whitney, S. (2018, November 15). Bandura’s social learning theory: A classroom example [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w47N-WTGcPc

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Erik Erikson Theory of Psychosocial Development

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Erik Erikson Theory of Psychosocial Development

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Sense of Self & Emotional Development:

* Erik Erikson believed that for children develop a sense of assurance and confidence through the 8 stages of life. According to Erikson the 8 stages consists of Trust vs. Mistrust that Happens during infancy, Autonomy vs. Shame and Doubt during toddler years, Initiative vs. Guilt that happened during preschool years, Industry vs. Inferiority for the School age kids, Identity vs. Role Confusion during teen years years, Intimacy vs. Isolation in early adulthood, Generativity vs. Stagnation in your Middle Adulthood and Integrity vs. Despair in your Later Adult years. (Santrock, 2024)

* During the Identity vs. Role Confusion years which is the 5th stage in life and when teenagers struggle to find out who they are and where they fit at in life.

* The Emotional stage occurs during a few stages in life which are the 1st, 2nd and 6th stages.

* According to Positive Psychology.com “our inability to create a sense of identity within society (“Who am I? I don’t know what I want to do when I am older”) results in confusion and a poor sense of self.” (Sutton, 2020)

Moral Development:

* Through subconscious principles especially with guilt, young kids learn to know the difference between right and wrong behavior.

Gender Impact:

* Erikson failed to consider or give concern to the sex of the child, even If the expectation of based off gender clearly shape what type of responsibility and independence a young Child Is  giving.

* Erikson’s theory is currently being utilized in research and everyday life to focus on more specifically younger people that’s apart of the LGBT community. It studies the development of their gender identity and how Erikson theory have been incorporated into their own perception of one’s self.

* According to National Library of Medicine (2011), “The process of identity development consists of identity formation, in which the internal reality of the individual begins to assert and demand its expression as earlier identifications are discarded or reconfigured (Erikson, 1956/1980; 1968).”

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Kendra Cherry, Mse. (2024, May 2). Understanding Erikson’s stages of psychosocial development. Verywell Mind. https://www.verywellmind.com/erik-eriksons-stages-of-psychosocial-development-2795740

Rosario, M., Schrimshaw, E. W., & Hunter, J. (2011). Different patterns of sexual identity development over time: implications for the psychological adjustment of lesbian, gay, and bisexual youths. Journal of sex research, 48(1), 3–15. https://doi.org/10.1080/00224490903331067