PSYC FPX 3540 Assessment 1 Theories Application Exercise
Student Name
Capella University
PSYC FPX 3540 Culture, Ethnicity, and Diversity
Prof. Name
Date
Theories Application Worksheet
Social Cognitive Theory explains how people learn behaviors, attitudes, and patterns of thinking through the interaction of personal factors, behavior, and the social environment. In the context of race, stereotypes, prejudice, and discrimination, the theory helps explain how people can learn and internalize beliefs by observing others, receiving social messages, and repeatedly encountering certain associations. These learned beliefs can influence how individuals interpret social groups and how they respond to members of those groups (Schunk & DiBenedetto, 2020).
Name of Concept or Theory
Social Cognitive Theory
Summarize the Concept or Theory
Social Cognitive Theory, developed from Albert Bandura’s work on observational learning, explains how individuals learn by observing other people and interacting with their environment. The theory emphasizes the reciprocal relationship among personal factors, behavior, and environmental influences. People can acquire attitudes and behavioral patterns without directly experiencing an event themselves; instead, they may learn by observing family members, peers, media, institutions, and other social influences (Schunk & DiBenedetto, 2020).
This theory can be applied to the development of racial stereotypes and prejudice because social environments can repeatedly expose individuals to generalized beliefs about racial or cultural groups. When these beliefs are observed, reinforced, or normalized over time, they may influence expectations, attitudes, and subsequent behavior toward members of those groups.
PSYC FPX 3540 Assessment 1: Theories Application Exercise
Real-World Example
A real-world example of Social Cognitive Theory can be seen in the racial prejudice directed toward people of Asian descent during the COVID-19 pandemic. During the pandemic, some individuals and public figures associated Chinese people or other Asian communities with the spread of COVID-19, despite the fact that ethnicity does not determine whether a person causes or transmits a disease. Repeated exposure to these associations through social interactions, public discourse, and media could contribute to the development or reinforcement of stereotypes.
Social Cognitive Theory helps explain how such beliefs can be learned and maintained. When individuals observe others expressing prejudice and see those attitudes repeatedly reinforced within their social environment, they may become more likely to adopt similar beliefs or behaviors. These learned associations can contribute to discrimination, including verbal harassment, social exclusion, or other forms of unfair treatment toward Asian individuals and communities (Abdullah, 2019; Schunk & DiBenedetto, 2020).
Name of Video
White Like Me
Brief Summary of the Video
White Like Me examines race and racism in the United States by focusing on the historical development of racial inequality and the concept of white privilege. The documentary discusses how racial advantages can become less visible to people who experience them because those advantages may be embedded in social institutions and everyday experiences. It also addresses historical and contemporary issues involving race, including racial inequality and debates surrounding racial progress in the United States.
The documentary challenges the idea that simply ignoring racial differences will eliminate racial inequality. Instead, it emphasizes the importance of recognizing how race and racial privilege have influenced American society. This perspective encourages viewers to examine how historical experiences and social structures can shape contemporary attitudes and interactions (Kanopy, n.d.; Watson, 2011).
Apply the Concept or Theory
Social Cognitive Theory can be applied to White Like Me because the documentary illustrates how racial attitudes can develop through observation, social learning, and environmental influences. Individuals do not form their beliefs about race entirely in isolation. Their attitudes can be shaped by family members, peers, schools, media, political and social institutions, and other aspects of their environment.
The documentary also illustrates how racial stereotypes and assumptions can influence people’s perceptions and behavior. For example, when certain racial groups are repeatedly associated with particular social or economic characteristics, individuals may learn to accept those associations as normal or accurate without critically examining them. From a Social Cognitive Theory perspective, these learned associations can affect expectations and social behavior.
The concept of white privilege can also be examined through the theory. If individuals repeatedly observe social systems in which members of one racial group receive advantages or experience fewer barriers in particular circumstances, those patterns can become part of the social environment in which beliefs and behaviors develop. Social learning therefore provides one way of understanding how racial attitudes and behaviors can be maintained across generations.
The discussion of reverse discrimination can also be considered within this framework. Claims of reverse discrimination may emerge from different perceptions of fairness, equality, and access to opportunities. Social Cognitive Theory provides a framework for examining how people’s interpretations of these issues may be influenced by their prior experiences, observations, and social environments rather than assuming that such beliefs develop independently of those influences.
Conclusion
Social Cognitive Theory provides a useful framework for understanding how attitudes toward race and other social groups can be learned through observation and interaction with the environment. The theory emphasizes that personal beliefs, behaviors, and social environments influence one another. In White Like Me, this framework helps explain how racial stereotypes, assumptions about privilege, and perceptions of inequality can develop and persist through social learning. Examining these processes can help individuals better understand how learned attitudes may contribute to prejudice and discriminatory behavior.
References
Abdullah, S. M. (2019). Similarity artikel: Social cognitive theory: A Bandura thought review published in 1982–2012. Journal PSIKODIMENSIA, 18(1), 85–100.
Kanopy. (n.d.). White like me. Kanopy. https://www.kanopy.com/en/capella/mylists/customplaylists/5421548
Schunk, D. H., & DiBenedetto, M. K. (2020). Motivation and social cognitive theory. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 60, 101832. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cedpsych.2019.101832
Watson, B. (2011, October). Black like me, 50 years later. Smithsonian Magazine. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/black-like-me-50-years-later-74543463/
What is reverse discrimination? (n.d.). Swartz Swidler. https://swartz-legal.com/employment-law-resources/what-is-reverse-discrimination/