Albert Bandura
Albert Bandura
A Canadian-American psychologist (1925–2021) who founded Social Learning Theory and introduced the concept of self-efficacy. His Bobo doll experiment demonstrated that people learn through observation, not only direct experience.
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Albert Bandura (1925–2021)
A Canadian-American psychologist widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in 20th-century psychology. He is best known for founding Social Learning Theory and introducing the concept of self-efficacy.
The Bobo Doll Experiment (1961)
Bandura's landmark experiment showed that children learn and imitate aggressive behaviors simply by observing an adult model — without direct reinforcement. This challenged the limits of behaviorism by demonstrating that learning can occur through observation alone.
Self-Efficacy
Bandura proposed that self-efficacy — a person's belief in their own ability to succeed at a specific task — plays a central role in motivation and behavior change. People with high self-efficacy set more challenging goals, persist longer when facing difficulties, and experience less stress. He identified four sources of self-efficacy:
Mindy's note: Believing you can do something is often the most important first step toward actually doing it.
💡 Real-Life Example
Believing in your own ability is often the most critical first step toward success — a central insight from Bandura's work on self-efficacy.
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