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PSYCHOLOGY Paper No 5: Personality Theories

Module No 27: Social Learning Theory: Julian Rotter

Subject PSYCHOLOGY

Paper No and Title Paper No 5: Personality Theories

Module No and Title Module No 27: Social Learning Theory: Julian Rotter

Module Tag PSY_P5_M27

TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. Learning Outcomes

2. Introduction

2.1 Biographical Sketch

3. Social Learning Theory

3.1 Predicting Specific Behaviors

3.2 Basic Prediction Formula

3.3 Predicting General Behaviors

3.4 General Prediction Formula

4. Personality Development

4.1 Locus of Control

4.2 Interpersonal Trust

4.3 Maladaptive Behavior

5. Evaluative Comments

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5.1Contribution

5.2 Criticism

6. Summary

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1. Learning Outcomes

After studying this module, you shall be able to:

• Know about Julian Rotter’s Social Learning theory

• Learn the difference between Internal and External Locus of Control.

• Identify the factors leading to maladaptive behavior.

• Evaluate Rotter’s research in the light of current developments.

• Analyze the role of different components in General and Specific behavior patterns.

2. Introduction

Julian Rotter developed a Social Learning Theory of Personality based on the principles of

learning. The basic assumption underlying this theory is that most behaviors are learned and are

acquired through one’s experience with other people.

Rotter emphasized that cognitive factors play a role in determining how people respond to the

environment. Hence, his theory may also be called as Cognitive Social Learning Theory, which

suggests that one’s expectations of future events are major determinants of behavior.

As an interactionist, Rotter emphasized understanding the interaction of people with their

meaningful environment as the best predictor of human behavior. He believed that the

environment or the individual alone are not completely responsible for behavior; rather, it is

people’s cognitions, past histories and expectations of future that play a key role in predicting

behavior.

2.1 Biographical sketch

Fig 1: Julian Rotter

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Julian Rotter was born in Brooklyn, New York on October 22,

1916. He was the third child and oldest son to his parents, who were Jewish immigrants. His

family was affected by the Great Depression in the 1930s and his father lost his wholesale

stationary business to unemployment. That is when Rotter realized the influence of situational

factors on human behavior.

Rotter was an avid reader and was greatly influenced by Adler and Freud. He came to know

Adler personally and attended meetings of the Society for Individual Psychology. He was also

greatly impressed by Kurt Lewin’s field theory approach, which emphasized that behavior is

interrelated and suggested that a number of factors are responsible for a behavior to occur.

He completed his B.A from Brooklyn College in 1937 and his M.A. from the University of Iowa

in 1938. He did his PhD. in clinical psychology from Indiana University in 1941.

That same year, Rotter joined Norwich State Hospital in Connecticut as a clinical psychologist

and trained interns and assistants. During the World War II, he worked as an army psychologist

for more than 3 years. After the war, Rotter took a job at Ohio State University, where he met

many outstanding graduate students, including Walter Mischel. Here, Rotter published one of his

well-known works, Social Learning and Clinical Psychology in 1954.In 1963, he joined

University of Connecticut as director of the Clinical Training Program till 1987, when he retired

as a professor emeritus.

Some of Rotter’s most important publications are:

Applications of a Social Learning Theory of Personality, with J. E. Chance and E. J. Phares

(1972)

Personality, with D. J. Hochreich (1975)

The Development and Application of Social Learning Theory: Selected Papers(1982)

The Rotter Incomplete Sentences Blank (1966)and

The Interpersonal Trust Scale (1967).

Rotter has also served as the President of the Eastern Psychological Association and as President

of the divisions of Social and Personality Psychology and Clinical Psychology of the American

Psychological Association (APA).

3. SOCIAL LEARNING THEORY

Rotter’s Social Learning Theory attempts to predict human behavior on the basis of five basic

assumptions:

Human beings interact with their meaningful environments.

The meaning people attach to an event is an important determinant of how they will react

to environmental stimuli. Rotter believed that human behavior arises from an interaction

of environmental and personal factors. For example, any kind of reinforcement attains

meaning according to an individual’s personal needs or traits and also by external stimuli

operating in that situation. Thus, both factors account for the behavior in a particular

situation.

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Human personality is learned.

This means that personality is not fixed at any particular age of development, but it can

be modified or changed through learning. In other words, the accumulation of past

experiences gives rise to a stable personality, yet one can always change by exposure to

new experiences.

Personality has a basic unity or interdependence. (Rotter, Chance & Phares, 1972)

This means that people have relatively stable personalities. They learn to evaluate new

experiences on the basis of past experiences or interactions (that were reinforced). This

leads to consistent evaluation and provides greater stability to one’s personality. For

example, a student may refuse to accept helpful advice from a college counselor, because

she had been consistently given poor advice by other counselors, in the past.

Motivation is goal directed.

Rotter assumed that most behaviors are motivated or goal-directed. Thus, human

behavior can be explained by assuming that people expect that their actions advance them

towards particular goals. This is in line with the empirical law of effect, which suggests

that people strive to maximize rewards and minimize punishments. Generally, people are

motivated to maintain behavior that makes them reach their desired goal.

People are able to anticipate events.

3.1 Predicting Specific Behaviors

The social learning approach to predict human behavior in specific situations is based on four

concepts/ variables:

Behavior potential- it is the probability of a particular behavior occurring in a specific situation.

Expectancy- it is a cognition or belief (expectation) about some property of an object as reinforcing.

Reinforcement value- it is an individual’s preference for a particular type of reinforcement, if all possible reinforcements have the same probability of occurrence.

Psychological situation- it refers to a complex set of interacting cues that define an individual’s perception of a given situation.

3.1.1 Behavior Potential (BP)

Behavior potential is the probability that a particular response will occur under specific

environmental conditions at a given time. Many behavior potentials with varying degree of

intensity exist in any given psychological situation. Some behaviors may have zero BP, some

behaviors may be very likely to occur and some behaviors lie between the two extremes.

For example, as Radha walks towards a restaurant, there are several possibilities/ behavior

potentials: she might overlook it, stop by and order food, think about robbing the cashier, etc.

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The behavior potential in any given situation is a function of expectancy as well as the

reinforcement value. Thus, a particular behavior potential will be activated if it has a greater

likelihood to occur in the given situation and if it provides positive reinforcement.

3.1.2 Expectancy (E)

Expectancy refers an individual’s expectation that a particular reinforcement or a group of

reinforcements will occur in a specific situation. Expectancies vary from 0 to 100% and can be

modified by experience.

Expectancies can be of two types:

Generalized Expectancy (GE) -It is learned from past experience with a specific response or responses similar to the particular response. It affirms that a particular behavior will be

followed by positive or negative reinforcement. For example, a student may have a

generalized expectancy that high grades will follow hard work and effort in classes, as

this had been the case in the past.

Specific Expectancy (E’/ E prime) –It is the expectancy specific to a given situation. For example, a student who has been getting poor grades in French may believe that his hard

work in French may go unrewarded. Thus, he may not study French but put his time and

effort in other subjects.

The amount of effort people put in to achieve their goals is determined by the total expectancy,

which is a function of both, generalized and specific expectancies. For example, a person with

high total expectancy for success in a particular job will put in more efforts to achieve targets and

will not give up in the face of challenges.

3.1.3 Reinforcement Value (RV)

Reinforcement value refers to the preference that an individual attaches to a particular

reinforcement, when all possible reinforcements in the given situation have an equal probability

of occurrence. In other words, it is the importance attached to different activities. For example, a

child may prefer reading a novel than going out and playing with friends.

The factors that determine the reinforcement value for any given situation are:

Internal Reinforcement- It is the person’s understanding of the positive or negative value attached to an event.

External Reinforcement- It is the value placed by one’s society or culture to specific events, actions or conditions.

Generally, the reinforcement value attached to a specific event increases if it satisfies a strong need.

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Reinforcement-reinforcement sequences- People can use cognitive processes to anticipate whether a given chain of events will lead to a

desired goal(which adds to the RV of each event in the chain of events).

3.1.4 Psychological Situation (s)

Rotter defined the psychological situation as a complex set of interrelated cues that act upon any

individual at a given time period. It can be seen as the part of the internal and external world to

which a person responds.

Behavior results from an interaction of a person (personal traits, past experiences) with his/her

meaningful environment (situational factors). Thus, both dispositional and situational influences

are emphasized. For example, a person with strong aggressive tendencies may not behave

aggressively in a situation where there is a fear of being evaluated or punished.

On the basis of the complex cues operating in a specific situation, an individual may develop

expectancies for behavior reinforcement sequences as well as for reinforcement-reinforcement

sequences. Hence, the expectancy and reinforcement value must be considered, in addition to the

psychological situation to determine the probability of a particular behavior.

3.2 Basic Prediction Formula

Rotter proposed a basic formula to predict behavior in specific situations which comprises of all

the four variables. The formula represents an idealistic means of predicting behavior potential:

BPx1, s1, ra= f (Ex1, ra, s1+ RVa, s1)

The formula can be read as follows:

The potential that behavior ‘x’ will occur in situation1 in relation to a given reinforcement ‘a’ is a

function of the expectancy that the given behavior ‘x’ will be followed by reinforcement ‘a’ in

situation1 and the value attached to reinforcement ‘a’ in situation1.

For example, the likelihood or Behavior Potential, BP that a student will put her head down and

go to sleep (behavior x) during a dull and boring lecture class (situation1) is given by her

Expectation, E that his/her behavior will lead to sleep (reinforcement a) in the given classroom

situation(s1) plus a measure of how much is sleep valued or desired (RVa) in the given situation.

3.3 Predicting General Behaviors

The basic prediction formula permits prediction of behavior in specific situations, given all the

necessary information pertaining to the four variables is available.

It is suitable for prediction in controlled laboratory experiments.

For predicting general, everyday behavior, Rotter introduced the general prediction formula

which is based on the following concepts:

Generalized Expectancy- It can be used to predict how a person will react to situations generally. For example, an aggressive person is expected to behave aggressively in most

situations, given the needs operating in that situation. However, in a specific situation, the

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same person may behave non-aggressively, which can

be predicted by the basic prediction formula.

Needs- According to Rotter, needs are any behavior or set of behaviors which directs the individual towards a goal. There are six broad categories of needs, each of which

represents a group of functionally related behaviors or behaviors that lead to similar

reinforcements. These are: Recognition-status, dominance, independence, protection-

dependency, love and affection, and physical comfort.

Need Components- A need complex has three major components – need potential, freedom of movement and need value, which are analogous to BP, E and RV.

3.3.1 Need Potential (NP)

Need potential is the likelihood of occurrence of a set of functionally related behaviors which are

directed towards satisfaction of the same goals. Need potential cannot be measured by direct

observation because people engaging in the same behavior (e.g. eating at a particular restaurant)

may have different needs (e.g. physical comfort, recognition, etc) and freedom of movement.

3.3.2 Freedom of Movement (FM)

Freedom of movement can be defined as an individual’s overall expectation of being reinforced

by performing behaviors which are directed towards satisfying a general need. It is the average or

mean expectancy that a set of behavior will lead to desired level of satisfaction of a given need. It

can be measured by keeping need value constant and observing one’s need potential.

3.3.3 Need Value (NV)

Need value of an individual is the degree to which he or she prefers a given set of reinforcements

to another. It can be measured by holding FM constant (equal) for obtaining positive

reinforcements by observing behaviors aimed at satisfaction of the most desired need.

3.4 General Prediction Formula

Rotter introduced the general prediction formula to make generalized predictions of a set of

behaviors which are performed to satisfy specific needs:

NP = f (FM + NV)

The formula suggests that need potential is a function of freedom of movement and need value.

For example, the probability that the student will rest her head on the desk and sleep during a

given boring lecture, i.e. need potential (NP) is determined by the value placed on particular

needs like recognition-status (NV) and the expectancy of being reinforced by performing the said

behavior (FM).Hence the fact that one’s past experiences form a guideline of one’s expectance of

any kind of reinforcement forms the crux of general prediction formula.

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4. Personality Development

Rotter believed that humans were majorly influenced by their environment. However due to

regular interaction of one with his/her environment he/she is able to draw connections between

the behavior exhibited and the reinforcement following that behavior. This cognitive activity

leads them to attach a cause and effect for their behavior.

Based on how much an individual relies on such environmental cues, Rotter proposed the concept

of “Locus of Control.”

4.1 Locus of Control

Locus of control is basically the extent to which an individual feels that he/she has control over

their life’s outcomes.

“A locus of Control orientation is the belief about whether the outcomes of one’s actions are

contingent on what one does (internal orientation) or on events outside one’s personal control

(external orientation).” (Zimbardo, 1985; p.275)

Based on one’s locus of control, an individual exhibits certain characteristics:-

External Locus of Control Internal Locus of Control

It is when an individual believes that his/her

behavior is guided by external agents of the world,

such as- fate, luck, chance or other circumstances.

It is when an individual believes that his/her

behavior is guided by own personal decisions and

efforts.

They believe that there is no connection between

their behavior and the reinforcement provided.

Consequently they rely more on external factors

such as- task difficulty in explaining their failures.

They believe that there any kind of reinforcement is

exercised only when they display their skills, that is,

it follows as an effect to their behavior. As a result

they experience more guilt and shame when they

suffer defeat.

Those with an external locus of control are

generally less focused and are not much goal

directed since they believe that more than

themselves, external agents like luck etc.

contributes towards success of any endeavor.

Those with an internal locus of control are more

focused and efficient in learning rules for problem

solving, so that they can devise strategies to cope

with and control outcomes.

Such individuals usually lack autonomy and are

unenterprising in their outlook Such individuals have a high sense of autonomy and

are more confident, independent and assertive.

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Fig 2: Locus of Control.

Hence locus of control is a unidirectional continuum, with external locus of control at one end,

while, internal locus of control at the other end. But falling on either of the two extremes is

undesirable. This is because an individual, who is on the extremes of external locus of control, is

likely to feel a sense of despair, since he/she feels that they cannot change any situation through

their own efforts. This can also lead to a feeling of helplessness and apathy. Whereas someone

who is on the other extreme, that is, has an unusually high sense of internal locus of control will

tend to indiscriminately blame himself or herself for a failure beyond their own control.

Additionally if someone has an internal locus of control but lacks self-efficacy or opportunities

the person would most likely experience high amounts of guilt, and a lack of control over

situations. Such circumstances can lead to development of depression, neurotic anxiety etc.

Therefore a healthy and balanced individual is one who is in between the two scales, with slightly

more inclination towards internal locus of control.

4.2Interpersonal Trust

Another concept utilizing the principle of generalized expectancies is- Interpersonal Trust.

“Interpersonal Trust is defined as a generalized expectancy held by an individual that the word,

promise, oral or written statement of another individual or group can be relied on.” (Rotter, 1980,

p.1)

Rotter saw interpersonal trust as a belief in the communication of other when there is no proof

for disbelieving. He felt that the “other people” in the environment exert an influence in one’s

lives, by offering us rewards and punishment. As a result, an individual starts developing

cognitive linkages and hence some generalized expectancies about the type of reinforcement that

are likely to follow from verbal promise or threats made by others. These promises are sometimes

kept and sometimes broken. Due to repeated experience of this kind, an individual develops a

sense of judgment and learns to trust or distrust the word of others.

A person with high interpersonal trust has the following characteristics:-

Such individuals lie less frequently.

Have a lower likelihood to steal or cheat.

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More likely to give others a second chance.

More likely to respect the rights of others.

Less likely to be unhappy, conflicted or maladjusted.

More likeable and popular.

More trustworthy.

Neither more nor less gullible.

Neither more nor less intelligent.

Thus a person with high interpersonal trust possesses traits that are desirable in an individual

and therefore is regarded as a positive personality trait.

4.3 Maladaptive Behavior

Rotter defines maladaptive behavior as “Any persistent behavior that fails to move a person

closer to a desired goal.”

It arises from combination of high need value and low freedom of movement.

High need value- Such circumstances arise when one sets goals that are unrealistically high in relation to one’s ability to achieve them.

Low Freedom of Movement-Such situations arise when either a person lacks the opportunity to perform a behavior that can be followed by positive reinforcement or

when one applies low expectancy for success in one area to other so that they perceive

themselves to be worthless.

Subsequently such individuals are unable to obtain gratification that they desire. As a result they

start learning how to avoid or defend themselves against actual or anticipated failure

(Rationalization) instead of learning how to achieve their goals.

5. Evaluation

5.1 Contributions:

Internal-External Scale-It is a scale that attempts to measure the degree to which people perceive a causal relationship between their own efforts and environmental

consequences. It comprises of 29 forced choice items, out of which 23 pairs are scored

and 6 are filler items which help to disguise the purpose of the scale.

Interpersonal Trust Scale-It was developed in 1967. It is a scale with 25 items that assesses interpersonal trust and 15 filler items to conceal the nature of the instrument.

The scale is scored on a 5-point gradation from “strongly agree” to “strongly disagree”.

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Modifying Psychotherapy- Rotter implemented a problem-solving approach to psychotherapy such that the patient’s orientation towards

life changes. He defined the role of a therapist and gave guidelines to accomplish

therapeutic goals.

Thus Rotter’s theory has a strong applied value, since it is used in clinical psychology (for

diagnosis of deviant behavior, for treatment etc.) and in physical health. Furthermore the theory is

highly comprehensive with its roots in both clinical and experimental setup as well as Precise

and Testable due to well-defined concepts and hypotheses.

5.2Criticism:

Parsimony-Rotter’s position seems fairly parsimonious in attempts to account for performances

by individuals who differ in the locus of control orientations. Thus the picture is unsettled.

Empirical Validity-Although evidence for I-E concept is strong, but rest of Rotter’s theory lacks

empirical evidence and largely remains fallow.

Generalized Predictions- The I-E scale can be used only for predicting generalized behavior and

can’t lead to more accurate predictions.

6. SUMMARY

Julian Rotter’s Social Learning Theory proposes that human behavior is influenced by his/her environment and based on one’s experience with the environment he/she develops

expectations of particular outcomes for every action.

He believed that human behavior can be predicted in specific situations, since it is guided by four basic principles- Behavior Potential, Expectancy, Reinforcement value and

Psychological situation. Using these four principles, Rotter had developed a Basic

Prediction Formula.

Another formula was proposed for predicting General Behavior of an individual, which is influenced by Need value and Freedom of Movement.

Rotter introduced the phenomenon of- Locus of Control and Interpersonal Trust and displayed their role in development of a well-adjusted individual.

A small body of research has been generated by Rotter’s Theory which is widely used in various domains such as clinical psychology, psychopathology and physical health.

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