ABSTRACT
Social learning theorists are concerned with the consequences of our behaviour that act to shape the people we eventually become. The core studies that enabled Albert Bandura to theorise about social learning theory are the bobo doll experiments mentioned earlier. Walter Mischel, in agreement with Bandura, believes that much of our personality is learned through our interaction with the environment. Mischel, in agreement with Bandura, believes that personality is more to do with our past learning experiences and how these interact with our present way of thinking. Social learning theorists, although opposed to using personality traits to predict behaviour, probably comes the closest to this position as they focus on the interaction between the individual’s cognition and the environment. Social learning theory has been most influential in explaining how children and adults learn through observing others and so develop their personalities.
