ABSTRACT
Albert Bandura is a leading proponent of social cognitive theory, and his work has directly influenced the development of the entertainmenteducation strategy. After receiving his doctoral degree from the University of Iowa in 1953, he joined the faculty at Stanford University where he has spent his entire career. His initial research centered on the prominent role of social modeling in human thought, affect, and action. The extraordinary advances in the technology of communications have made modeling a key vehicle in the diffusion of ideas, values, and styles of behavior. Another major focus of Bandura’s work concerns the human capacity for self-directedness, which added to our understanding of how people exercise influence over their own motivation and behavior through self-regulative mechanisms. His most recent research is adding new insights on how
people’s beliefs in their efficacy to exercise control over events that affect their lives contribute importantly to their attainments, resilience in the face of adversity, and psychological well-being. These different lines of research address fundamental issues concerning the nature of human agency.
