Reciprocal determinism

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Reciprocal determinism is the theory set forth by psychologist Albert Bandura which states that a person's behavior both influences and is influenced by personal factors and the social environment. Bandura accepts the possibility that an individual's behavior may be conditioned through the use of consequences. At the same time he asserts that a person's behavior (and personal factors, such as cognitive skills or attitudes) can impact the environment.^{[1][page needed]}

Bandura was able to show this when he created the Bandura's Box experiment. As an example, Bandura's reciprocal determinism could occur when a child is acting out in school. The child doesn't like going to school; therefore, they act out in class. This results in teachers and administrators of the school disliking having the child around. When confronted by the situation, the child admits they hate school and other peers don't like them. This results in the child acting inappropriately, forcing the administrators who dislike having them around to create a more restrictive environment for children of this stature. Each behavioral and environmental factor coincides with the child and so forth resulting in a continuous battle on all three levels.^{[citation needed]}

Reciprocal determinism is the idea that behavior is controlled or determined by the individual, through cognitive processes, and by the environment, through external social stimulus events. The basis of reciprocal determinism should transform individual behavior by allowing subjective thought processes transparency when contrasted with cognitive, environmental, and external social stimulus events.^{[citation needed]}

Actions do not go one way or the other, as it is affected by repercussions, meaning one's behavior is complicated and can't be thought of as individual and environmental means. Behavior consist of environmental and individual parts that interlink together to function.^[2] Many studies showed reciprocal associations between people and their environments over time.^[3][4]