Social Cognitive and Humanistic Perspectives
Tana’ya Green
Psy/203
Laurel Taron

8/24/15

Social Cognitive and Humanistic Perspectives
Social cognitive is a psychological perspective which holds that, parts of an individual’s knowledge can be directly related to observation of others within the area of social interactions, personal experiences and also media influences. It postulates that, when people observe a model performing a behaviour or activity and the consequences of that behaviour, they tend to remember the events and use the information to guide current behaviours. The main components of social-cognitive perspective is that, it is effective in acquiring skills, attitudes and beliefs since a person can make changes in his own behaviour by watching or imitating others for example a model, a superstar and a favourite personality or cartoon character. It emphasizes the complex human interactions in their distinct and preferred social setting or environment. This perspective has it that individuals are more likely to imitate those whom they identify with and find their behaviours awarding in nature.
On the other hand Humanistic perspectives emphasizes the study of the whole person. Humanistic psychologists look at human behaviour, not only through the eyes of the observer but through the eyes of the person doing the activity. They believe that an individual’s behaviour is connected to his inner feelings and self-image. They centre their view on the perspective that each individual is unique and has free will to change at any time. Humanistic approach emphasizes on the importance of individuals intrinsic worth, capacity for personal growth and individuals freedom in directing his or her own future. Its central theme is that human beings are capable of directing their own destiny since they can think and design their