At almost all stages of choosing behavioral alternatives and implementing behavioral intentions, a person controls the implementation of his own actions, and evaluates their results according to the degree of compliance with intentions. Further, doubt and indecision can lead to the fact that a person deliberately refuses to commit certain behavioral acts, refrains from pursuing intentions, or even chooses alternative behavior.
A complex and multi-stage decision-making process and self-control of its implementation creates opportunities for both numerous behavioral disorders and their therapy. Human behavior, according to Bandura, is far from being completely controlled by the environment; the means of self-control are also available to a person.
Example. Vladimir, the manager of a large commercial enterprise, turns to a psychotherapist with a complaint about the constant difficulties that he has in choosing from several possible and equally attractive alternatives. Often, as a result, he misses very profitable offers due to the fact that he cannot respond to them in time. Vladimir also loses a lot of personal time, because he feels anxious if he himself does not control all the stages of work performed by his subordinates. During counseling, principles are developed in accordance with which Vladimir is taught to trust his intuition more and transfer the function of current control to his subordinates (for more on the therapy of indecision, see Dawson, 1996).
Self-reinforcement and self-punishment
In the process of monitoring the fulfillment of behavioral intentions, a person constantly compares their results with some standards that are related both to the goal of behavior and to its individual procedural moments. When I give a lecture, for example, I control time, students’ attention, voice volume, and so on. You, while reading this book, may well be careful not to lose the thread of reasoning, or try not to miss the moment when the kettle boils in the kitchen.
If you manage to read the intended section and answer the control questions correctly, then you will be satisfied and say a few words of self-reinforcement to yourself. If the water in the kettle boils away and its bottom burns out, you are likely to utter a few unflattering words to yourself.
All people are capable of self-assessment of the process and results of their actions. The balance of situational self-reinforcement and self-punishment is very individual, but the enthusiasm with which a person takes on new, more complex behavioral tasks or continues to engage in already mastered activities depends not least of all on it.
It is the negative balance of self-assessments with a predominance of self-punishment that is often responsible for rather severe behavioral disorders, for example, depressive states.
Habitual self-assessments and the habitual way of evaluating the results of one’s own actions create certain expectations in a person regarding the effectiveness of his behavior in certain social situations and its consequences. Bandura called these expectations self-efficacy.
If at the end of the lecture I hear only smart questions and receive positive feedback, then my efficiency in the field of lecturing will be high and will itself begin to influence the features of my lecturing.