design journal

ancient egypt

ancient greece

ancient rome

gothic

italian renaissance

french baroque

french rococo

neoclassical

empire

georgian

victorian

shaker

thonet

art and crafts

art nouveau/vienne secession

international

art deco

mid century modern

pop

DANIELA YEPEZ-HISTORY OF INTERIOR DESIGN- PROF.CHRISTINA GONANO

ancient egypt MINOTTI.COM

SELF BY RODOLFO DORDONII

The wooden stool from the Ancient Egypt epoque has

various elements that are

repeated in the Self Lounge

Chair by Rudolfo Dordonii.

The leather fabric and the

X support structure can be

observed in the contemporary

design of Dordonii. The only

material differenciation in the

Dordonii creation is the stain-

less still. Ancestral ideas are

still being used today

Ancient Egypt is known for the use of Papyrus, Wooden

Goods, Rafts and boats, Writing Material.

Moreover, the animal products such as bone, ivory, feath-

ers, fur, shell, leather were used and are still being used

in the design field of today adding luxury to the pieces.

ancient greece YATZER.COM

DEZEEN OFFICES IN A RESTORED BUILDING LOCATED IN LONDON.

The influence of Acient Greece in the modern world can still be ap-

preciated. For example: Philippe

Malouin, head of local studio

Post Officce, applied draparey to

separate spaces and bring dyna-

mism among the users. Moreover,

he adapt the exposed ceiling with

glass to allow natural light. This

two features were seen in the An-

cient Greece time and now they

are features that are translated as

contemporary aspects. In Acient Greece drapery used decorativeley and func-

tionally to divide space. Columns were used structurally

to divide space. Moreover, the sections of mosaics were

used to difine floor space. The exposed beams in the ceil-

ing were applied.

ancient rome

YATZER.COM

BAGATTIN VALSECCHI M. A PALAZZO LOCATED IN MILAN.

The Bagattin Valsecchi Museum curated by the Rossana Orlandi

in Milan, is the perfect example

to demostrate the Ancient Rome

style today in a modern way. Visi-

tors can perceive this style in a

contemporary approach due to

the contrast between the interior

elements (ceilings, walls, floor)

and the ultra modern furniture

pieces that are now exhibit in this

historical building. The Contrast

betwwen style is the new trend in

design.

Ancient Rome is characterized as a time were religion was the

most important aspect in the citizen’s life, art, architecture,

interiors and more. Painting was a vitalmethod to acheive the

learning of the importance of religion and church. The interior

are full of ornaments, strong colors, detailed walls, floors and

ceilings that were always

emphasizing GOD.

gothic

YLIVING.COM

IN-HIGH EASY CHAIR

The Gothic style in these oak chairs is very notorious. The

design is described as rectilinear,

box like and hinged seat. The col-

or is obscure and hierarchy is per-

ceived. The IN-High Easy Chairs

has many similarities that related

with the Gothic chairs, like; the

color (sober colors) and the elon-

gated back part of the seat. All of

the designs emphasizes hierarchy

and emphasize the Gothic Dark

Mood, althouhg the modern chairs

has a curvilinear shape. The Gothic style was very powerful, easy to notice and

easy to get the mood. Usually the Gothic look can be as-

sociated with elongated, simple, sharp, dark, grotesque,

pointed and linear characteristics. We can see this strong

style not only in building like Notre Dame in Paris but

also in the furniture.

italian renaissance

YLIVING.COM

TABOURET STOOL AND REVIT STOOL

The Ranaissance Epoque was a period of new ideas and progress.

For that reason the Interior were

extremely important because

throught it people could dem-

ostrate their power and richness.

The interiors were fully decorated

as well as elements like these Re-

naissance Chairs. The Tobouret

Stool and The the Revit Stool are

very simple, not fully decorated

but the shape is very similar to the

antique chairs. It is very interest-

ing to find historical elements in

modern furniture desing.

Then we go into the triumphal and luxurious study covered with in-

tarsia and paintingsin perspective and sublimely workedwith a great

mastery of architecture.There are many ornately decorated books

and vases of alabaster and chalcedony mounted on gold and silver.

And everything there is beautiful and fine, brought to complete perfec-

tionby nature and by human intellect.” From a poem describing the

Medici Palace (anonymous, 1459)w

french baroque

YATZER.COM

BY GILLES AND BOIS- SIER AN APARTMENT IN PARIS

The FRENCH apartment by Gilles and Boissier is the perfect

example to illustrate the French

Baroque elements in a Modern

and Minimalist Style. This

Modern Space is very elaborated

and ornamented but the color

pallete contains only black and

white which permits a clean look.

The Chimney and Mirror are

focals point in this French Apt

and shows elegance just like they

used to show in Louis XIV time.

The French Baroque was a style that really focused in grandour

and richness. Specially related with the monarchy. Ornaments

were very important, as well as the design of walls, ceiling and

floor. Elements such as drapery, mirrors, and windows were vi-

tal in a French Baroque space. “Your majesty’s seat represents

for us the throne of the living God… . The orders of the kingdom

render unto you honor and respect as to a valueable dignity. “

french rococo

YLIVING.COM

CHAIR BY UNKHOWN

The French Rococo was a time that was more focused in this phrase

“Conqueror of women not empire”. This style was more asymmetri-

cal, light in scale, curvilinear, naturalistic. The style was very roman-

tic, exotic, pastoral, and fantastiic. The S an C shapes were very used

as well as the cabriole legs, scrolls, scallop shells and pearls. The

silhouettes were a new form of art.

The French Rococo arm chair shape is very organic and natu-

ralistic. There are similarities with

the Plie Chair due to the fact that

both causes a private effect and

their shape is shows movement.

People that sit in these kind of

furniture are not seen

completely from any of the lateral

sides. The main difference

between these two chairs is the

pattern and color. The contempo-

ray chair lacks of those features

creating a minimalist look. More-

over, the silhouettes art form are

symbol of sofistication and el-

egance now and then,.

neoclassical

MINOTTI.IT

GILLIAM ARMCHAIR.

The Neoclassical armchairs are much more modern and simple in

comparison with the Rococo Or-

ganic Shape. The sofas are more

linear and the patttern is more

subtle. These furniture pieces has

several realtions with the Gilliam

Armchair by Minotti. The Gilliam

Chair is very angular and straight.

The pattern of the one chair is

very simple, composed by series

of squares. All of the chairs con-

tains Neoclassical characteristics

but at the end shows elegance

and sophistication.

The Neoclassical Style was characterised a more simple style

withouth sacrificing the elegance and richness people wanted to

show. The style empahsized straight lines and right angles. We

can see this in furniture, achitecture and elementes in general of

design. The interior were also simplified and tone down.

empire

YATZER.COM

Art Athina Wall Papers LOCATED IN GREECE.

The animal decorative motifs used in the Empire Epoque were

mainly seen in the legs of chairs

or furniture in General. On the

other hand, the wallpapers of

that time mainly were full of floral

motifs. Art Athina a fine art fair in

Greece creates wall papers mix-

ing different decorative motifs

(animals,nature,symbols) and

mixing materials. The surrealistic

wallpapers are used in contempo-

rary spaes creating a very eclectic

space.

The Empire Style was one of the most popular. This style was re-

alted with Egypt Art/Design. Moreover, this style used abundant

decorative motifs. Rosettes, stars, swags, lions, swangs, dol-

phins, egyptian figures, vines, flowers and more were elements

that were shown in furniture and spaces at that time. Wallpaper

was used a lot and was a new form of art mainly of Jean Bap.

georgian

YATZER.COM

AMSTERDAM LOFTS. A LOFT LOCATED IN AMSTERDAM.

The Amsterdam Lofts its an example of a Modern Georgian

style due te fact of the irregularity

of furniture and spaces

placement. The placement deci-

sion is based on the user’s needs

and comfort. Moreover, the loca-

tion of spaces different from what

any person is used to. The mix-

ture of style is also present in this

loft creating a innovative modern

ambiance.

The Georgian style was focused in creating confortable spaces. It

was characterized for irregular and assymetry spaces because of the

location of furniture, because the craving of comfort and informality.

This style is abouth the mixture of style creating and organic feel-

ing. “there are very few balls [these days] and people try to avoid the

expense and meeting strangers…and therefore prefer sitting in a small

circle by the stove or fireplace, or at the cosy round table…domestic

life has become much more pleasanter.”

victorian

YATZER.COM

RENOVATION VICTORIAN HOUSE BY PAUL+O ARCHITECTS A PALAZZO

The Renovation of this Victorian House in London is a perfect

example to explain how the Vic-

torian essence is still being used

in terms of functionality in a mod-

ern and contemporary way. The

public spaces has the best views,

the best decor, etc. Moreover, the

Parlor in this Victorian Modern

House is very minimalistic but its

simpleness causes awe among

visitors. Like it used to happen

back then. Although this Parlor is

ultra modern there is Rococo Re-

vival Aspect, which is the rug. The

constrast in color help the space

be splendid and elegant.

Victorian Style is directly connected with the Industrial Revolu-

tion. Creating new materials and different reality for the people.

The Victorian Houses layout were/are very influential, dividing

private, public spaces and servant spaces. Moreover new mate-

rials appeared such as mache paper, iron and advanced textile

industry. The Rococo Revival is another important aspect in this

time since its what influenced the Victorian Interiors.

shaker

YATZER.COM

House at Paco de Arcos by Jorge Meahla. LOCATED IN LISBON, PORTUGAL.

Usually is though that the idea of simplicity, minimalism, clean,

order, and function is a new trend.

In reality that style was really

emphasized in the Shaker Period.

The idea of cleanliness is still be-

ing used and a great example is

the Modern House in Portugal by

the Architect Jorge Meahla. He

design it in a very functional and

simple way. Simple creations can

become monumetal features later

being permanent. The Shaker Period was very influenced by the Orthodox Reli-

gion emphasizing Order. Moreover, the design and architecture

was also base on simplicty, order, time, perfection, health,

cleanliness, progress, permanence. The furniture was very func-

tional and easy to build.

thonet

ELLEDECOR.COM

JASON WU DESIGN A RETAIL STORE LOCATED IN US.

The retail store located int he US and designed by Jason Wu is

the perfect example to show how

Thonet-based chairs are being

used in a contemporary style.

These chairs are made out of

metal and with strong pop colors.

These two last characteristics

make this furniture looks modern

but the simple organic form and

technique surely comes from the

Thonet time. Their simplicity and

functionalism allows the selling of

these products until today.

The Thonet Style is based by the desings of Michael Thonet. He

is very well known for his unique steam-bending (bentwood)

technology used in his chairs. These chairs were mainly known

as cafe-style chairs. Moreover, these chairs were design in a

easy way so unskilled wokers could mass-produced them. This

types of chairs are stilll being produced.

art and crafts

TRENDLAN.COM

GOODSPEED FURNITURE A INSTALLATION LOCATED IN TEL AVIV.

The GOODSEEP furniture in- stallation by Finn Ahlgren is an

example of hanmade creations.

He was influenced by the art and

crafts movement. The designer

somehow wanted to bring that

ideology in an eclectic and contro-

versial art method. The furniture

is not meant to be selled or used

but to reinforce the importance of

handmade work. This is a metha-

phor for anti-industrial and more

social care today. The installation

is eye-catching and strong.

“All cast from the machine is bad, as work it is dishonest”

John Ruskin.

This is a design movement (1861-1910) it was inspired by the

wrinting of John Ruskin, Augustus Pugin. The movement stood

for traditional craftmanship. It was an anti-industrial with

social care.

art nouveau

HOMEDIT.COM

BY JUANBIO JIN. AND NINA BRUNN

The nature inspired furniture by the designers Juanbio Jin, and

Nina Brunn are furniture based on

trees, roots, nest and rocks. Every

single design has naturalistic

characteristics and accomodates

to different uses for people. The

inspiration based on nature is

extremeley literal and obvious but

their look is more sophisticated

and somehow abstract for their

simplicity. This contrast is what

makes the creations perfect for

this present time.

“Art nouveau was self-consciously modern, the first international

attempt to “show man his modern face,” and its modernity was ex-

pressed in many ways. As we have seen, a devotion to nature and the

use of natural forms was not exclusively an artistic choice. Nature

also entailed ideas of social progress and devolution. It could stand

for innocence or voluptuousness, or it could represent national aims.

Because it yielded to both science and mysticism, the use of nature as

a basis for decorative schemes was distinctly modern”

C. Gonano Notes

international

The examples below show the

characteristics of the International

Style in Interiors. Walls became

simply partitions, which permited

much greater flexibility in room

layouts. Also, this was a period

were the open floor plan ap-

pears. Walls had surfaces that

were smooth and un textured and

colors were black, white, gray or

beige. The use of monochromatic

color scheme was popular as well

as travertine marble and polished

stone. Furnishings were stark and

low with glass. All these charac-

teristics are still being used today

like is shown in the last two im-

ages.

The International Style as such blossomed in 1920s Western

Europe. Researchers find significant contemporary common

ground among the Dutch de Stijl movement, the work of visionary

French/Swiss architect Le Corbusier and various German efforts

to industrialize craft traditions, which resulted in the formation

of the Deutscher Werkbund, large civic worker-housing projects

in Frankfurt and Stuttgart, and, most famously, the Bauhaus. The

Bauhaus was one of a number of European schools and associa-

tions concerned with reconciling craft tradition and industrial

technology

art deco

Art Deco Interior Spaces of this time.

1. Mexico 2. New York 3. New York

The Bibendum chair of Eileen Gray is still an iconic piece that

still represents modernism and

minimalism. The two spaces

below are contemporary art deco

interiors. Both represent different

materiality, costum furniture, mo-

tifs in walls, glass, art and more.

Although this are not minimalist

spaces they are consider contem-

porary and innovative. The Art Deco was also a modern movement it was influence by the In-

ternational Style, Exotic Motifs, Geometric Forms, Speed, Transpor-

tation, Human Body, Abstract forms, glass, Painters, symbolism and

more. It was also influenced by different architects like Frank Lloyd

Wright. Moreover, this was the time when new materials started to be

used. Eileen Gray was an Irish furniture designer and architect that

was part of this Art Deco Style. She is mainly known for the creation

of the Bibendum Chair.

mid century modern

This was a period of a big change. A period after war, a

period were people star having

their own housing apliances, a

period of ownership and a period

of “do it yourself” in term of putting

together a house. Furniture was

simple and iconic. Women were

an important role in the mid cen-

tury modern because they were

the ones who were in charge

of the house. An space that re-

ally change this period was the

kitchen. The kitchen was not the

“ugly” place to cook but actually

now was an important space of

gathering the family. Now kitchens

are usually open with view to the

living room, dinning room, and

also amazing viws.

The interiors in this time were more ight, spacious interiors & fur-

niture. It was all about vivid colors to counteract the war years.

Moreover there was an increment of mass production in the USA, new

levels of confidence and new technologies. There were new techniques

fors plywood, aluminum, stainless steel and plastic. This was also a

change for women and their living spaces.

“Women are the accepted leaders of consumption in our society” –

Survey of American consumerism

pop

This time was very unique for the design world. It was a time were

people were not afraid of doing

what they like. The same hap-

pened in the design. They created

all this abstract/dynamic furniture

that was also functional. Because

they were created with the idea

that the furniture should satisfy

the people’s postures rather than

the person accomodates to the

chair. This was also a time were

the “normal” or “traditional” design

went beyond the expectations.

Design now was unique and inter-

acted with the imagination of the

user’s . The furniture done at that

time is still being used and now is

even more common to used them.

They symbolize sophistiction and

good taste. This is a time that

makes people think what is next

in our design world?

1960-1970

“ Furniture does not have to be dark and gloomy, like a whale that fell

asleep in your living room”

- Neal Small

This was also a time of new materials, and new eclectic themes. The

design’s concepts were about exagerated forms, human anatomy, fan-

tasy and COLOR. This a provocative time and people was waiting for

different and new things. Waiting for the future.

“ The main purpose of my work is to provoke people into using their

imaginations . Most people spend their lives in dreary grey-beige

conformity, mortally afraid of colors. By experimenting with lighting,

colors, textiles and furniture and utilizing the latest technologies, I try

to show new ways to encourage people to use their fantasy and make

their surroundings more exciting.”

“Verner Panton”

https://doi.org/10.1177/1745691618804187

Perspectives on Psychological Science 2019, Vol. 14(1) 16 –20 © The Author(s) 2019 Article reuse guidelines: sagepub.com/journals-permissions DOI: 10.1177/1745691618804187 www.psychologicalscience.org/PPS

ASSOCIATION FOR PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCE

As I look back over the past 65 years, my professional life has been filled with what I can best describe as a continual series of adventures. For the most part, the challenges that I’ve confronted were of my own mak- ing: Like Theseus in the labyrinth, whenever I seemed to find a solution to a problem, I was confronted with another problem. My initial difficult confrontation occurred when I was a fellow at the Austin Riggs Center in Stockbridge, Massachusetts. I was assigned to work with a young man with a pervasive delusion of being followed by government agents. To my surprise, even though the therapy was for the most part supportive, the delusion disappeared. In 1952, I subsequently pub- lished this case history as the first reported successful psychotherapy of an individual with schizophrenia (Beck, 1952). This case report is of particular interest since 50 years elapsed before I returned to the psycho- therapy of schizophrenia: a form of mental illness that is considered, then and now, to be relatively impervious to psychotherapy.

In 1956, fresh from having passed my boards in psychiatry, I initiated my first major undertaking: vali- dating the various propositions of psychoanalysis. Hav- ing undergone a personal analysis and completed the other requirements for admission to the Philadelphia Psychoanalytic Institute, I was totally committed to the theory and therapy of psychoanalysis, but I felt that for psychoanalysis to be accepted by the larger scientific community, it would require a solid base of evidence. On the basis of that conclusion, I decided to test out the central psychoanalytic proposition that depression was caused by inverted hostility. That is, if the patient experienced unacceptable anger toward a close person but repressed this unacceptable anger, it would come out in the form of self-criticism, negative expectancy, suicidal wishes, and depressed mood.

I teamed up with Marvin Hurvich, a psychology graduate student at the University of Pennsylvania. I prepared a scoring manual for hostility in dreams, and Marvin blindly scored a sample of dreams from patients with depression as well as a control group of patients

who were not depressed. To our surprise, the patients with depression showed less hostility in their dreams than did the nondepressed individuals. This negative finding posed a dilemma for us: It would seem that the absence of manifest hostility in dreams, which had been characterized by Freud as the “royal road to the uncon- scious,” invalidated the theory of inverted hostility. However, after examining the content of dreams for a second time, we found that the dreams of the patients with depression consistently portrayed the dreamer or the action in the dream in a negative way. Conversely, this consistent finding was not evident in the dreams of the nondepressed patients. We then reasoned that the hostility was unable to penetrate through the dreams, but it still existed at an unconscious level and assumed the form of a need to suffer. Because of this theme, we labeled these dreams as “masochistic” and found that using this negative portrayal of the dreamer as a symbol of the need for personal suffering clearly differentiated the patients with depression from those without (Beck & Hurvich, 1959).

In the early 1960s, I teamed up with Jim Diggory and Sy Feshbach from the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania. Although our empirical articles weren’t published until years later, I conducted a number of experiments at that time based on the premise that if patients with depression had a need to suffer, they would perform better after a negative expe- rience than after a positive experience (Loeb, Beck, & Diggory, 1971; Loeb, Beck, Diggory, & Tuthill, 1967; Loeb, Feshbach, Beck, & Wolf, 1964). For example, failure at a task or continuous negative feedback would lead to better performance than would a positive expe- rience on a task.

804187PPSXXX10.1177/1745691618804187BeckEvolution of Cognitive Theory and Therapy research-article2018

Corresponding Author: Aaron T. Beck, Department of Psychiatry, University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, 3535 Market St., Office 3093, Philadelphia, PA 19104 E-mail: [email protected]

A 60-Year Evolution of Cognitive Theory and Therapy

Aaron T. Beck Department of Psychiatry, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania

Evolution of Cognitive Theory and Therapy 17

The results of these experiments turned out to oppose our hypothesis. Compared with nondepressed individuals, the individuals with depression performed significantly better after a positive experience than they did after a negative experience. I then realized that the concept of masochism as an explanation for the nega- tive content in the dreams was probably a fallacy and that it was necessary to think of a another explanation for the negative finding. I then came to a rather sim- plistic explanation for the negative content in the dreams: The dreams simply represented the way the dreamer perceived the self. In other words, the dream content was a replication of the individuals’ self-image that was actualized in the waking state. I then initiated a much larger study of dreams of patients with depres- sion and found that the dreams did consistently portray the dreamer in negative images, consistent with the conscious negative self-image (Beck & Ward, 1961).

The findings of the dream studies and experimental research inspired me to explore the supportive evidence for the various tenets of psychoanalysis. I first reviewed the basis for the concept of the unconscious and repres- sion and the other defense mechanisms. The uncon- scious as described by Freud consists of a jumble of unacceptable impulses and fantasies that are held in check by repression and other defense mechanisms. Although it was clear that cognitive processing can take place without awareness (as indicated by various experi- ments on subliminal bias, etc.), I could find no substan- tial evidence for the kind of drives and fantasies alluded to by psychoanalysts nor evidence for the frank exhibi- tion of the supposed unconscious material. Beginning to doubt this keystone of psychoanalytic theory, I decided to examine the bases of psychoanalytic therapy, such as infantile memories and the existence of transfer- ence of parental images onto therapists. Here again, the data were weak and subject to other interpretations. As I pursued my investigations, the various psychoanalytic concepts began to collapse like a stack of dominos.

In a talk before the more liberal Academy of Psycho- analysis, I attempted to maintain some of the psycho- analytic hypotheses. In this talk, titled “There Is More on the Surface Than Meets the Eye” (Beck, 1963a), I tried to demonstrate that many of the patients’ ideas that were regarded as unconscious were actually conscious. I also described how I discovered the existence of what I termed automatic thoughts. I described how one of my patients undergoing formal psychoanalysis regaled me from session to session with stories of her sexual escapades. I finally asked her whether she had any other thoughts besides these. When she focused on her stream of consciousness, she reported that she had a separate series of thoughts: She was afraid of boring me and thus had to entertain me with stories of her escapades. I then

checked with other patients and similarly determined that when they focused on everything that was going through their minds, they had similar thoughts that they had not been very much aware of previously. In the course of time, I observed enough of these previously unreported thoughts to recognize that they played an important role in the person’s affect and attitudes about the self, others, and the future. In 1960, I finally became disillusioned with the formal psychoanalytic approach of patients lying on the couch and free associating, I decided to ask the patients to sit up. At that point, we would carry out more of a collaborative conversation. After this slight shift in therapeutic approach and deliv- ery, it became obvious to me that these thoughts often constituted an important bridge between the external stimulus situation and the individual’s emotional experi- ence and their behavior.

A New Theory and Therapy of Psychopathology

The elucidation of these automatic thoughts then laid the groundwork for a theory of human psychopathology. In parallel to noticing my clients experiencing automatic thoughts, I also noticed that when I focused on my own reactions to a particular stimulus, I became aware of these thoughts. They appeared to emerge automatically (hence the label of “automatic thoughts”). When I expe- rienced either anxiety or anger, I would have an inter- vening automatic thought, the content of which explained the particular emotion. Thus, themes of threat or anxiety led to anger, loss led to sadness, and gain led to exhila- ration. When I was able to put all of this together, I had an “a-ha” experience. I felt as though I had discovered something new. I also observed that the automatic thoughts actually were exaggerations or even miscon- structions or misinterpretations of a situation. Thus, for example, I might misinterpret somebody’s brief response to a question as a slight and become angry. I found that when I looked for the evidence for the thought, it was either very weak or nonexistent. I then found that my patients’ automatic thoughts were similar to my own, and this formed a bridge to their affective experience. In the case of my patients, these automatic thoughts were generally distortions that fit their diagnosis. My first con- certed venture was to examine these thoughts in patients with depression, who constituted the majority of my case load (Beck, 1963b).

For the most part, I found that automatic thoughts served a useful function, even though they were gener- ally covert. For example, when driving, I was able to multitask: carry on a conversation, listen to the radio, or engage in my thoughts about a forthcoming lecture and at the same time, change lanes, increase or decrease

18 Beck

the speed, and circle around obstacles. When I focused on these thoughts, I perceived self-instructions that guided my actions whether I was driving or participating in other activities. When I asked my patients to focus on their automatic thoughts, I found that the content varied according to the major psychiatric problem or diagnosis. In fact, the more severe the disorder, the more conscious these automatic thoughts became. For exam- ple, the automatic thoughts of patients with depression had a general theme of self-criticism or regret. When the depression was more severe, the automatic thoughts occupied a good portion of the stream of consciousness. Likewise, the thought content of patients with anxiety were filled with fears in either the physical or psycho- logical realm. Individuals with an obsessional neurosis tended to have repetitive, conscious automatic thoughts of an imperative nature (e.g., “wash your hands again”). There was no specific diagnostic category for problems with anger, but these generally had the theme of unjusti- fied loss, challenge, or threat.

My initial application of the construct of automatic thoughts was to train the patients to focus on and rec- ognize them. In the interview sessions, I trained the individuals to examine the validity of thoughts, which generally constituted either misinterpretations or exag- gerations of a situation. I had noted that these thoughts often reflected cognitive distortions—misinterpretations or exaggerations of situations. In teaching the patients to evaluate these distortions, I was influenced in part by the volume by Albert Ellis (1962) titled Reason and Emotion in Psychotherapy. When the patients were able to correct their misinterpretation through procedures such as looking for the evidence, considering alterna- tive explanations, or evaluating the logic of the conclu- sions, they began to get better. In reading Ellis’s book, I noted that he had also recognized the existence of automatic thoughts, which he labeled self-statements. His description of self-statements was almost identical to what I had previously labeled as automatic thoughts. This constituted a kind of confirmation of the existence of these phenomena. Albert Ellis and I also recognized the difference between the automatic thoughts, often labeled hot cognitions, and the more deliberate, reflec- tive, and consciously directed thinking, sometimes labeled cold cognition. Our recognition of these phe- nomena was later mentioned by Daniel Kahneman (2011) in his book Thinking, Fast and Slow.

Attempts to Create an Innovative Theory and Therapy

The next step in my evolution of cognitive theory and therapy was the recognition that individuals had a system of beliefs that, when triggered by a particular

situation, yielded the interpretation or misinterpreta- tion, generally in the form of an automatic thought. I then attempted to construct a theory of normal thought processes and psychopathology (Beck, 1976). The question was how to label the individuals’ beliefs and automatic thoughts. Having read George Kelly’s (1955) volume titled A Theory of Personality: The Psychology of Personal Constructs, I first considered using the term construct to label the beliefs. However, the term schema, derived from Piaget’s work, seemed to offer more possibilities. I thus used schema as the name for the more or less durable structure that, when triggered, produced the automatic thought. Following from Piaget, I ascribed the following characteristics to the schemas: permeability/impermeability, magnitude, content, and charge. Permeability/impermeability indicated receptiv- ity to change, magnitude was the size of the schema relative to the person’s general self-concept, and con- tent described the basic theme. When the charge of the schema was low, the schema was essentially deac- tivated but became activated again when a stimulus congruent with the content of the schema became activated or, in psychopathology, when the schema was activated to varying degrees during the course of the episode.

Application to Specific Psychological Disorders

Expanding on the concept of schemas, I developed a number of instruments that measured the idiosyncratic beliefs for the major depressive disorders and problems such as depression, suicide, anxiety, substance abuse, anger and hostility, couples problems, and, more recently, schizophrenia (e.g., the Beck Depression Inventory; Beck, Steer, & Carbin, 1988; Beck, Ward, Mendelson, Mock, & Erbaugh, 1961). Because these various psycho- logical variables were poorly defined, in each instance I developed a measure of the psychiatric disorder before attempting to identify the beliefs, the characteristics of each disorder, and the therapy adapted to modify the maladaptive beliefs. Examples from the different diag- nostic tests are as follows: depression: “I am so sad or unhappy I can’t stand it”; suicide: “I would end my life if I could”; anxiety: “I am anxious all of the time”; anger and hostility: “If someone offends me I should strike back.” For each disorder, the diagnostic instrument would be used to identify the primary psychopathology and would be a partial outcome measure.

In developing a diagram for each disorder, I tried to focus on the typical maladaptive beliefs of the disorder. For example, the addictive behaviors (drinking, using, etc.) were characterized by the same beliefs facilitating the addiction. When experiencing a craving, common

Evolution of Cognitive Theory and Therapy 19

maladaptive cognitions could be “it’s OK this one time” (permission giving), “I can go to the corner to get a hit” (facilitating), and/or “I will quit after this one time” (promising). For anger and aggression issues, the typical pathway is as follows: The individuals feel diminished in some way, leading to a momentary hurt feeling. They are generally not aware of the hurt because it is overshad- owed by anger and the impulse to counter attack. In another paradigm, particularly when the individuals feel vulnerable, they may react to a perceived attack or threat by becoming anxious. Finally, individuals, particularly those who are depressed, may respond to the assault by reinforcing the notion that they deserve it (Beck, 1999).

I also studied anger and aggression extensively in couples and found consistently that most of the anger could be attributed to cognitive process (Beck, 1988). They tended to show a wide range of biases, particu- larly attentional (observing only negative behaviors and not positive), interpretive (making negative interpreta- tions of neutral behavior and exaggerating minimal negative), and finally globalization (seeing the partner as the enemy). Here it was possible to observe first- hand the dysfunctional beliefs in the interactions between the two individuals. Each individual saw the self as vulnerable and victimized and the other as over- powering and victimizing. In any case, it was possible to restore the individuals to a better condition provided their animosity had not gone beyond the point of no return. Note that the same types of images and cogni- tive distortions are present in conflicts between other individuals and between larger groups such as ethnic or religious groups and nations. These kinds of cogni- tive processes and distortions help to explain the origin of the killings in war and genocide.

Once the maladaptive beliefs were identified for a given disorder, I then proceeded to develop a therapy for that disorder. To test the clinical utility of the assigned beliefs for a given disorder or problem, I con- ducted clinical trials along with my postdoctoral stu- dents. After a successful randomized controlled trial, I would typically prepare a book so that the defined therapy could be used to replicate the initial findings and also provide material for the practitioners. In addi- tion to identifying the primary problem and working to rewire maladaptive beliefs and biases into more adaptive ones, another key factor in the success of any of the adaptations of cognitive therapy is the working relationship with the therapist. In the most severe prob- lems, such as personality disorders—borderline person- ality disorder and schizophrenia, for example—the forging of the connection with the patient involves a kind of partnership or comradeship in many cases.

Our team has managed over the past decade to make real progress in the treatment of schizophrenia. In the course of this treatment, we have found that even the

most severe cases, involving long periods of hospital- ization, bizarre behavior (e.g., undressing in public), poor urinary and bowel behaviors, self-injury, and aggressiveness, are amenable to treatment and subject to positive change (Grant, Bredemeier, & Beck, 2017; Grant, Huh, Perivoliotis, Stolar, & Beck, 2012). Most notably, we have found that psychotic features such as delusions, hallucinations, and bizarre behavior actually disguise a normal personality. The task of the therapist is to activate this normal personality through the rela- tionship, pinpointing the individual’s strengths, talents, and aspirations and then drawing on these to jointly form a therapeutic plan. Although there are notable differences between traditional cognitive behavior ther- apy (CBT) and our therapeutic approach for schizo- phrenia (i.e., recovery-oriented cognitive therapy, or CT-R), this therapy uses many of the basic tenets of CBT, including personalizing a cognitive formulation for each unique individual, working through negative and dysfunctional beliefs, and discussing strategies to achieving meaningful goals.

The worldwide expansion of CBT is due largely to its transdiagnostic efficacy, demonstrated in thousands of research studies (Brown et al., 2005; Rush, Hollon, Beck, & Kovacs, 1978; Waltman, Creed, & Beck, 2016; for a review of studies of CBT effectiveness, see Beck, 1993). Furthermore, in the 1990s, I coauthored a critical book (D. A. Clark & Beck, 1999) that summarized my early work in developing a novel theory and therapy for depression (as discussed in this article) as well as newer scientific evidence for the efficacy of CBT in treating depression. There have also been major clinical advances in the implementation and dissemination of CBT. A 2015 worldwide survey indicated that CBT is the most broadly used form of therapy in the world (Knapp, Kieling, & Beck, 2015). In addition, in the United Kingdom, CBT has been employed as the domi- nant modality of therapy in the Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) program under the aus- pices of the National Health Service (NHS), treating more than 500,000 people per year with a variety of mental- health concerns, including depressive and anxiety- related disorders (D. M. Clark, 2018). This substantial focus on dissemination and training of quality CBT cli- nicians from every continent has been fundamental to the overall acceptance of CBT as the “gold standard” of therapy (David, Cristea, & Hofmann, 2018). Although my personal research has been focused primarily on psychological disorders, it is also necessary to give credit to the innovative researchers who have success- fully used CBT to treat a number of medical disorders that even I would have previously written off as impos- sible to target with psychotherapy. These include dia- betes, dementia, hypertension, irritable bowel syndrome, insomnia, and skin diseases.

20 Beck

In this article, I have tried to touch on some of the highlights of my 60 years in psychiatry and mental health. Hopefully these efforts demonstrate my com- mitment to making a better world through the applica- tion of psychological principles.

Action Editor

Darby Saxbe served as action editor and June Gruber served as interim editor-in-chief for this article.

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

The author(s) declared that there were no conflicts of interest with respect to the authorship or the publication of this article.

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Beck, A. T. (1963a, November). There is more on the surface than meets the eye. Lecture presented in The Academy of Psychoanalysis, New York, NY.

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Beck, A. T., & Hurvich, M. S. (1959). Psychological correlates of depression: 1. Frequency of “masochistic” dream con- tent in a private practice sample. Psychosomatic Medicine, 21, 50–55.

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Clark, D. A., & Beck, A. T. (1999). Scientific foundations of cognitive theory and therapy of depression. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.

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Ellis, A. (1962). Reason and emotion in psychotherapy. Oxford, England: Lyle Stuart.

Grant, P. M., Bredemeier, K., & Beck, A. T. (2017). Six-month follow-up of recovery-oriented cognitive therapy for low- functioning individuals with schizophrenia. Psychiatric Services, 68, 997–1002. doi:10.1176/appi.ps.201600413

Grant, P. M., Huh, G. A., Perivoliotis, D., Stolar, N. M., & Beck, A. T. (2012). Randomized trial to evaluate the effi- cacy of cognitive therapy for low-functioning patients with schizophrenia. Archives of General Psychiatry, 69, 121–127. doi:10.1001/archgenpsychiatry.2011.129

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Knapp, P., Kieling, C., & Beck, A. T. (2015). What do psycho- therapists do? A systematic review and meta-regression of surveys. Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, 84, 377–378. doi:10.1159/000433555

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Loeb, A., Beck, A. T., Diggory, J. C., & Tuthill, R. (1967, September). Expectancy, level of aspiration, performance, and self-evaluation in depression. In Proceedings of the 75th Annual Convention of the American Psychological Association (Vol. 2, pp. 193–194). Washington DC: Ame rican Psychological Association.

Loeb, A., Feshbach, S., Beck, A. T., & Wolf, A. (1964). Some effects of reward upon the social perception and moti- vation of psychiatric patients varying in depression. The Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 68, 609–616. doi:10.1037/h0044260

Rush, A. J., Hollon, S. D., Beck, A. T., & Kovacs, M. (1978). Depression: Must pharmacotherapy fail for cognitive therapy to succeed? Cognitive Therapy and Research, 2, 199–206. doi:10.1007/BF01172735

Waltman, S. H., Creed, T. A., & Beck, A. T. (2016). Are the effects of cognitive behavior therapy for depression falling? Review and critique of the evidence. Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice, 23, 113–122. doi:10.1111/ cpsp.12152

APPLIED PSYCHOLOGY: AN INTERNATIONAL REVIEW, 2002,

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mBlackwell Science LtdOxford, UKAPPSApplied Psychology: an International Review0269-994X© International Association for Applied Psychology, 200220025121000Original ArticleSocioCognitive Theory in Cultural ContextBandura

Social Cognitive Theory in Cultural Context

Albert Bandura*

Stanford University, Stanford, USA

La théorie socio-cognitive adopte une perspective d’action pour ce qui est du développement, de l’adaptation et du changement humains. Cette théorie dis- tingue trois types d’action: l’action personnelle exercée individuellement, l’action par procuration où l’on s’assure de bénéfices désirés en incitant autrui a intervenir en sa faveur, et l’action collective où les gens agissent ensemble pour construire leur avenir. Des dichotomies conflictuelles parsèment notre domaine, opposant l’autonomie et l’interdépendance, l’individualisme et le collectivisme. Les déterminants et les doses d’action individuelle, par pro- curation et collective varient culturellement. Mais tous les modes d’action sont nécessaires pour parvenir á ses fins quel que soit le contexte culturel. Les cultures sont diverses et dynamiques, ce ne sont pas des monolithes statiques. La diversité intraculturelle et les écarts dans les orientations psychosociales mettent en évidence la dynamique aux multiples facettes des cultures. La glo- balisation croissante, la pluralité des sociétés et l’immersion dans un monde virtuel qui se joue du temps, des distances, des lieux et des frontières incitent à élargir la portée des études interculturelles. Les préoccupations se focalisent sur la façon dont les forces nationales et globales interagissent dans la création de la vie culturelle.

Social cognitive theory adopts an agentic perspective to human development, adaptation, and change. The theory distinguishes among three modes of agency: personal agency exercised individually; proxy agency in which people secure desired outcomes by influencing others to act on their behalf; and col- lective agency in which people act in concert to shape their future. Contentious dualisms pervade our field pitting autonomy against interdependence; indi- vidualism against collectivism and communality; and personal agency against social structure. The determinants and agentic blends of individual, proxy, and collective instrumentality vary cross-culturally. But all agentic modes are needed to make it through the day whatever the cultural context in which one resides. Cultures are diverse and dynamic social systems not static monoliths. Intracultural diversity and intraindividual variation in psychosocial orientations across spheres of functioning underscore the multifaceted dynamic nature of

* Address for correspondence: Albert Bandura, Department of Psychology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305 - 2130, USA. Email: [email protected]

Preparation of this article and some of the cited research were facilitated by grants from the Grant Foundation and the Spencer Foundation.

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cultures. The growing globalisation and cultural pluralisation of societies and enmeshment in a cyberworld that transcends time, distance, place, and national borders call for broadening the scope of cross-cultural analyses. The issues of interest center on how national and global forces interact to shape the nature of cultural life.

INTRODUCTION

The present article addresses human functioning in cultural embeddedness from the agentic perspective of social cognitive theory. To be an agent is to influence intentionally one’s functioning and life circumstances. Social cognitive theory distinguishes among three modes of agency: direct personal agency; proxy agency that relies on others to act on one’s behest to secure desired outcomes; and collective agency exercised through group action. In personal agency exercised individually, people bring their influence to bear directly on themselves and their environment in managing their lives. In many spheres of life people do not have direct control over the social con- ditions and institutional practices that affect their everyday lives. Under these circumstances, they seek their well-being and valued outcomes through the exercise of proxy agency. In this socially mediated mode of agency, people try to get those who have access to resources, expertise or who wield influence and power to act at their behest to secure the outcomes they desire. People do not live their lives autonomously. Many of the things they seek are achievable only through socially interdependent effort. Hence, they have to pool their knowledge, skills, and resources, provide mutual support, form alliances, and work together to secure what they cannot accomplish on their own.

Successful functioning requires an agentic blend of these different modes of agency. The relative contribution of individual, proxy, and collective modes to the agentic mix may vary cross-culturally. But all of these agentic modes need to be enlisted to make it through the day, regardless of the culture in which one happens to reside. People’s efforts to manage their everyday lives cannot be reduced to polarities that arbitrarily partition human agency into individual and collective forms. Cross-cultural variations are differences in relative emphasis in agentic patterning rather than cultural exclusivity of agency to individual or collective modes.

Among the mechanisms of human agency none is more central or pervasive than beliefs of personal efficacy (Bandura, 1997). Whatever other factors serve as guides and motivators, they are rooted in the core belief that one has the power to produce desired effects by one’s actions, otherwise one has little incentive to act or to persevere in the face of difficulties. Self-efficacy beliefs regulate human functioning through cognitive, motivational, affective, and decisional processes. They affect whether individuals think in self-enhancing or self-debilitating ways; how well they motivate themselves and persevere

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in the face of difficulties; the quality of their emotional life, and the choices they make at important decisional points which set the course of life paths.

Numerous large-scale meta-analyses have been conducted on findings from studies with diverse experimental and analytic methodologies applied across diverse spheres of functioning (Boyer, Zollo, Thompson, Vancouver, Shewring, & Sims, 2000; Holden, 1991; Holden, Moncher, Schinke, & Barker, 1990; Moritz, Feltz, Fahrbach, & Mack, 2000; Multon, Brown, & Lent, 1991; Sadri & Robertson, 1993; Stajkovic & Lee, 2001; Stajkovic & Luthans, 1998). The converging evidence from these diverse lines of research verifies that efficacy beliefs contribute significantly to the quality of human functioning.

As previously noted, in social cognitive theory efficacy beliefs are not confined solely to judgments of personal capabilities. The theory also encom- passes perceived collective efficacy representing shared beliefs in the power to produce desired effects by collective action (Bandura, 1997, 2000). Perceived collective efficacy is not simply the sum of the efficacy beliefs of individual members. Rather, it is an emergent group-level property that embodies the coordinative and interactive dynamics of group functioning.

A group, of course, operates through the behavior of its members. The locus of perceived collective efficacy resides in the minds of group members. It is people acting in concert on a shared belief not a disembodied group mind that is doing the cognising, aspiring, motivating, and regulating. There is no emergent entity that operates independently of the beliefs and actions of the individuals who make up a social system.

Although beliefs of collective efficacy have a sociocentric focus, the func- tions they serve are similar to those of personal efficacy beliefs and they operate through similar processes (Bandura, 1997). People’s shared beliefs in their collective efficacy influence the type of futures they seek to achieve through collective effort; how well they use their resources; how much effort they put into their group endeavors; their staying power when collective efforts fail to produce quick results or meet forcible opposition; and their vulnerability to the discouragement that can beset those taking on tough social problems. Meta-analysis of laboratory and field studies corroborates that perceived collective efficacy enhances group functioning just as per- sonal efficacy enhances individual functioning (Stajkovic & Lee, 2001).

CROSS-CULTURAL THEORETICAL GENERALISABILITY

Because of the expanded conception of human agency, social cognitive theory is well suited to elucidate human personal development, adaptation, and change in diverse cultural milieus. Cultural analyses must address the basic issue of whether there is a universal human nature or many human natures spawned by diverse cultural milieus. This calls for a brief discussion of the nature of human nature in social cognitive theory. Viewed from the

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sociocognitive perspective, human nature is characterised by a vast potential- ity that can be fashioned by direct and vicarious experience into a variety of forms within biological limits. Biology provides potentialities and sets con- straints but in most spheres of functioning biology permits a broad range of cultural possibilities. Gould (1987) argues cogently that evidence favors a potentialist view over a determinist view of biology. In this insightful ana- lysis, the major explanatory battle is not between nature and nurture as com- monly framed, but whether nature operates as a determinist that has culture on a “tight leash”, or as a potentialist that has culture on a “loose leash”. For example, people possess the biological potentiality for aggression, but the answer to the cultural variation in aggressiveness lies more in ideology than in biology. There is wide intercultural and intracultural diversity in aggression and entire nations, such as Sweden and Switzerland, have trans- formed from warring ones to pacifist ones (Alland, 1972; Bandura, 1999; Moerk, 1995).

People have changed little genetically over recent decades, but they have changed markedly through rapid cultural and technological evolution in their beliefs, mores, social roles, and styles of behavior. As Dobzhansky (1972) puts it succinctly, the human species has been selected for learnability and plasticity of behavior adaptive to remarkably diverse habitats not for behavioral fixedness.

The plasticity, which is intrinsic to the nature of humans, depends upon specialised neurophysiological structures and mechanisms that have evolved over time. These advanced neural systems are specialised for channeling attention, detecting the causal structure of the world around one, trans- forming that information into abstract form, integrating it and using it for adaptive purposes. The evolved morphology and information processing systems provide the capacity for the very characteristics that are distinctly human—generative symbolisation, forethought, evaluative self-regulation, reflective self-consciousness, and symbolic communication (Bandura, 2001).

Through agentic action, people devise ways of adapting flexibly to remark- ably diverse environments. Moreover, they use their ingenuity to insulate themselves from selection pressures. They create devices that compensate immensely for their sensory and physical limitations, circumvent environ- mental constraints, redesign and construct environments to their liking, create styles of behavior that enable them to realise desired outcomes and pass on the effective ones to others by social modeling and other experiential means. Through development of biotechnologies, people are now chang- ing the genetic make-up of plants and animals, and even toying with the prospect of fashioning some aspects of their nature by genetic design. The accelerated growth of knowledge is greatly enhancing human power to con- trol, transform, and create environments of increasing complexity and to shape their social future.

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The common human nature is at the level of basic capacities and the specialised mechanisms through which they operate, but cultures shape these potentialities into diverse forms. For example, humans have evolved an advanced capacity for observational learning that enables them to acquire knowledge, attitudes, values, emotional proclivities, and competences through the rich fund of information conveyed by actual and symbolic modeling (Bandura, 1986). It is difficult to imagine how cultures could develop and replicate themselves if their language, mores, customs, and social practices in diverse spheres of life had to be gradually shaped in each new member by direct consequences of their trial-and error performances without benefit of models who display the cultural patterns. Modeling is a universalised human capacity but how it is used varies in different cultural milieus.

The present article focuses on the cross-cultural commonality of agentic capacity rooted in beliefs of personal and collective efficacy to produce effects by one’s actions. Although efficacy beliefs have generalised func- tional value, how they are developed and structured, the ways in which they are exercised, and the purposes to which they are put, vary cross-culturally. In short, there is commonality in basic agentic capacities and mechanisms of operation, but diversity in the culturing of these inherent capacities. The cultivated identities, values, belief structures, and agentic capabilities are the psychosocial systems through which experiences are filtered.

Some people live in predominantly individualistically oriented social sys- tems, others in more collectively oriented ones (Kim, Triandis, Kâgitçibasi, Choi, & Yoon, 1994; Triandis, 1995). A high sense of personal efficacy is just as important to group-directedness as to self-directedness. Group pursuits are no less demanding of personal efficacy than individual pursuits. Nor do people who work interdependently in collectivistic societies have less need or desire to be efficacious in the particular roles they perform than those in individualistic societies.

Personal efficacy is valued, not because of reverence for individualism, but because a strong sense of personal efficacy is vital for success regardless of whether it is achieved individually or by group members putting their personal capabilities to the best collective use. A firm group loyalty creates strong personal obligations to do one’s part in group pursuits as effica- ciously as one can. Members are respected for their personal contributions to group accomplishments. Efficacy beliefs operate in complex, multifaceted ways, regardless of how the cultural pursuits are socially structured. All too often the complexities and subtleties get lost in oversimplified cross-cultural comparisons. We shall return to this issue later.

Earley’s (1994) cross-cultural research on organisational efficacy and productivity in the United States, Hong Kong, and Mainland China attests to cross-cultural generality of the functional value of efficacy belief. In each of these settings the organisations were manufacturing the same

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telecommunications equipment and offering the same service. In each place, half the managers were trained in an individually oriented management system, the other half were trained in a group-oriented management system. Managers from the United States, an individualistically oriented culture, achieve the highest perceived efficacy and organisational productivity under the indi- vidually oriented system. Those from collectivistic cultures, Hong Kong, and China, judge themselves most efficacious and achieve the highest organisa- tional productivity under the group-oriented system.

There are collectivists in individualistic cultures and individualists in collectivistic cultures. Acknowledging intracultural diversity, Earley ana- lysed the functional relations between training focus, efficacy beliefs, and organisation productivity in terms of whether the inhabitants favored an indi- vidualistic or collectivistic ethic, regardless of geographic locale. Managers achieved the highest personal efficacy and group productivity when their personal orientation matched the organisational social system. Thus, Amer- ican collectivists did better under a group-oriented system, whereas Chinese individualists did better under an individually oriented system. The personal orientation rather than the geographical cultural locale was a major carrier of the effects. Analysis in terms of key psychosocial dimensions has greater explanatory import than categorising people by geographic locale because the former is grounded in a theory about the psychosocial factors posited to account for cultural differences and addresses diversities in cultural groupings. Both at the societal and individual level of analysis, strong per- ceived efficacy fosters high group effort and performance attainments.

INTRACULTURAL DIVERSITY

People live their lives in sociocultural milieus that differ in their shared values, customs, social practices, and institutional constraints and oppor- tunity structures. Dichotomous cultural groupings, such as individualistic– collectivistic types, mask much diversity between cultural systems assigned to the same type and within a particular culture. Such classifications rely on a disputable homogeneity assumption. For example, collectivistic systems founded on Confucianism, Buddhism, and Marxism favor a communal ethic, but they differ significantly from each other in particular values, meanings, and the customs they promote (Kim et al., 1994). Nor are so-called indi- vidualistic cultures a uniform lot. Americans, Italians, Germans, French, and the British differ in their particular brands of individualism. Even within an individualistically oriented culture, such as the United States, the Northeast brand of individualism is quite different from the Midwest and West versions and the latter differ from that of the Deep Southern region of the nation (Vandello & Cohen, 1999). Even the informativeness of regional comparisons is questionable because of a substantial ethnic heterogeneity

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within them. Cross-ethnic comparisons, such as Latinos, African-Americans, and Orientals, can be highly misinformative because of the diverse nature of ethnicity. For example, to lump Puerto Ricans, Cubans, Chicanos, and Spanish, who have quite different cultural origins, into a Latino category imposes homogeneity on intra-ethnic diversity. Hence, cultural contrasts, in which members of a single collectivist culture is compared to those of a single individualist one, can spawn a lot of misleading generalisations.

Cultures are diverse and dynamic social systems not static monoliths. There is substantial heterogeneity among individuals within both individualistic and collectivistic systems. Thus, for example, there are generational and socio- economic variations in communality in collectivistic cultures with younger and more affluent members adopting more individualistic orientations (Matsumoto, Kudoh, & Takeuchi, 1996). Under the sway of global market and media forces, entrepreneurship is supplanting communality in collectivistic cultures. Conversely, some of the excesses of individualism are prompting a resurgence of efforts to restore a sense of community and social responsibil- ity in individualistic cultures.

There is even greater intraindividual variation in communality across dif- ferent types of social relationships. Members of a collectivistically oriented society are highly communal with ingroup members, such as family mem- bers, friends, and colleagues, but members of an individualistically oriented society are more communal with outgroup members (Matsumoto et al., 1996). Indeed, variation in communal style of behavior across classes of rela- tionships swamps variation across cultural milieus. Analyses across activity domains would undoubtedly reveal that people behave communally in some aspects of their lives and individualistically in many other aspects. Moreover, people express their cultural orientations conditionally rather than invari- antly depending on incentive conditions (Yamagishi, 1988). Thus, members of a collectivistically oriented society are active contributors to collective effort with ingroup members, but slacken their effort in groups composed of outgroup members. But when negative sanctions against free riders are instituted they become as communal with outsiders as do people in individual- istic cultures. Freeman and Bordia (2001) further confirm that people vary in individualistic and collectivistic social orientations depending on whether the reference group is familial, peer, academic, or national. Cultural measures cast in terms of faceless others and disembodied from domains of activity, social contexts, and incentive conditions mask this diversity on which human adaptation is conditional. Global, decontextualised measures shrink psycho- social variability to uniform polarity that lends to be ascribed to entire cultures and their residents.

Intracultural and interdomain variability, and changeability of cultural orientations as a function of incentive conditions underscores the concep- tual and empirical problems of using nations as proxies for culture and

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then ascribing psychosocial attributes to the nations and all its members as though they are static monoliths (Gjerde & Onishi, 2000). This is culturalism by bounded territory rather than by psychosocial orientations and social cus- toms. All too often, a selected cultural factor that yields a small difference in group averages is generalised to all individuals in the cultural grouping as though they all believed and behaved alike as dichotomously classified. The categorical approach also lends itself readily to misattributing effects to traits ascribed to the classification when, in fact, other dynamic pro- cesses may be at play. For example, collectivists tend to be most efficacious and productive when they manage things together. It is assumed that this is because the collectively oriented are disposed to place group interest and shared responsibility above self-interest. However, collectivists are not always group oriented as if driven by an all-reaching communal disposition. Indeed, they have a low sense of efficacy and perform poorly when manag- ing activities within an ethnically mixed group (Earley, 1993). Psychosocial processes triggered by perceived ingroupness–outgroupness seem to be at work.

There is a substantial difference between theorising based on categorical cultural trait ascriptions and process analyses. Human behavior is socially situated, richly contextualised and conditionally expressed. The complex- ities described above require analyses of psychosocial determinants and governing mechanisms grounded in a comprehensive theory of human functioning. Global decontextualised and nonconditionalised measures of psychological orientations mask the substantial intracultural diversity and intraindividual variation in self-conception. There is no autonomous self unless one is living the life of a hermit, nor is there an entirely interdepend- ent self completely submerged in collectivity without any individual identity or sense of personal capability. Such measures are ill-suited to advance understanding of the structure, dynamics, and functions of sociocultural factors that shape how people live their lives in given cultural milieus.

CONTENTIOUS DUALISMS

Contentious theoretical dualisms pervade the cross-cultural field, pitting autonomy against interdependence; personal agency against social struc- ture; and individualism against collectivism and communality. Most of the current theorising and research on cultural variations is structured around these categorisations. One duality inappropriately equates self-efficacy with individualism and pits it against collectivism (Schooler, 1990). A contentious correlative duality regards any reference to self in psychological theorising as championing self-centeredness and self-indulgence in contrast to com- munal attachments and civic responsibilities (Seligman, 1990; Sampson, 1977). These jaundiced views are grounded in a number of erroneous assumptions.

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Perceived self-efficacy does not come with a built-in individualistic value system. Therefore, a sense of efficacy does not necessarily spawn an indi- vidualistic lifestyle, identity, or morality. If belief in the power to produce effects is put to social purposes, it fosters a communal life rather than erodes it. People with resilient efficacy and strong prosocial purpose often subordinate self-interest to the benefit of others. For example, parents in impoverished environments with a resilient sense of efficacy refuse to have their children’s development dictated by adverse circumstances by bringing their influence to bear on things that matter through resourceful effort and self-sacrifice (Bandura, 1997). The same is true for tenacious social reform- ers. Gandhi provides a striking example of self-sacrifice in the exercise of tenacious personal efficacy. He spearheaded the triumph over oppressive rule through unceasing nonviolent resistance and repeatedly forced con- cessions from ruling authorities by going on life-threatening fasts. He lived ascetically, not self-indulgently. Similarly, Mandella and King spurred extra- ordinary social changes that altered the course of sociopolitical life in their societies in the face of daunting challenge through an enormously resilient sense of personal efficacy. Without a robust sense of self, people are easily overwhelmed by adversities in attempts to change their lives for the better through collective effort.

A sense of collective efficacy is not disembodied from perceived personal efficacy. A collectivistic culture with members plagued by self-doubts about their capabilities to perform their roles would achieve little. A strong sense of personal efficacy to manage one’s life circumstances and to have a hand in effecting societal changes contributes substantially to perceived col- lective efficacy to shape their society’s social future (Fernández-Ballesteros, Díez-Nicolás, Caprara, Barbaranelli, & Bandura, 2002).

The conjoint influence of perceived political efficacy and trust in the gov- ernmental system predicts the form and level of people’s political activity (Craig, 1979; Pollock, 1983; Seligson, 1980). These belief systems function similarly regardless of whether the political activism is by United States’ citizenry or Costa Rican peasants seeking social reforms. People who believe they can achieve desired changes through their collective voice, and who view their governmental systems as trustworthy, are active participants in conventional political activities. Those who believe they can accomplish social changes by perseverant collective action, but view the governing systems and office-holders as untrustworthy, favor more confrontive and coercive tactics outside the traditional political channels. The politically apathetic have little faith that they can influence governmental functioning through collective initiatives and are disaffected from the political system, believing it ignores their interests.

In political participation, people’s efficacy beliefs to achieve social change are put in the service of bettering their lives. In everyday social relationships,

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perceived self-efficacy is not antithetical to communality. Indeed, a high sense of social and empathic efficacy promote prosocialness as expressed in cooperativeness, helpfulness, and sharing (Bandura, Caprara, Barbaranelli, Gerbino, & Pastorelli, 2001; Bandura, Caprara, Barbaranelli, Pastorelli, & Regalia, 2001). As already noted, social cognitive theory provides a theoret- ical framework applicable to both individualistically and collectivistically oriented social systems through its expanded conception of human agency exercised individually, socially mediated, and collectively. Kim and Park (1999) further extend the cross-cultural applicability of self-efficacy theory by adding belief in one’s relational efficacy to promote positive communal relations. This facet of self-efficacy is well suited to capture the communal aspect of life, especially in the more collectivistically oriented cultural systems.

Another disputable duality pits psychological theories of personal agency and sociostructural theories as rival conceptions of human behavior or as representing different levels and proximities of causation. In the social cognitive theory of self and society (Bandura, 1986, 2001) personal agency and social structure operate interdependently rather than as disembodied entities. Personal agency operates within a broad network of sociostructural influences. In these agentic transactions, people are producers as well as products of social systems. Social structures are created by human activity to organise, guide, and regulate human affairs in given domains by authorised rules and sanctions (Giddens, 1984). The sociostructural practices imple- mented by social agents, in turn, impose constraints and provide resources and opportunity structures for personal development and functioning. Given this dynamic bidirectionality of influence, social cognitive theory rejects a dualism between personal agency and a disembodied social structure.

A full understanding of human adaptation and change requires an integ- rated causal structure in which sociostructural influences operate through mechanisms of the self system to produce behavioral effects. However, in agentic transactions, the self system is not merely a conduit for external influ- ences. The self is socially constituted but, by exercising directive influence, human agency operates generatively and proactively on social systems not just reactively.

Nor are sociostructural and psychological determinants neatly dichotom- ised into remote and proximate ones. For example, poverty is a socio- economic factor that does not operate in multilayered or remote causation. Lacking the money needed to provide for the subsistence of one’s family pervades everyday life in a very immediate way. Analyses of paths of influence lend support for a multicausal model that integrates sociostructural and personal determinants. Economic conditions, socioeconomic status, and family structure affect behavior through their impact on people’s sense of effi- cacy, aspirations, and affective self-regulatory factors rather than directly

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(Baldwin, Baldwin, Sameroff, & Seifer, 1989; Bandura, 1993; Bandura, Barbaranelli, Caprara, & Pastorelli, 1996b, 2001; Elder & Ardelt, 1992).

A major part of people’s daily life is spent in occupational activities. These pursuits do more than simply provide income for one’s livelihood. Occupations structure a large part of people’s everyday reality and serve as a major source of personal identity and self-evaluation. As an interdepend- ent activity, occupational pursuits also structure a good part of people’s social relations. Beliefs of personal efficacy play a highly influential role in occupational development and pursuits (Bandura, 1997; Betz & Hackett, 1986; Hackett, 1995; Lent, Brown, & Hackett, 1994). The higher the people’s perceived efficacy to fulfill educational requirements and occupational roles the wider the career options they seriously consider pursuing, the greater the interest they have in them, the better they prepare themselves educationally for different occupational careers, and the greater their staying power in challenging career pursuits. People simply eliminate from consideration entire classes of occupations they believe to be beyond their capabilities, however attractive the occupations may be.

The career interests and pursuits of women tend to be constricted by a sense of inefficacy for quantitative activities and skills necessary for occupa- tions traditionally occupied by males. The gendered patterning of perceived occupational efficacy is similar in the United States and Japan (Betz & Hackett, 1983; Hackett, 1995; Lucas, Wanberg, & Zytowski, 1997; Matsui, Ikeda, & Ohnishi, 1989). Moreover, gendered socialisation exerts a compar- able impact cross-culturally even on judgments of personal efficacy for the same activities performed in different contexts. Women both in the United States and Japan have a high sense of efficacy for quantitative activities em- bedded in stereotypically feminine activities, but low perceived self-efficacy when these same quantitative activities are embedded in scientific pur- suits (Betz & Hackett, 1983; Junge & Dretzke, 1995; Matsui & Tsukamoto, 1991).

Perceived coping efficacy also affects stress and burnout in occupational milieus in much the same way cross-culturally. Occupational stress arises when perceived task demands tax or exceed perceived efficacy to manage them and when people find themselves in jobs below their capabilities or are plateaued in their careers with little opportunity to make full use of their skills or to enhance them (Brouwers, Evers, & Tomic, 2001; Brouwers & Tomic, 1999, 2000; Chwalisz, Altmaier, & Russell, 1992; Jex & Bliese, 1999; Jex & Gudanowski, 1992; Salanova, Liorens, Cifre, Martinez, & Schaufeli, in press; Salanova, Peiró, & Schaufeli, in press; Schwarzer & Schmitz, 1999).

That perceived coping efficacy mediates the impact of work demands on occupational stress is replicated in diverse invidualistically oriented social systems cited above, including Germany, Netherlands, Spain, and the United

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States at the level of both perceived individual and collective efficacy. What is experienced as an occupational stressor also depends on the level of per- ceived efficacy in the collectivistically oriented Japanese culture (Matsui & Onglatco, 1992). Japanese women employees who have a low sense of coping efficacy are stressed by heavy work demands and role responsibilities. Those with a high sense of efficacy are frustrated and stressed by limited opportunities to make full use of their talents.

So far the cross-cultural generalisability of social cognitive theory has been evaluated in terms of its explanatory power and its predictive power. The power of the theory to effect society-wide changes in diverse cultural milieus provides a third way of gauging generalisability. Mass media dramat- isations founded on social cognitive theory are being used to reduce the most urgent global problems, namely, the burgeoning population growth. Global applications of televised sociocognitive serials have proven successful in raising viewers’ perceived efficacy to determine their family size, increasing approval of family planning, enhancing the agentic status of women, and increasing use of family planning services and contraceptive methods in Africa, Asia, and Latin America alike (Bandura, 2002; Vaughan, Rogers, Singhal, & Swalehe, 2000). These numerous global applications speak to the operative generalisability of social cognitive theory.

SOCIAL COGNITIVE THEORY IN DEVELOPMENTAL CULTURAL CONTEXT

Another line of research into the cross-cultural generalisability of social cognitive theory examines the origin, structure, and function of perceived self-efficacy and other sociocognitive determinants in child development. One such research examined the cultural embeddedness and structure of children’s perceived self-efficacy in Italy, Poland, and Hungary (Pastorelli, Caprara, Barbaranelli, Rola, Rorza, & Bandura, 2001). Although these soci- eties represent quite different sociocultural systems, the factor structure of children’s self-efficacy beliefs was essentially replicated. These factors include perceived efficacy to regulate one’s own learning activities and master academic coursework; perceived social efficacy to develop and manage interpersonal relationships; and perceived self-regulatory efficacy to resist peer pressure to engage in detrimental activities. Moreover, children in the collectivistically oriented Korean culture exhibit the same structure of per- ceived self-efficacy (Kwak & Bandura, 1997).

Although the factor structure is comparable, the different forms of per- ceived self-efficacy play out differently in the different cultural milieus. Chil- dren from the various countries have an equivalent level of efficacy to master academic subjects, but those from countries with authoritarian educational systems have a lower sense of efficacy to take charge of their own learning.

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A low sense of efficacy to regulate one’s own motivation and learning act- ivities bears importantly on intellectual self-development. A major goal of education is to equip students with the intellectual tools and self-regulatory capabilities to educate themselves throughout their lifetime. Evolving educa- tional technologies and the rapid pace of informational change are placing a premium on perceived efficacy for self-regulated learning.

In the socially oriented Italian culture, children judge themselves more socially efficacious than their counterparts in the Eastern European societies of Poland and Hungary. There are significant gender differences in per- ceived efficacy which are replicated cross-nationally. In all three societies, girls have a higher sense of efficacy for academic activities and to resist peer pressure to engage in transgressive activities.

Not only is the structure of efficacy beliefs comparable cross-culturally, but so are their functional properties. In the more individualistically oriented American social system, perceived self-efficacy to regulate one’s learning and master academic activities is a good predictor of academic aspirations and level of academic achievement after controlling for prior achievement (Pajares, 1996; Pajares & Miller, 1994; Schunk, 1989; Zimmerman & Bandura, 1994; Zimmerman, Bandura, & Martinez-Pons, 1992). Belief in one’s aca- demic efficacy serves a similar function in academic attainments in Chinese, German, Italian, and Korean cultures (Bandura, Barbaranelli, Caprara, & Pastorelli, 1996b; Bong, 2001, in press; Joo, Bong, & Choi, 2000; Mayer & Kim, 2000; Shih & Alexander, 2000). The cross-cultural comparability of function is evident as well in the impact of efficacy belief on perceived occu- pational efficacy and career choice and development (Bandura, Barbaranelli, Caprara, & Pastorelli, 2001; Lent, Brown, & Larkin, 1986, 1987).

Perceived self-efficacy to manage one’s academic activities not only oper- ates similarly in the Korean culture as an enhancer of academic attainment, but even its mediating function is replicated cross-culturally (Park, Kim, Chung, Lee, Kwon, & Yang, 2000). Social support has been shown to enhance psychosocial functioning. However, mediational analysis across diverse spheres of functioning reveals that it does so only indirectly to the extent that it raises perceived self-efficacy to manage environmental demands (Benight, Swift, Sanger, Smith, & Zeppelin, 1999; Cheung & Sun, 2000; Cutrona & Troutman, 1986; Duncan & McAuley, 1993; Major, Mueller, & Hilde- brandt, 1985).

Park and her associates (Park et al., 2000) examined the causal struc- ture involving different sources of social support, perceived academic self- efficacy, life satisfaction, and academic achievement in Korean children at different age levels. In accord with the functional relations reported in studies in the American milieu, the impact of social support on academic achievement is entirely mediated through perceived self-efficacy. Social support raises perceived efficacy which, in turn, is accompanied by higher

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academic achievement and greater satisfaction with one’s home and school life. At the elementary school level, maternal, paternal, teacher, and peer support all contribute to children’s perceived academic efficacy. At the middle and high school levels, teachers’ support fades from the picture, the contribution of maternal support declines and that of paternal support increases. That latter finding reflects the growing role of the father as ado- lescents prepare for their occupational development. Although the relative weights of the different enabling supportive influences change with age, perceived self-efficacy retains its mediating predictive value throughout the age span. Research by Cheung and Sun (2000) in Hong Kong further verifies the generalisability of the sociocognitive causal structure at the adult level in a markedly different adaptational domain. The ameliorative effect of social support on anxiety and depression is entirely mediated through enhancement of perceived self-efficacy.

Replicability of social cognitive determinants across both individualistic and collectivistic cultures is similarly verified in a markedly different sphere of functioning, namely the exercise of moral agency. Psychological theories of morality have traditionally focused heavily on the formal character of moral reasoning to the neglect of moral conduct. A complete theory of moral agency must link moral knowledge and reasoning to moral conduct. This requires an agentic theory of morality rather than one confined mainly to cognitions about morality. In the social cognitive theory of the moral self (Bandura, 1991, 1999) moral reasoning is linked to moral conduct through self-regulatory mechanisms by which moral agency is exercised. It is one thing to possess self-regulatory skills but another to stick with them in the face of compelling inducements to behave otherwise. A strong sense of self- regulatory efficacy provides the necessary restraining power.

In the development of a moral self, individuals construct standards of right and wrong that serve as guides and deterrents for conduct. They regu- late their actions by the consequences they apply to themselves. They do things that give them satisfaction and a sense of self-worth. They refrain from behaving in ways that violate their moral standards, because such conduct will bring self-condemnation. Moral standards do not function as fixed internal regulators of conduct, however. There are several psycholo- gical mechanisms by which moral self-sanctions can be selectively disengaged from inhumane conduct. Selective activation and disengagement of self- sanctions permit different types of conduct by persons with the same moral standards. The moral disengagement may center on the cognitive restructur- ing of inhumane conduct into a benign or worthy one by moral justification, sanitising language and advantageous comparison; disavowal of a sense of personal agency for the harm caused by diffusion or displacement of respons- ibility; disregarding or minimising the injurious effects of one’s actions; and attributing blame to, and dehumanising those who are victimised.

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Children of weak self-regulatory efficacy and who are facile moral dis- engagers show high engagement in antisocial conduct regardless of whether they reside in an individualistically oriented or collectivistically oriented cul- ture (Bandura, Barbaranelli, Caprara, & Pastorelli, 1996a; Bandura, Caprara, Barbaranelli, Pastorelli, & Regalia, 2001; Kwak & Bandura, 1997). Facile moral disengagement fosters aggressive conduct similarly in these two types of societies.

GROWING INTERCULTURAL COMMONALITIES THROUGH GLOBALISATION AND PLURALISATION OF SOCIETIES

Cultures are no longer insular. Transnational interdependencies and global market forces are restructuring national economies and shaping the political and social life of societies (Keohane, 1993; Keohane & Nye, 1977). Because of extensive global interconnectedness the actions of forces operating remotely now produce local effects. What happens economically and politically in one part of the world can affect the lives of vast populations elsewhere. Under the new realities of growing transnational influence, nation states seek to increase their controlling leverage by merging into larger functional units. For example, the nations of Western Europe formed the European Union to exercise greater control over their economic life. Other nation states will similarly be forced to merge into larger blocs; otherwise, they will have little bargaining power in transnational relations. However, the regional marriages do not come without a price. Paradoxically, to gain international control, nations have to negotiate reciprocal pacts that place some constraints on how they can conduct their national affairs and alter their traditional ways of life (Keohane, 1993). Imposed constraints generate fragmenting internal societal disputes between those who are adversely affected by the accords and those who benefit from them.

Some of the transnational market forces may erode or undermine valued cultural aspects of life when they are disregarded or considered detractors from profitability. Social bonds and common commitments that lack market- ability are especially vulnerable to erosion by market forces.

Telecommunications technologies also contribute to a new collective consciousness. Ideas, values, and styles of behavior are being transmitted transnationally at an unprecedented rate. Although these symbolic environ- ments feeding off communication satellites have not created a transnational culture, they are producing intercultural commonalities in certain lifestyle elements. Continued cultural cross-fertilisation may foster a more extensive globalisation of culture. The dawning of the electronic era in this third millennium underscores the growing role of electronic acculturation in people’s lives. With further development of the Internet world, people will be even more heavily embedded in global symbolic environments.

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People worldwide are becoming increasingly enmeshed in a cyberworld that transcends time, distance and place, and national borders. By enabling individuals to transcend their environment, these information technologies are placing a premium on the exercise of personal agency. For example, students can now exercise substantial personal control over their own learning. In the past, their educational development was dependent on the schools to which they were assigned. Students now have the best libraries, museums, and multimedia instruction at their fingertips through the global Internet for educating themselves independently of time and place. Through interactive electronic networking, people link together in dispersed locales, exchange information, share new ideas, and work collaboratively on matters of mutual interest (Robey, Khoo, & Powers, 2000). Worldwide connectivity is shrinking cross-cultural uniqueness.

In organisational life many activities are increasingly performed by mem- bers of virtual teams working together from scattered locations in different cultural milieus through computer-mediated transactions. Working remotely across time, space, and varied cultural orientations can be taxing. Employees with high perceived efficacy for remotely conducted collaboration have more positive work attitudes and achieve higher group job performances than those of low perceived efficacy (Staples, Hulland, & Higgins, 1998).

In addition, mass transnational migrations of people seeking a better life, ethnic intermarriages, and high global mobility of entertainers, athletes, journalists, academics, and employees of multinational corporations with more cosmopolitan orientations are changing cultural landscapes. This intermixing creates new hybrid cultural forms blending elements from dif- ferent ethnicities. Members of societies with enduring ties to ethnic heritages and homelands add further intracultural diversity. In short, globalisation is homogenising some aspects of life, polarising other aspects, and fostering a lot of cultural hybridisation (Holton, 2000). Growing ethnic diversity accords functional value to bicultural efficacy to navigate the demands of both one’s own ethnic subculture and that of the larger society. Efforts to build a new life elsewhere run up against untold stressors, especially when migrations involve radical changes in sociocultural customs and lifestyle patterns. Migrants who are assured of their coping efficacy feel challenged rather than threatened by the impediments to a new life (Jerusalem & Mittag, 1995). Beliefs of per- sonal efficacy enhance successful migratory adaptation.

These new realities call for broadening the scope of cross-cultural analyses beyond the focus on the social forces operating within the boundaries of given societies to the forces impinging upon them from abroad. With growing international embeddedness and interdependence of societies, and enmesh- ment in the Internet symbolic culture, the issues of interest center on how national and global forces interact to shape the nature of cultural life. Although globalisation is changing the power relations of nation states, it

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has not rendered them irrelevant (Lie, 1996). Transnational systems still have to operate through national institutional frameworks, human resources, and operational infrastructures. It is not as though there is little or nothing nations can do about transnational forces. As globalisation reaches ever deeper into people’s lives, a strong sense of collective efficacy to make trans- national systems work for them becomes critical to furthering their common interests and welfare.

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