Stanford University’s Albert Bandura, one of the world’s most cited and renowned psychologists/researchers, died on July 26. I was especially saddened to learn this news, because I became fascinated with his work more than a decade ago, and wrote about him in my second book, Create Your Future the Peter Drucker Way. Like Drucker, also born outside the United States and based in California, Dr. Bandura died at 95. I’ve long considered him to be a Drucker-like figure, in his professional stature and influence in multiple domains.
In particular, I wrote about his work regarding two powerful concepts: self-efficacy, and spiritual modeling. In my book, I wrote the following: Self-efficacy falls within Bandura’s social cognitive theory, one of his major achievements. In an entry he wrote for the Corsini Encyclopedia of Psychology, he describes self-efficacy in this way: “Perceived self-efficacy is concerned with people’s beliefs in their ability to influence events that affect their lives. This core belief is the foundation of human motivation, performance accomplishments, and emotional well-being.”
And because self-efficacy has become such a reasonably well-known construct in academia and certain corners of the organizational world, I was struck by the fact that Bandura didn’t write a book about it for a more general, less-specialized audience. Many well-known psychologists have gone this route, such as Roy Baumeister (Willpower: Rediscovering the Greatest Human Strength), Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience), Angela Duckworth (Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance), Bandura’s Stanford colleague Carol S. Dweck (Mindset: The New Psychology of Success), Daniel Kahneman (Thinking, Fast and Slow), Ellen J. Langer (Mindfulness ), Walter Mischel (The Marshmallow Test: Mastering Self-Control), Martin Seligman (Authentic Happiness: Using the New Positive Psychology to Realize Your Potential for Lasting Fulfillment), and others.
Although I never interviewed Bandura or had any prior contact with him, in February 2014 I decided to send him an inscribed copy of Create Your Future the Peter Drucker Way, in the hopes he might find it of interest. I emailed him, not expecting a response, but I received one soon after:
“Dear Bruce,
Congratulations on the publication. Here is my mailing address:…..”
Thanks,
Albert Bandura
A little over a week later, I received a gracious email from him:
“Bruce, This is a brief note of thanks for a copy of your book. I am currently writing one that extends social cognitive theory to the exercise of moral agency with special emphasis on its selective moral disengagement; see attached.
All good wishes for brisk sales of your book.
Best wishes,
Albert Bandura”
He attached a three-page PDF describing what would become his book Moral Disengagement: How People Do Harm and Live with Themselves, published in December 2015.
Fortunately, there is a considerable amount of good biographical and interview material available online about Bandura and his work, as demonstrated by the 20 links below:
AlbertBandura.Com: Bibliography
AlbertBandura.Com: Biography Sketch
American Academy of Arts & Sciences: Professor Albert Bandura
American Psychological Association: Albert Bandura receives National Medal of Science
CBC: World-renowned psychologist from rural Alberta changed the way we think about learning
Dr. Diane Hamilton: Moral Disengagement with Dr. Albert Bandura
Edmonton Journal: Alberta-born psychology professor Albert Bandura, ‘one of the most important social scientists in history,’ dies at 95
The Health Psychologist: Professor Albert Bandura
Journey2Pscychology/Michael Gordon: The Legend of Dr. Albert Bandura
LinkedIn/Daniel Angus: Farewell to Dr Albert Bandura who died this week
macmillan learning: More than the Bobo Doll, Albert Bandura leaves an extraordinary legacy
The New York Times: Albert Bandura, Leading Psychologist of Aggression, Dies at 95
PositivePsychology.com: Albert Bandura: Self-Efficacy for Agentic Positive Psychology
Publications by Albert Bandura
The Stanford Daily: Beyond Bandura’s Bobos
Stanford Magazine: Confidence Man
Stanford University: Stanford psychology professor Albert Bandura has died
Verywellmind: Albert Bandura’s Influence on the Field of Psychology
The Washington Post: Albert Bandura, eminent psychologist known for Bobo doll experiment, dies at 95
Another area that Bandura wrote about, and personally experienced, was the effect of chance encounters on people’s lives and careers. The Stanford obituary referenced above shows how that played out for Bandura himself: “Bandura’s personal life and career path were forged by hard work coupled with a string of serendipitous events. In college he took an introductory psychology class simply because the morning class fit his schedule. Bandura became fascinated with the subject and earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of British Columbia in Vancouver in 1949, and a master’s degree in psychology in 1951 and a doctorate in clinical psychology in 1952 from the University of Iowa. During his time there, he met Virginia “Ginny” Varns of South Dakota when they happened to cross paths on the golf course. They married in 1952. Bandura joined Stanford’s Department of Psychology in 1953 and was an active faculty member there until he retired in 2010.”