The DOI matches its Crossref record; 17 of the 17 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Social cognitive theory and physical activity: Mechanisms of behavior change, critique, and legacy
Abstract
Objectives: With a view to understanding and explaining human behavior, Bandura developed social cognitive theory (SCT; 1986, 2001). This theory articulates the causal mechanisms through which efficacy beliefs, outcome expectations, sociostructural factors, and goals influence behavior. The purpose of this review is to critically appraise the current state of knowledge in the physical activity domain, as it relates to the core tenets of Bandura's SCT, and in particular those aspects of the theory that have received less attention. Method: A state‐of‐the‐art review. Results and conclusions: The review highlights five major critiques and contentions related to SCT, and also provides an overview of the legacy of this framework within the physical activity domain. Implications for theory refinement, future research, and knowledge mobilization are discussed. HighlightsSocial Cognitive Theory (SCT) represents a parsimonious model to understand physical activity.Most research that has used SCT has focused on the self‐efficacy construct.Some important critiques of SCT have emerged in recent years. These are discussed.SCT has left a considerable legacy on the field of sport and exercise psychology.
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Cites
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Ajzen, I. (1991) · Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes · doi:10.1016/0749-5978(91)90020-t · Cited by 90,587
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“According to Bandura (1997) efficacy beliefs are key to human agency, with self-efficacy theory (Bandura, 1977a, 1997) representing the primary sub-theory of SCT, that itself explicates both the structure and causal sources of those efficacy beliefs.”
BackgroundInfluentialMichie, S., van Stralen, M. M., & West, R. (2011) · Implementation Science · doi:10.1186/1748-5908-6-42 · Cited by 13,697
A typology of reviews: an analysis of 14 review types and associated methodologies
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Health promotion from the perspective of Social Cognitive Theory
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Cited by
Changing Behavior Using the Model of Action Phases
Keller, L., Gollwitzer, P. M., & Sheeran, P. (2020) · The Handbook of Behavior Change · doi:10.1017/9781108677318.006 · Cited by 147
How valid is bandura's social cognitive theory to explain physical activity behavior?
Egele, V. S., Klopp, E., & Stark, R. (2025) · European Journal of Investigation in Health Psychology and Education · doi:10.3390/ejihpe15020020 · Cited by 30
Teng, D., Zhou, X., Al‐Samarraie, H., & Fang, L. (2026) · Journal of Computer Assisted Learning · doi:10.1002/jcal.70176 · Cited by 10
Metadata
- Authors
- Beauchamp, M. R., Crawford, K. L., & Jackson, B.
- Venue
- Psychology of Sport and Exercise
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2019-05
- Volume
- 42
- Pages
- 110-117
- ISSN
- 1469-0292 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2901132890
- Cited by
- 312
- References
- 17
- FWCI
- 26.71
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
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Contains information from the Semantic Scholar Academic Graph Datasets, made available under the ODC Attribution License (ODC-BY 1.0).
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