Reciprocal determinism is a key term developed by Albert Bandura, best known for his psychological work in the area of social cognitive theory. The term refers to a model postulated by Bandura that demonstrates the environment of individual interaction. It incorporates some ideas from behaviorism, but emphasizes the notion that the environment is not the only thing that influences behavior. On the other hand, people are influenced by their own beliefs, thoughts, ideas and also by the environment, but they also influence the functioning of the environment through their behavior and attitudes; There is communication back and forth between the inner self, the action, and the external world.
The discussion of reciprocal determinism often uses a visual aid, drawn as a triangle. At the top of the triangle is speech, behavior, and the two corners of the triangles are described as personal and environmental factors. The arrows go back and forth between each word, showing that none of these three things is influenced solely by another factor, and the influence runs both ways. This visual representation reiterates the basic concept that humans are shaped by and shape their environment.
It can be difficult to understand reciprocal determinism without examples, and these are easy to find. A man may enter counseling because he can't hold down a job, his finances are poor, and he feels like a failure. One of his claims might be that he hates work, but someone who takes reciprocal determinism into account might wonder why.
If the man's inability to keep a job is due to poor work habits and his hatred of work, it is quite possible that he has influenced employers not to retain him as an employee. If his attitude at work was terrible, chances are no manager or boss would make it any easier and the situation would gradually get worse until the man was fired. Since external or external stimuli can influence behavior, each job could get worse, and the man's attitude would continue to be horrible, which would influence managers to dislike him. Behavior, environment (such as socioeconomic status), and man would suffer.
Fortunately, the human can study himself and get help through things like career counseling or psychotherapy to determine how to change the way he thinks and feels about work. Just as you can change personal factors, you can also change your environment. This is a reflective process and it goes back and forth, meaning that if the guy ends up with a terrible manager at his next job, it could be easy to slip back into negatively influencing behaviors.
Essentially, then, reciprocal determinism posits that there is a real possibility of change within the person, given the right help, but that a person will always be influenced by external factors as well. Behavior is a complex matter that requires multiple areas of attack if it were to change. However, this is possible with well-designed programs that take into account the importance of the person in changing the environment, and are realistic about the environment changing the person.