Many of the studies that examine the influence of television on adolescent gender development use Bandera’s (1997) social cognitive theory as the framework for their research. Also called social learning theory, social cognitive theory is used to analyze human thought and behavior. Bandura (1977) described how most human behavior is learned through modeling which is the act of mirroring and observing others behaviors in order to form an idea of how to act in new and current situations. By observing how others interact in various situations, an individual can learn how to behave when they find themselves in a similar situation.
Bandura (1994) later explained that behaviors and attitudes are learned through a method called observational learning via four sub-functions: attentional, representational, behavioral production and motivational processes. This sequence progresses with what is selectively observed and extracted from the model, the retention of that information, the symbolic conceptions are then translated into applicable courses of action and finally the behavior is more likely to be exhibited if it results in valued outcomes (Bandura 1994). These processes of observational learning, through applying social cognitive theory, are used by various researchers to examine socialization in a broad manner as well as specifically how television can model attitudes and behaviors to audiences (Addis, Mansfield, and Sydek 2010; Howard 2012)
Morgan (1982) conducted a study that depicted social cognitive theory as it shows how adolescents can model the attitudes that they see on screen. She examined the relationship between television watching and sex role stereotypes, and found that the adolescents who were most impacted were those who were otherwise not exposed to the traditional sex role stereotypes shown. Similarly, Martino, Collins, Kanouse, Elliot and Berry (2005) used social cognitive theory to research the relationship between television watching and adolescents’ behavior. The researchers found that the watching of sexual content on television mediated the adolescents’ attitudes about sex and their sexual behaviors (Martino et al. 2005).