COGNITION, AGENCY, AND SELF-REGULATION IN BEHAVIOR CHANGE IN BECK AND BANDURA

Abstract

Behavior change involves cognitive, agentic, and self-regulatory processes that influence how individuals interpret situations, direct their actions, and adjust their own behavior. This study aimed to analyze the contributions of Aaron Beck’s and Albert Bandura’s theoretical models to the understanding of these processes. An integrative literature review was conducted following Whittemore and Knafl, with searches in PsycINFO, PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science. Publications in Portuguese and English from 2006 to 2026 were included, along with seminal works by Beck and Bandura published before the defined period. In total, 20 publications comprised the contemporary corpus of the review, supplemented by six seminal works. The findings were organized into three axes: cognition and meaning attribution, agency and action direction, and self-regulation and maintenance of change. In Beck’s cognitive model, change is understood through the relationship among beliefs, interpretations, experiences, and emotional and behavioral responses. In Bandura’s Social Cognitive Theory, the analysis is broadened by agency, self-efficacy, goal setting, and self-regulatory processes. The synthesis showed that the models offer distinct yet articulable contributions, without implying conceptual equivalence. Behavior change can therefore be understood as a dynamic and recursive process involving situation interpretation, evaluation of possibilities and capabilities, action direction, outcome monitoring, and behavioral adjustment, without reducing change to a simple or linear causal sequence. It is concluded that the articulation among cognition, agency, and self-regulation broadens the process-based understanding of behavior change.