Growing up in the most populated country in Africa, Lagos Nigeria, alcohol drinking has no age restriction. However, due to economic situation, religious beliefs, and various cultural background not everybody engage in binge drinking. I was mildly introduced to alcohol at the age of sixteen by my uncle who was a binge drinker. He gave me a glass of Guinness mixed with yoghurt and I experience a sweet bitter taste that was unique. This continued throughout my stay with him and I subsequently tried this later on my own which was the birth of my alcohol drinking. Social Cognitive Theory (SCT) provides a frame work for understanding, predicting and changing human behavior. (Ormrod, 2012). SCT is an interpersonal theory based on ideas that people learn by observing others and their environment. This was developed by Albert Bandura and it …show more content…
Growing up in Nigeria where there is no strict age limit for alcohol consumption, I started drinking even before the age of twenty-one. I exposed to the lifestyle where drinking alcohol was like a norm in the society this shape my behavior of drinking. However, base reciprocal determinism I can fall back on religious beliefs that totally prohibit use of alcohol to restructure my behavior about alcohol consumption. Also applying self-regulation to my target behavior, involves setting realistic goals of not drinking for two months and continuously monitoring my progress, embarking on plans to overcome the barriers that I faced within this period and allowing time for reflection and evaluation of success or failure. Another application is through vicarious learning which was based on my observation of the environment I grew up in. Drinking was seen as a way of social life as promoted by the media and was also perceived as a requirement for only strong personality. When my Uncle introduce me to drinking, at the age of sixteen, the perception was, “now am strong because I can drink and still control