<![CDATA[The formation of students’ character is a fundamental challenge in the field of education that requires a strong and comprehensive theoretical foundation. This study aims to investigate the contributions of Albert Bandura’s observational learning theory and Thomas Lickona’s character value education to the process of students’ character formation, while also analyzing the similarities and differences between the two theoretical frameworks. This research employs a library research approach by combining descriptive-analytical qualitative methods; data were collected through a comprehensive review of relevant primary and secondary academic sources, and then analyzed interpretatively and comparatively in order to produce a meaningful conceptual synthesis. The findings of the study indicate that Bandura’s theory emphasizes the role of social modeling, self-efficacy, and self-regulation as the primary mechanisms in the development of character-based behavior, whereas Lickona views character as an integration of three interrelated dimensions, namely moral knowing, moral feeling, and moral action. Both theories share a fundamental similarity in viewing character formation not as a process that occurs naturally, but rather as the result of active interaction between individuals and their social environment. The main difference between the two lies in their emphasis of orientation: Bandura’s theory is more grounded in psychological-behavioral mechanisms, while Lickona’s approach is based on a holistic moral-educational perspective. The integration of these two approaches is recommended as a more comprehensive model of character education by combining the strengths of social modeling and deep value internalization, so that it may serve as a practical reference for educators in designing effective and sustainable character-building programs.]]>
