This article provides a critical analysis of Albert Bandura's 1963 paper, "Imitation of Film-Mediated Aggressive Models", which established social learning theory as an explanation for aggressive behavior. It summarizes Bandura's classic "Bobo doll" experiment and the foundations of social learning theory. While praising Bandura's influential work, it also notes shortcomings of the early study. Finally, it explores applications of social learning theory to factors like race, gender, and age, and the theory's importance in understanding human aggression.
Naïve Realism, a Social Misconception that Divides Us and Them: The Case of Y...inventionjournals
The current study explores the common social misconception of naïve realism which has relentlessly
divided people and obstructed resolution of human conflicts. The three underlying assumptions of naïve realism
inform us that opposing parties hold different construal which leads to different behaviors; the parities tend to
polarize construal differences between us and them; and people attribute subjective ideological bias to
opponent‟s viewpoint or behavior. The current study tests the theoretical assumptions on a controversial
international political issue of Japanese leaders‟ visits to the Yasukuni shrine. The findings have partially
supported the underlying assumptions of naïve realism and further testified the power of naïve realism as a
social misconception in deepening intergroup bias and broadening perceived disparity between groups.
However, the study results have also provided support for the caveat of naïve realism in urging people to remain
optimistic in searching for common ground between opposing parties. Although in bitter antagonism,
supporters and non-supporters of Yasukuni are in fact not so distant in their opinions on the problem of
enshrining Class-A criminals in Yasukuni which has long been deemed as the crux of the Yasukuni issue. The
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Applying a Foucauldian Power Analysis to University / Community RelationsMichael Dillon, Ed.D.
This session will demonstrate an application of Foucault’s views of power relations to analyze University / Community relationships. Participants will be able to incorporate a Foucauldian analysis of power relations to their engagement with the community as well as other interpersonal relations.
Required ResourcesText· Crapo, R. H. (2013). Cultural anthro.docxsodhi3
Required Resources
Text
· Crapo, R. H. (2013). Cultural anthropology [Electronic version]. Retrieved from https://content.ashford.edu/
· Chapter 5: Gender and Culture
· Chapter 6: Social Organization and Lifecycle
Article
· Atran, S. (2003). Genesis of suicide terrorism. Science, 299(5612), 1534-1539. Retrieved from the EBSCOhost database.
· The full-text version of this article is available through the EBSCO host database in the Ashford University Library. In this article, Atran discusses common misconceptions about terrorists, covering the research on what motivates terrorists and how to potentially defend against them. This article will assist you in your Summarize Your Sources for the Final Research Paper worksheet assignment this week.
· Becker, A. E. (2004). Television, disordered eating, and young women in Fiji: Negotiating body image and identity during rapid social change. Culture, Medicine and Psychiatry, 28(4), 533-559. Retrieved from the EBSCOhost database.
· The full-text version of this article is available through the EBSCO host database in the Ashford University Library. In this article, Becker examines the effect that the introduction of television has had upon an indigenous island culture in Fiji, particularly young women’s perceptions of the “ideal” body type. This article will assist you in your Summarize Your Sources for the Final Research Paper worksheet assignment this week.
· Duthie, L. (2005). White collars with Chinese characteristics: Global Capitalism and the formation of a social identity. Anthropology of Work Review, 26(3), 1-12. Retrieved from the AnthroSource database.
· The full-text version of this article is available through the AnthroSource host database in the Ashford University Library. In this article, Duthie discusses the emerging class of white collar workers in China due to the increasing presence of foreign-invested multinational corporations. The author explores the process of identity formation for these workers. This article will assist you in your Summarize Your Sources for the Final Research Paper worksheet assignment this week.
· Hoodfar, H. (1993). The veil in their minds and on our heads: The persistence of colonial images of Muslim women. Resources for Feminist Researchers, 22(3/4), 5-18. Retrieved from http://www.umass.edu/wost/syllabi/spring06/hoodfar.pdf
· In this article, Hoodfar discusses the many misconceptions that people have about Muslim women who wear the veil, the history of veiling, and the many Muslim cultures encompassed by this tradition. This article will assist you in your Summarize Your Sources for the Final Research Paper worksheet assignment this week.
· Jonsson, R. (2014). Boys’ anti-school culture? Narratives and school practices. Anthropology & Education Quarterly, 45(3), 276-292. Retrieved from the AnthroSource database.
· The full-text version of this article is available through the AnthroSource host database in the Ashford University Library. In this ar ...
Naïve Realism, a Social Misconception that Divides Us and Them: The Case of Y...inventionjournals
The current study explores the common social misconception of naïve realism which has relentlessly
divided people and obstructed resolution of human conflicts. The three underlying assumptions of naïve realism
inform us that opposing parties hold different construal which leads to different behaviors; the parities tend to
polarize construal differences between us and them; and people attribute subjective ideological bias to
opponent‟s viewpoint or behavior. The current study tests the theoretical assumptions on a controversial
international political issue of Japanese leaders‟ visits to the Yasukuni shrine. The findings have partially
supported the underlying assumptions of naïve realism and further testified the power of naïve realism as a
social misconception in deepening intergroup bias and broadening perceived disparity between groups.
However, the study results have also provided support for the caveat of naïve realism in urging people to remain
optimistic in searching for common ground between opposing parties. Although in bitter antagonism,
supporters and non-supporters of Yasukuni are in fact not so distant in their opinions on the problem of
enshrining Class-A criminals in Yasukuni which has long been deemed as the crux of the Yasukuni issue. The
findings also revealed that attention should be redirected to the aspect of attending to feelings of other warvictim
countries in Asia, a problem that truly polarizes supporters and non-supporters of Yasukuni
Applying a Foucauldian Power Analysis to University / Community RelationsMichael Dillon, Ed.D.
This session will demonstrate an application of Foucault’s views of power relations to analyze University / Community relationships. Participants will be able to incorporate a Foucauldian analysis of power relations to their engagement with the community as well as other interpersonal relations.
Required ResourcesText· Crapo, R. H. (2013). Cultural anthro.docxsodhi3
Required Resources
Text
· Crapo, R. H. (2013). Cultural anthropology [Electronic version]. Retrieved from https://content.ashford.edu/
· Chapter 5: Gender and Culture
· Chapter 6: Social Organization and Lifecycle
Article
· Atran, S. (2003). Genesis of suicide terrorism. Science, 299(5612), 1534-1539. Retrieved from the EBSCOhost database.
· The full-text version of this article is available through the EBSCO host database in the Ashford University Library. In this article, Atran discusses common misconceptions about terrorists, covering the research on what motivates terrorists and how to potentially defend against them. This article will assist you in your Summarize Your Sources for the Final Research Paper worksheet assignment this week.
· Becker, A. E. (2004). Television, disordered eating, and young women in Fiji: Negotiating body image and identity during rapid social change. Culture, Medicine and Psychiatry, 28(4), 533-559. Retrieved from the EBSCOhost database.
· The full-text version of this article is available through the EBSCO host database in the Ashford University Library. In this article, Becker examines the effect that the introduction of television has had upon an indigenous island culture in Fiji, particularly young women’s perceptions of the “ideal” body type. This article will assist you in your Summarize Your Sources for the Final Research Paper worksheet assignment this week.
· Duthie, L. (2005). White collars with Chinese characteristics: Global Capitalism and the formation of a social identity. Anthropology of Work Review, 26(3), 1-12. Retrieved from the AnthroSource database.
· The full-text version of this article is available through the AnthroSource host database in the Ashford University Library. In this article, Duthie discusses the emerging class of white collar workers in China due to the increasing presence of foreign-invested multinational corporations. The author explores the process of identity formation for these workers. This article will assist you in your Summarize Your Sources for the Final Research Paper worksheet assignment this week.
· Hoodfar, H. (1993). The veil in their minds and on our heads: The persistence of colonial images of Muslim women. Resources for Feminist Researchers, 22(3/4), 5-18. Retrieved from http://www.umass.edu/wost/syllabi/spring06/hoodfar.pdf
· In this article, Hoodfar discusses the many misconceptions that people have about Muslim women who wear the veil, the history of veiling, and the many Muslim cultures encompassed by this tradition. This article will assist you in your Summarize Your Sources for the Final Research Paper worksheet assignment this week.
· Jonsson, R. (2014). Boys’ anti-school culture? Narratives and school practices. Anthropology & Education Quarterly, 45(3), 276-292. Retrieved from the AnthroSource database.
· The full-text version of this article is available through the AnthroSource host database in the Ashford University Library. In this ar ...
Essay (max. 2500 words, plus tables and figures) Students choose .docxmealsdeidre
Essay: (max. 2500 words, plus tables and figures) Students choose
TWO
extended case studies and will write an essay comparing and critically evaluating their ethical challenges and the strategies used to minimize or guard against harmful results. The essay must address the following issues:
What ethical principles are at issue in each case? Provide and justify specific examples.
What strategies were used to insure the standards of ethical research?
Were those strategies successful? How and why?
What alternate strategies might also have been used to achieve the same or better results?
Which case study represents a better implementation of research ethics? How and why?
The two studies should have something in common: A similar topic, the method, the same ethical principles or conflict. They should also differ in the way that they addressed the ethical issues in question. Be sure to make both the similarities and differences clear to the reader. Your essay will consist of a careful, point-by-point contrast of the two cases. It should link the cases to commonly held standards of research ethics and discuss the extent to which those were followed. You should discuss the ethical, practical, and political consequences of these cases for the researchers, participants, and the social groups represented therein. And you should connect these cases to other examples of social research and implementation we have discussed.
Here is a list of the extended case studies for you to choose your two studies from. You should get the complete article for each study (go to library or use PsychInfo) so you will have detailed and complete information to address each of the five issues listed above.
NOTE:
Milgram's notorious Obedience to Authority experiments are hereby officially banned from this assignment because they have been used so extensively throughout this and many other discussions on this topic. Part of this assignment is to show understanding of the principles in this course well enough to apply them to new research studies.
The Tea-Room Trade (Humphreys 1975)
Humphreys took a participant-observer role as "watch queen" in order to study anonymous male homosexual activities in St. Louis's Forest Park public restrooms. He followed the "Johns" to their cars and recorded their license numbers. Humphreys then posed as a market researcher to obtain their addresses from police registers.
About a year later, he disguised himself and gained entry to their homes by pretending to do a health survey - including questions about sexual activity. Participants were never informed of their participation in a study or given the opportunity to withdraw.
Tuskegee Syphilis Studies (various authors, 1930s - 1970s)
In 1932, the US Public Health Service began a longitudinal study that came to be called the "Tuskegee Study of Untreated Syphilis in the Negro Male." Black men in Macon County, Alabama were recruited by circulating word in the community that they could receive fre.
June 3, 2024 Anti-Semitism Letter Sent to MIT President Kornbluth and MIT Cor...Levi Shapiro
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Dear Dr. Kornbluth and Mr. Gorenberg,
The US House of Representatives is deeply concerned by ongoing and pervasive acts of antisemitic
harassment and intimidation at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Failing to act decisively to ensure a safe learning environment for all students would be a grave dereliction of your responsibilities as President of MIT and Chair of the MIT Corporation.
This Congress will not stand idly by and allow an environment hostile to Jewish students to persist. The House believes that your institution is in violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, and the inability or
unwillingness to rectify this violation through action requires accountability.
Postsecondary education is a unique opportunity for students to learn and have their ideas and beliefs challenged. However, universities receiving hundreds of millions of federal funds annually have denied
students that opportunity and have been hijacked to become venues for the promotion of terrorism, antisemitic harassment and intimidation, unlawful encampments, and in some cases, assaults and riots.
The House of Representatives will not countenance the use of federal funds to indoctrinate students into hateful, antisemitic, anti-American supporters of terrorism. Investigations into campus antisemitism by the Committee on Education and the Workforce and the Committee on Ways and Means have been expanded into a Congress-wide probe across all relevant jurisdictions to address this national crisis. The undersigned Committees will conduct oversight into the use of federal funds at MIT and its learning environment under authorities granted to each Committee.
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• The Committee on Oversight and Accountability is investigating the sources of funding and other support flowing to groups espousing pro-Hamas propaganda and engaged in antisemitic harassment and intimidation of students. The Committee on Oversight and Accountability is the principal oversight committee of the US House of Representatives and has broad authority to investigate “any matter” at “any time” under House Rule X.
• The Committee on Ways and Means has been investigating several universities since November 15, 2023, when the Committee held a hearing entitled From Ivory Towers to Dark Corners: Investigating the Nexus Between Antisemitism, Tax-Exempt Universities, and Terror Financing. The Committee followed the hearing with letters to those institutions on January 10, 202
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What ethical principles are at issue in each case? Provide and justify specific examples.
What strategies were used to insure the standards of ethical research?
Were those strategies successful? How and why?
What alternate strategies might also have been used to achieve the same or better results?
Which case study represents a better implementation of research ethics? How and why?
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This Congress will not stand idly by and allow an environment hostile to Jewish students to persist. The House believes that your institution is in violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, and the inability or
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Postsecondary education is a unique opportunity for students to learn and have their ideas and beliefs challenged. However, universities receiving hundreds of millions of federal funds annually have denied
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1.4 modern child centered education - mahatma gandhi-2.pptx
Karen Hart & William Allan Kritsonis, PhD
1. NATIONAL FORUM OF APPLIED EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH JOURNAL
VOLUME 20, NUMBER 3, 2006
Critical Analysis of an Original Writing on Social Learning
Theory: Imitation of Film-Mediated Aggressive Models
By: Albert Bandura, Dorothea Ross and Sheila A. Ross
(1963)
Karen E. Hart William Allan Kritsonis
PhD Student Professor
Clinical Adolescent Psychology PhD Program in Educational Leadership
College of Juvenile Justice and Psychology Prairie View A&M University
Prairie View A&M University Member of the Texas A&M University System
Fulbright Scholar Visiting Lecturer (2005)
Oxford Round Table
University of Oxford, Oxford, England
Distinguished Alumnus (2004)
Central Washington University
College of Education and Professional Studies
ABSTRACT
This article provides a critical analysis of the 1963 paper by Albert Bandura and two
colleagues titled Imitation of Film-Mediated Aggressive Models, which espoused the Social
Learning paradigm as an explanation for aggression behavior. This critique of that
document summarizes the foundation on which that theory is built and its classic ‘Bobo
Doll’ experiment. In addition to lauding the merits of Bandura’s work, readers will learn of
the shortcomings of that early study. Finally, the various areas to which the Social
Learning theory can be applied will be elucidated with special emphasis on race/ethnicity,
gender and age distinctions.
1
2. NATIONAL FORUM OF APPLIED EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH JOURNAL
2________________________________________________________________________________________
Introduction
Daily, the news media abounds in its account of tragic misuses of human socialization.
Waging wars, tactical terrorism, horrific homicides and aggressive assaults have now become a
little to close for the average viewer’s comfort. Given humanity’s history of such atrocities, one
ruefully thinks that violence would have plateaued or, at the very least, been denounced by all as
repulsive and subsequently avoided. However after major onslaughts such as World War II, the
Holocaust as well as the current Jihads in the Middle East that rage in Africa and Europe, the
minds of academicians and laymen alike are piqued with interest about the ‘how and why’ of
mankind’s propensity aggressive behaviors.
Purpose of the Article
The purpose of this article is to provide readers with a critical analysis of the 1963 paper
by Albert Bandura and two colleagues titled Imitation of Film-Mediated Aggressive Models,
which espoused the Social Learning paradigm as an explanation for aggression behavior. This
critique of that document summarizes the foundation on which that theory is built and its classic
‘Bobo Doll’ experiment. In addition to lauding the merits of Bandura’s work, readers will learn
of the shortcomings of that early study. Finally, the various areas to which the Social Learning
theory can be applied will be elucidated with special emphasis on race/ethnicity, gender and age
distinctions.
History of Social Learning Theory
The answer to the question of mankind’s propensity aggressive behaviors began with the
prolific research and publications of Albert Bandura, a soon to be renowned neo-behaviorist. His
emergence on the field of Psychology in the mid 1950s sparked insight about the genesis of
aggression. Bandura’s humble beginnings in a northern Canadian farming community was in no
way predictive of the ongoing harvest of theoretical offshoots, behavioral
intervention/management techniques and community redefinition projects that his (then novel)
concept of Social Learning theory would have reaped over the years.
3. KAREN E. HART AND WILLIAM ALLAN KRITSONIS
_________________________________________________________________________________________3
Acquisition of Behavioral Repertoires
According to Bandura’s postulation, individuals acquire aggressive responses using the
same mechanism that they do for other complex forms of social behavior: direct experience or
the observation-modeling of others. Aggression was defined by Bandura (1978) as intentional
causal behavior that results in injury to a person or the destruction of property. Bandura was
adamant in his assertion that a theory of aggression is only complete when it explains how
aggressive patterns develop, identifies what provoked the action, and pinpoints what sustains it.
He went further to advocate that forms of learning, which were previously thought to be tied to
direct experiences, could also be garnered vicariously by observing the behavior of others and
the ensuing consequences. It was this condensed form of learning was critical for survival and
development (Bandura, 1978).
Social Learning theory is built on several assumptions: firstly aggression must be learned;
secondly via observing a model the learning of actions transpires; and thirdly symbolic modeling
via the media facilitates the social diffusion of ideas, values and behaviors occurs (Eyal & Rubin,
2003). Hogben and Byrne (1998) concur with this and highlight the importance of the family,
subculture and mass media as sources of social learning in the absence of objectively
quantifiable rewards. From these learning is an inevitable outcome of behaviors that are
repeated, realistically portrayed, distinct, functional and generally more salient. The element of
reward is essential to the Social Learning theory of aggression. When a violent event is
repeatedly met with some type of reinforcement (e. g. social approval, pleasantries, etc), the
observer unwittingly ingests the situational factors at work in both the actor and the stage, then
later regurgitates this when similar situations arise (Eyal & Rubin, 2003).
The etiology of aggressive and violent tendencies among youth is indeed as perplexing as
it is multifaceted. Eyal & Rubin (2003) have identified three features that are essential for
vicarious learning to occur under Bandura’s Social Learning theory. They are the need for
homophily (similarity between the actor and observer), identification (the observer being able to
engage in perspective taking and share in the actor’s experience), and parasocial interaction (a
friendship/bond with the actor). However the strongest correlate to aggressive behaviors
continues to be previous exposure.
The Bobo Doll Study
The writing that serves as the premise for this critique, Imitation of Film-Mediated
Aggressive Models, is a seminal piece in Bandura’s schematic conception of vicarious learning.
That article detailed the experiment known to many as the infamous “Bobo Doll study” in which
he and two associate’s tested the hypothesis that children’s observation of aggressive models
would increase the likelihood that aggressive behaviors would be used during times of
subsequent frustration. Findings of their previous experiments had proven that children readily
4. NATIONAL FORUM OF APPLIED EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH JOURNAL
4________________________________________________________________________________________
mimicked aggressive behaviors of a live model and generalized such responses to novel settings
in the absence of that model. For this reason, Bandura and associates embarked on this research
to see whether or not the media was as effective a transmission tool for learned aggression as
were live models, and secondly to ascertain which mode of filmed aggressive portrayals (that of
human models or nonhuman cartoon characters) was a more poignant facilitator of symbolic
imitation (Bandura, 1963).
Despite the historicity of the piece, Bandura and associates are to be applauded for the
empirical veracity and futuristic promise of their findings. Using three (3) experimental groups
and a control group for 96 children, they were able to wisely control for potential intervening
factors such as gender (in both the models and observers) as well as behavioral
dispositions/personality of the participants. The researchers are also to be commended for clearly
identifying at the onset which behaviors would be considered primarily aggressive in nature as
well as imitative and non-imitative responses. Additionally, they delineated and quantified the
various forms that violence can take (physical, verbal, etc) as well as the subjects’ level of
aggression inhibition prior to experimental exposure. With these variables under close scrutiny,
this study brilliantly elucidated various factors and major principles at work in the Social
Learning theory.
Critique of the Bobo Doll Experiment
Admittedly though, the study falls short in its failure to address several threats to internal
validity that are glaring as one reads the study. These were: selection bias, history, maturation
and ambiguous temporal sequence. The subjects were selected from the nursery of Stanford
University hence their parents, given the era of the study, tended to be white, upper - middle
class and highly educated. On the surface, one may be tempted to overlook or dismiss this
observation since the results bore out Bandura’s hypothesis that film featuring human actors was
most instrumental in eliciting and shaping greater aggressive imitation among the subjects.
However, Bandura’s theory later evolved to the “Social-Cognitive model of aggression” as it
included highly sophisticated cognitive structures as explanatory devices for the acquisition and
generalization of the observed aggression. For this reason the selection of these youngsters, sired
by intellectuals, becomes an even weightier matter. Additionally, the racial and ethnic
composition of the participants was never identified, yet Bandura and others have
(over)generalized these findings to explain aggression and violence among minorities and lower
socioeconomic communities.
Although the timeframe spanned by the research was never formally cited, by the
authors’ own admission, data for subjects in the real life aggression and control group conditions
came from their 1961 study. This bears heavily on the threats to internal validity of history as
well as maturation (of the participants). Events occurring concurrently with the experiment, in
addition to those occurring naturally as a part of their aging process, could easily have been
confused with observations/results of the 1963 study. Hence, one may concede to the threat of
5. KAREN E. HART AND WILLIAM ALLAN KRITSONIS
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ambiguous temporal sequence since the lack of clarification as to which variables/conditions
occurred first causes confusion as per the true cause(s) and effect(s).
Social Learning Theory Applied
Nevertheless, Bandura’s theory of the Social Learning of aggression has proven
immensely useful in understanding the variations of human aggression. Bandura’s research on
Social/Cognitive Learning theory has been applied to numerous social problems such as
adolescent contraception, coercive sexual behavior, HIV-AIDS transmission and predatorial
crime. On the premise that these behaviors may be purposively enacted without it ever having
been directly reinforced, Hogben and Byrne (1998) remind us that cognitive elements work in
creating expectancies about outcomes and these must be addressed since they serve as incentives
and reinforcements for committing such acts.
The Social Learning theory has since evolved to focus on the cognitive activities of the
observer while ingesting the message. In particular, vicarious learning from media forms (e. g.
television, computers, video games, music videos, internet sites, print, radio, commercials, etc) is
inexorably dependent on a series of mental processes including attention, retention, motor
reproduction and motivation (Bandura,1978). Proof of the role media plays in teaching
aggression lies in the fact that once the ban on television was lifted in South Africa in 1975, the
homicide rate increased by 130% (cited in Woods et al, 1998). They go on to report that one of
the most salient forms of mass media indictable for provoking aggression is music videos
because it is not only attention-getting but also emotive.
Intervention at the initial signs of aggressive responses at early ages should be a priority.
A longitudinal study from 1960 to 1982 found that when children, who at age 8, demonstrated a
positive relationship between their levels of television watching and aggression were reassessed
at ages 19 and 30 those males with the highest rates of television watching at age 8 now had a
significant history of aggression, alcohol use, abusive parental practices and convictions or
serious crimes (cited in Rich, Woods, Goodman, Emans and DuRant, 1998). Given the
underdeveloped frontal lobe of children, they are unable to distinguish between fantasy and
reality. For this reason they are very susceptible to unwittingly adopting media portrayals as
reality and generalizing those behaviors, attitudes and circumstances presented in the media
(Bar-on, Broughton, Buttross, Corrigan, et al, 2001).
As one examines the racial and gender implications for the aggression that the media
incites, it gives one cause for concern. All too often, black males are depicted as the aggressor in
the media but it is at a rate that is twice the actual frequency and exceeds this group’s actual
representation in America’s population. White females are also overrepresented as victims which
can lead to desensitization among male viewers to violence against women as well as a declining
sense of empowerment among women. This potential effect can be even more alarming when
one considers that adolescents, who at the peak of forming their normative experiences, tend to
be the major consumers of media products (Woods et al, 1998).
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Any discourse on aggression would be incomplete without an examination of the gender
differences. Petersen and Davies (1997) endorse numerous sources which assert that males and
females are differentially engineered in their preparedness to learn violence which results in
lower rates of aggression among women. Among the various reasons for this is the fact that a
female’s size and strength puts her in a position where acts of aggression are usually not
reinforced with successful outcomes. Yet another is that boys and girls are socialized differently;
females are reared to engage in caring/close interpersonal relationships while the male role has
an inherent rough/aggressive script that must be enacted or he risks losing machismo. They
further suggest that females exhibit aggression in less physical ways such as name calling,
defamation, snubbing, etc. Carlo, Raffaelli, Laible and Meyer (1999) support the Peterson and
Davies research and found that females rank higher on sympathy which has been proven to be an
inhibitor of aggression. They further delineated sympathy into empathic concern (feeling the
concern for one in need) and perspective taking (being able to understand the viewpoint of
another).
Bar-on et al (2001) offer a plausible explanation for the continual escalation of violence
even among those who previously did not demonstrate aggressive predispositions. In the wake of
the media’s embellishment of the prevalence of violence, society may now have fallen prey to
the ‘mean world syndrome’. Arising from this phobia is the unrealistic perception that society is
a dangerous place; this motivates persons to carry weapons or be the initiators of aggression
before they themselves are aggressed. The recent advent of interactive video games has also been
met with much concern as they offer children repetitive exposure to violent behavioral scripts
with semi-realistic rewards for aggression (e. g. points, advance standing, cash, etc). Bandura’s
1963 study underscores the role that reinforcement plays in increasing the learning effect.
Research is still underway as per the long term effects this can have on a youth’s lifetime
behavioral repertoire and his/her subsequent enactments when faced with similar situations or
other wise frustrated. However early evidence shows that it promotes a desensitization to the
pain of others, the development of increased feelings of hostility, the expectation that others will
behave aggressively, and the likelihood that one will respond to others with violence (Bar-on et
al, 2001).
Concluding Remarks
In conclusion, children learn behavioral patterns and scripts which can be developed via
tangible experiences or vicarious learning. The goal of this article is to highlight the immense
contribution that Bandura’s early work played to our understanding of how one learns aggression
behaviors. Since his Bobo Doll experiment on the effects of film portrayals of aggressive for
eliciting/shaping the behavior of youngsters, there has been a plethora of research in this area.
Social scientists and laymen alike are indebted to Bandura for his innovation and
forethought in the development and continual refining of the social learning theory of aggression.
However by reading Bandura et al’s original writings and those of others cited in this paper,
readers have no doubt become aware that research needs to be done on imitating media
7. KAREN E. HART AND WILLIAM ALLAN KRITSONIS
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presentations of the corollary of aggression: pro-social behaviors. One begins to wonder if there
indeed too few examples of this type of behavior in the media to merit investigation or if there is
an obsession with the problem rather than seeking prospective solutions.
References
Bandura, A. (1978). Social learning theory of aggression. Journal of Communication, 28(3), 12-
28.
Bandura, A., Ross, D. & Ross, S. A. (1963). Imitation of film-mediated aggressive models. In
Cornerstones of Psychology-Readings in the History of Psychology by R. John Huber,
Cynthia Edwards and David Henning Bownton (Eds.). Thomson Learning Inc.: Asia, pp
215-227.
Bar-on, M. E., Broughton, D. D., Buttross, S., Corrigan S., et al (2001). Media violence.
Pediatrics, 108(5), 1222-1226.
Carlo, G., Raffaelli, M., Laible, D. J. & Meyer, K. A. (1999). Why are girls less physically
aggressive than boys? Personality and parenting mediators in physical aggression. Sex
Roles, 40(9/10), 711-729.
Eyal, K. & Rubin, A. M. (2003). Viewer aggression and homophily: Identification, and
parasocial relationships with television characters. Journal of Broadcasting and
Electronic Media, 47(1), 77-98.
Hogben, M & Byrne, D. (1998). Using social learning theory to explain individual differences in
human sexuality. The Journal of Sex Research, 35(1), 58-71.
Petersen, A. & Davies, D. (1997). Psychology and the social construction of sex differences in
theories of aggression. Journal of Gender Studies, 6(3), 309-320.
Rich, M., Woods, E. R., Goodman, E., Emans, S. J. & DuRant, R. H. (1998). Aggressors or
victims: Gender and race in music video violence. Pediatrics, 101(4), 669-674.
Formatted by Dr. Mary Alice Kritsonis, National Research and Manuscript Preparation Editor,
NATIONAL FORUM JOURNALS, Houston, Texas. www.nationalforum.com