IMITATION OF FILM-MEDIATED AGGRESSIVE MODELS

This study investigated whether exposure to aggressive models—presented either in person, on film, or via a cartoon—would increase the likelihood of children displaying aggressive behavior when later subjected to mild frustration. The researchers sought to challenge the "catharsis theory," which suggests that viewing aggression might reduce a person's aggressive drive. Instead, they hypothesized that observing aggressive models would serve as a form of social learning, facilitating the acquisition and performance of new aggressive responses.

The researchers observed 96 children (boys and girls) from the Stanford University Nursery School. Participants were divided into three experimental groups and one control group. The experimental groups watched either a real-life adult, a film of that same adult, or a film of a cartoon character acting aggressively toward a "Bobo doll." Following this exposure, all children were mildly frustrated by being told they could not play with a set of attractive toys, and were then moved to a test room containing both aggressive and non-aggressive toys to measure their behavior.

The results provided strong evidence that film-mediated aggression significantly increases the probability of aggressive behavior in children. Children who viewed the aggressive models—regardless of whether they were real-life, filmed humans, or cartoons—exhibited significantly more imitative and non-imitative aggression than the control group. Notably, the study found that children often reproduced the specific, novel aggressive acts they had observed, such as hitting the doll with a mallet or using specific verbal phrases.

Furthermore, the study revealed that the sex of the child and the sex of the model played a role in the expression of aggression. Boys generally displayed more physical aggression than girls, and the influence of the model was often stronger when the model was of the same sex as the child. The findings suggest that mass media, particularly television, acts as a powerful source of social learning, shaping the form that aggressive behavior takes in children.

This research is a foundational piece in the study of media effects on human behavior. It demonstrates that children can learn complex, aggressive patterns of behavior through observation alone, without the need for direct reinforcement. By showing that even cartoon characters can serve as influential models, the study highlights the potential for media to shape social behavior and suggests that exposure to aggressive content can lower the threshold for aggression in children when they encounter future frustrations.