Week 4 Social Psychology
Social Learning Theory of Aggression argues that people acquire certain behavior through observation and direct experience of punishments and rewards (Kassin, Fein & Markus, 2017). For example, there are some concerns among teachers, parents, and society about children exposed to video games or who play violent video games and watch aggressive films since they may engage in aggressive behaviors learned from such contents. Children learn by observing the behaviors of characters in violent video games and films. Coyne et al. (2017) conducted a longitudinal study to examine the relationships between media content (superhero engagement) and various prosocial, aggressive, and defending behaviors in preschool children. The study discovered that preschoolers’ engagement with aggressive media contents such as Superheros was associated with increased relational and physical aggression. However, it was not related to any defending or prosocial behaviors (Coyne et al., 2017). This study is relevant to the current research topic, given that preschoolers’ exposure to aggressive media content was found to be one of the risk factors for increased aggressive behaviors (Coyne et al., 2017). Indeed, violence and crime presented in various television programs and films typically help in increasingly aggressive behavior, violence or hostility, and crime among viewers to a great extent. It proves that aggressive behaviors in human beings are mostly learned through observation of what others do and imitated from the individual’s environment.
Similarly, if preschool teachers have aggressive behaviors, preschool children are likely to copy their behaviors and become aggressive. Based on Social Learning Theory, the possibilities that a particular behavior may occur in certain circumstances depending on the imitation and learning of the character in a social situation, the expected results produced by the behavior, and reinforcement value associated with those behaviors or the level of reinforcement to another. Preschool teachers and characters presented by violent films and video games act like role models to children. When they like, respect, or appreciate their model, they imitate their behaviors.
References
Coyne, S., Stockdale, L., Linder, J., Nelson, D., Collier, K., Essig, L., Coyne, S. M., Linder, J. R., Nelson, D. A., Collier, K. M., & Essig, L. W. (2017). Pow! Boom! Kablam! Effects of Viewing Superhero Programs on Aggressive, Prosocial, and Defending Behaviors in Preschool Children. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 45(8), 1523–1535. https://doi-org.db20.linccweb.org/10.1007/s10802-016-0253-6
Kassin, S., Fein, S. & Markus, H. R. (2017). Social psychology (10th Edn). Boston, MA: Cengage Learning Publishers.