Social Learning Theory

• A strength of the social learning theory is that it can account for cultural differences in behaviour.
• For example, social learning principles can account for how children learn from other individuals around them, as well as through the media, and this can explain how cultural norms are transmitted through particular societies.
• This has proved useful in understanding a range of behaviours, such as how children come to understand their gender role.
• This strengthens both the population validity and support for the social learning theory in explaining behaviour as it can be applied across different cultures.
• A limitation of the social learning theory is that it underestimates the influence of biological factors.
• For example, a consistent finding in the Bobo doll experiments was that boys were often more aggressive than girls regardless of the specifics of the experimental situation.
• This may be explained by hormonal factors, such as differences in levels of testosterone, which acts as a confounding variable as it is present in greater quantities in boys and is linked to increased aggressive behaviour.
• This weakens both the internal validity and support for the social learning theory in explaining human behaviour given that this important influence has not been accounted for by Bandura.