Bandura's Bobo Doll Study

• Aim: To see whether aggressive behaviour could be learned through observation
• Sample: 36 boys and 36 girls (3-5 years old)
• Procedure:

  • Controlled environment, children were divided into two conditions
  • Non-aggressive condition - The children observed the model assemble toys in a quite manner ignoring the bobo doll
  • Aggressive condition - The children observed the model active aggressively towards the bobo doll
  • The 'model' performed new aggressive behaviours not expected of children, e.g. hitting it on the head with a mallet
  • Verbal aggression included shouting phrases such as "sock it in the nose"
• Findings:

  • Children in the aggressive condition had significantly higher physical and verbal aggression scores than the non-aggressive or control groups
  • 70% of children in the non-aggressive or control groups had zero ratings of aggression
  • Both genders were more influenced by the male model
  • Boys were more aggressive than girls
• Conclusions: Observation of behaviour can lead to more imitative learning, people are more likely to imitate male aggressive models, as physical aggression is perceived as more of a male appropriate behaviour