Scientists today still have a difficult time categorizing aggressive behavior in psychology and biology. It is often wondered is aggressiveness is a learned behavioral and emotional trait, or if these chemicals are innate from birth. The social learning theory is a way that scientists try to understand where aggressive behavior comes from; it is known that behavior can be shaped by many different factors. Researchers identified that children would often imitate parents or elders in their actions; for example, if a parent engaged in an aggressive behavior, the child would be more likely to have aggressive tendencies and vice versa. Additionally, they found that children are more likely to imitate behaviors from the parents of their same sex. That being said, boys were more likely to imitate aggressive behaviors to a higher degree. This is most likely due to a mixture of hormones and societal stresses; masculinity plays a big role in how boys gain aggressive behaviors. As girls are less likely to be expected to have aggressive tendencies, they follow their mother’s aggressive behaviors to a weaker degree than males. This theory was tested in an experiment conducted by Ross Bandura. These experimental findings are crucial to understanding how behaviors are learned throughout childhood. This research has opened the door to many other research projects regarding behavior in the future.
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