gression than biological factors." Any potential for aggression that man has, is "culturally overridden and re-packaged into behavior which fits current circumstances. In most cases, cultural forces teach or support non-aggression, but when pro-social aggression is necessary (disciplining children, and wrong doers,) cultural process teach and sustain it". (Gross page 446) Bandura, Baron, and Zillmann argue that aggressive behavior is a "learned form of social behavior, acquired and maintained" in much the same manner as other forms of social activity. (Baron/Byrne page 362) Elicitors of aggression such as personal insults, status threats, and the presence of weapons are all learned sources of aggressive behavior. Many responses are learned by watching others, further, aggressive actions are often followed by rewards and are therefore likely to be repeated. Bandura said that children were capable of learning aggressive behavior as a result of being exposed to it, because children tend to imitate what they see. Bandura exposed school children to a film of an adult behaving aggressively toward an inflated doll, ( "Bobo Doll ") Following exposure the children tended to imitate the aggressive behavior. These finding, Bandura believed, showed that young children learn to be aggressive against others, and that aggressive acts would be imitated. In contrast, critics pointed out, Bandura's experiments were too artificial, that the Bobo Doll was designed specifically to be hit and that the children were aware of this, so maybe they were just expressing the behavior that was expected of them. Although Bandura was has been criticized, his findings has led to considerable research into the influence of violence in the mass media, especially television, on promoting aggressive behavior, and there is a growing body of research evidence which indicates that watching violent television is linked to increased tendencies towards subsequent aggression. Sup...
