The third step in the observational learning process is that people must
enact what they have seen. Remember that Bandura draws a distinction be-
tween learning and performance. One reason we don ’t carry out every aggres-
sive act we notice and recall is that we may lack the ability to do so. Few of
us can imitate the behavior of a martial arts champion, even after watching a
dozen Jackie Chan movies. We must also have the opportunity to carry out
the act. I may remember from repeated exposure in movies how to hold and
fire a gun. But because I don’ t have access to a gun and because I hope I am
never in a situation where a gun would be useful, shooting someone with a
handgun is one learned behavior I will probably never enact.
The final step in the process requires individuals to expect that the
aggressive act will lead to rewards and not to punishment. One study of ele-mentary school children found that aggressive boys were particularly at-
tracted to what they saw as the positive consequences of aggression, such ascontrolling other children (Boldizar, Perry, & Perry, 1989). These same boys
were not very concerned about potentially negative consequences, such as
causing suffering or being rejected by their classmates.
Where do aggressive children develop these expectancies? As described in
the previous chapter, we not only learn what to do from models, we also
learn what is likely to happen to us as a result of imitating them. If an aggres-
sive model is declared a hero and praised, we may expect that we, too, would
be rewarded for the same behavior. If the model is arrested or hurt by some-
one even more aggressive, we will probably anticipate punishment. Aggressive
children typically learn what consequences to expect by watching children
their age or slightly older (Huesmann, 1988; Huesmann & Guerra, 1997). If
an older child who pushes and punches gets his choice of toys or gets to bat
first, there is a good chance the behavior will be imitated. In the same way, par-
ents who physically punish children for fighting may communicate that bigger
and stronger people can do what they want, which may be why corporal punish-ment is related to more aggression in children, not less (Gershoff, 2002).
People are also more likely to imitate aggressive behavior that is por-
trayed as justified (Paik & Comstock, 1994). Children are more likely to imi-tate a superhero who smacks around a bad guy for the good of society than a
supervillain who acts violently only for his own good. Children see that the
villain is punished, but they also see the good guy ’s aggressive behavior re-
warded. Unfortunately, in most cases people believe their side in a conflict is
the correct and just one. Therefore, like the superhero, aggression may seeman appropriate solution to their problems (Smith & Donnerstein, 1998). Thisobservation leads us to the next issue —the impact of mass media violence.
Mass Media Aggression and Aggressive Behavior
If you watch even a small amount of television, you are surely aware that the
average American receives a heavy dose of modeled aggression almost daily.
For several decades, psychologists and other professionals have been con-cerned about how this constant exposure to stabbings, shootings, beatings,
and so on affects viewers, especially children. Although today the action may
consist of a space monster being killed by a superhero ’s laser beam instead ofObservational Learning of Aggression 389