Research Proposal: Gender's Influence on Aggression Imitation

This research proposal delves into the realm of aggression and imitation, drawing upon the foundational work of B.F. Skinner and Albert Bandura, particularly Bandura's observational study. The proposal aims to conduct a systematic review to analyze the role of gender (aggressive male or aggressive female) in inducing aggressive behavior in children, even in the absence of the model. It builds upon a gap identified in prior research, specifically the limited focus on gender's influence. The research objectives include studying children's behavior in aggressive environments, comparing the impact of male and female aggressive models, and furthering the understanding of Bandura's theory of reciprocal interaction. The methodology involves a qualitative systematic review with defined inclusion and exclusion criteria, utilizing keywords and Boolean operators to search relevant literature from 2010 to 2019. The proposal seeks to contribute new insights into the complexities of aggression, imitation, and the impact of gender roles on child development, offering a valuable contribution to the field of psychology.

Running head: RESEARCH PROPOSAL
Nursing
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Introduction
According to the Contribution to Learning Theory by B.F Skinner, learning is a
functional change in the overt behaviour. Skinner highlighted that change in individuals
behaviour occurs as a result of response of the individuals to the events or the stimuli present
in the environment. Skinner work stressed that when stimulus-response (SR) pattern is
rewarded, the individual is conditioned to respond to the same stimuli in the future. Skinner
work is defined as operant conditioning. Though Skinner highlighted that negative re-
enforcement occurs when a stimulus results in an increased response during the withdrawal,
but the central tenet of Skinner’s work is based on positive re-inforcement. However, the
work of Albert Bandura highlighted that human behaviour is a continuous reciprocal
interaction between the behaviour, cognitive and environmental influences. Bandura and
McDonald (1963) highlighted that experimental treatments was successful in generating
substantial change in the moral judgments of the children. The study showed that conditions
utilizing modeling is more effective in comparison to the operant conditioning procedure.
Thus there is a difference in the hypothesis led by Albert and Bandura.
The following research proposal will be based on the observational study conducted
by Bandura. The paper will first review the work of Bandura et al. (19161) entitled,
“Transmission of Aggression Through Imitation Of Aggressive Models”, followed by a
research proposal in order to validate process of development of negative behavior.
Review
Bandura, Ross and Ross (1961) conducted an observational study in order to
investigate the degree of imitation when the model in not present. The main target groups are
the nursery students of Stanford University Nursery School of the 36 were boys and 36 were

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girls between the age group of 37 to 69 months. Two adults, one male and one female served
as the role of the model for all 72 children. In the study, the children were mainly exposed to
both aggressive and non-aggressive models. After the exposure, the children were analysed in
the domain of degree of imitative learning under a completely new situation even and int
absence of the model. Bandura, Ross and Ross (1961) erected the structure of the research
over the hypothesis that subjects who will be exposed to aggressive models would replicate
aggressive acts in accordance to their models and this replication of behaviour will be
different from the subjects who will be exposed to non-aggressive models or have no prior
exposure to the model. The total of 72 children was divided into six experimental groups of 6
subjects each and one control group of 24 subjects. After of the experimental subjects were
exposed to aggressive model while another half to non-aggressive model. In both
experimental groups were further sub-divided into two different groups, one with same-sex
model and other with opposite sex model. The aggression was measured in terms of the
verbal aggressive, physical aggression. The observational analysis was done by two nursery
school teachers and both of them are well-acquainted with the selected group of children. The
analysis of the results highlighted that subjects exposed to aggressive behaviour model are
more likely to imitate the level of aggressiveness but other behaviours as well. The study also
highlighted that the male model has more influence in promoting aggressive behaviour
among the children even under their absence in comparison to the female model. However,
Bandura, Ross and Ross (1961) recommended further analysis in this domain in order analyse
the influence of gender in influencing aggressive behaviour.
Research Gap
Thus the main gap in the study of Bandura, Ross and Ross (1961) is it failed to
highlight the role of gender in influencing aggressive behaviour among the child. The other

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studies conducted by Bandura and this co-authors highlighted that children who are exposed
to model behaving under a friendly environment modulated their behaviour (both in the
domain of discrimination in the learning process and verbal and marching) to a significant
extent in comparison to those who are exposed to pre-test ‘cold’ model. However, the
imitation of the aggressive behaviour occurred with or without the model of “warmth”
(Bandura & Huston, 1961).
Thus the study conducted by Bandura showed that probability of the imitation of the
aggressive behaviour increases when the child is nurtured under aggressive environment or
within aggressive people. Several systematic review also highlight the negative external
environment under which a child is nurtured is capable of influencing his negative attitude in
the child (Latimer et al., 2012; Piotrowska et al., 2015; Bonell et al., 2013). However there is
a gap in the review conducted over the observational studies which showed that gender plays
an important role promoting aggressive negative behaviour among the child.
Research proposal
Aim of the research proposal will be to conduct a systematic review in order to
analyse the role of gender (aggressive male or aggressive female) in order to induce
aggressive behaviour among a child even under their absence.
Research Objectives
 To study the behaviour of the child on being exposed to aggressive environment
 To study the difference between the exposure of aggressive male and aggressive
female model in the behaviour of the child
 To understand a new approach of Bandura’s theory of reciprocal interaction

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Methodology
Qualitative systematic review
Inclusion and Exclusion criteria
According to Parahoo (2014) proper selection of the inclusion and exclusion criteria
helps to narrow down the research plan while saving significant amount of time. The main
inclusion criteria that will be used for selection of the research article from the electronic
databases include:
Inclusion Criteria Exclusion Criteria
Papers published within last 10 years (2010 to
2019)
Paper published before 2010
Primary research Secondary Research
Focus group: Children Focus group: Other than children like adults
Theory: Based on theory of Bandura Not based on the theory of Bandura
Keywords
According to Parahoo (2014), the search of the journal articles must be done by the
use of the proper combination of the keywords along with the use of the Boolean operators.
The main Boolean operators that will used for the search of the research articles will be AND
and OR. The main keywords that will be used for the search of the literary articles in the
electronic data bases
Keyword 1 Aggression OR aggressive models
AND
Keyword 2 Imitation OR Follow

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AND
Keyword 3 Adult Male
AND Adult
Female
OR Gender Role Model
Keyword 4 Childhood AND Early childhood

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References
Bandura, A. (2001). Social cognitive theory: An agentic perspective. Annual review of
psychology, 52(1), 1-26.
Bandura, A., & Huston, A. C. (1961). Identification as a process of incidental learning. The
Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 63(2), 311.
Bandura, A., & McDonald, F. J. (1963). Influence of social reinforcement and the behavior of
models in shaping children's moral judgment. The Journal of Abnormal and Social
Psychology, 67(3), 274.
Bandura, A., & McDonald, F. J. (1963). Influence of social reinforcement and the behavior of
models in shaping children's moral judgment. The Journal of Abnormal and Social
Psychology, 67(3), 274.
Bandura, A., Ross, D., & Ross, S. A. (1961). Transmission of aggression through imitation of
aggressive models. The Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 63(3), 575.
Bonell, C. P., Fletcher, A., Jamal, F., Wells, H., Harden, A., Murphy, S., & Thomas, J.
(2013). Theories of how the school environment impacts on student health: systematic
review and synthesis. Health & place, 24, 242-249.
Latimer, K., Wilson, P., Kemp, J., Thompson, L., Sim, F., Gillberg, C., ... & Minnis, H.
(2012). Disruptive behaviour disorders: a systematic review of environmental
antenatal and early years risk factors. Child: care, health and development, 38(5),
611-628.
Morris, E. K., Smith, N. G., & Altus, D. E. (2005). BF Skinner’s contributions to applied
behavior analysis. The Behavior Analyst, 28(2), 99-131.

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Piotrowska, P. J., Stride, C. B., Croft, S. E., & Rowe, R. (2015). Socioeconomic status and
antisocial behaviour among children and adolescents: A systematic review and meta-
analysis. Clinical psychology review, 35, 47-55.