Explain the nature/nurture debate in regards to aggression
Throughout many psychological concepts there is the notorious nature/nurture debate. The debate is of course not specific to psychology and can be found in day to day life and issues. In regards to aggression the debate seems to be, do aggressive people get their aggressive tendencies from those around them and the way they have been bought up, or are they in fact inherited?
Banduras social learning theory states that behaviour may be motivated not only by inherent psychological factors, but also by more socio-environmental factors. He argued that the individual and the environment were linked, something he referred to as reciprocal determinism. To support his theory Bandura did a study using children and Bobo dolls. In this study the children observed their parents either being aggressive or companionate towards the doll. It was found that the child acted in a similar way to what the parent did towards the doll and was concluded that aggressive tendencies are observed and then repeated by children when they see their role models act aggressively. This theory argues that upbringing may be a key factor in whether or not a person is aggressive in later life, although it has been argued that Bandura has ignored biological influences that may act on aggression.
