Albert Bandura's social learning theory is one of the most prolific theories over the past 50 years in social science in general. Bandura and me others have used social learning theory to explain how and why people engage in aggressive behavior. Vicarious learning, social identity, and other mechanisms have been utilized by researchers to explain how people can behave in an aggressive manner while avoiding negative feelings typically associated with aggression. Learned aggressive behavior shows the power social learning theory given that aggressive behavior is usually attributed to internal characteristics of a person rather than the context one learns that aggressive behavior is rewarded for example. Social learning theory shows that anyone is susceptible to moral disengagement and aggression, highlighting that learning is in large part dependent on the situation a person is in and the role models they have to learn from.

Assignment: Post a short paragraph, 3-7 sentences, giving a current example of aggression as it relates to social learning theory. For example, people learn in different cultures and countries how aggressive behavior is rewarded. Leaders or movements can provide a model to learn from for example. If, for example, an employee doesn't care about moving up, then engaging in aggressive behavior in this scenario is probably less likely. Here are some citations for articles explaining much more detail the role of social learning theory in aggressive behavior: