How did the sex of the adult model affect imitation in the Bobo doll experiment?

Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.

red deer stags (Cervus elaphus) — Aggressive behaviour A pair of red deer stags (*Cervus elaphus*) competing for possession of a female in the rutting season.

In the Bobo doll experiment, the sex of the adult model influenced how children imitated aggressive behaviour based on the nature of the aggression and gender-typing.1

Key findings regarding the influence of the model's sex include:

Physical Aggression: Both male and female children were more likely to imitate the physical aggression of male models than that of female models.1
Verbal Aggression: Children were more likely to imitate the verbal aggression of same-sex models.1
Gender Differences: While the study found that males were generally more prone to imitating physical aggression—a behavior viewed as more masculine-typed—there were no significant differences between genders regarding the imitation of verbal aggression, which is considered less sex-typed.1

Ultimately, the study suggested that the degree to which a behavior is perceived as appropriate for a specific gender plays a role in how children model the actions of adults.1