male found to be more aggressive than the female. However, in some cases, the definition of aggression varies, and at times females are not found to be less aggressive than men. In the area of family conflict, wives are not less violent than their husbands, and more mothers than fathers are involved in child abuse (Lips & Colwill, 1978).
Bandura, a social learning theorist, believes that the personality is learned largely within a social context; there is a reciprocal interaction between the environment, the behavior, and the person (reciprocal determinism). The person, includes internal causes such as cognition; cognitive capacities of memory and anticipation influence behavior and help determine which environmental events are attended, valued, and organized for future use. Bandura's theory of personality has three major elements: that the personality is learned through the process of observation and imitation; that to achieve this, symbols are used; and that people are self-regulators in a complex interaction with the environment (Corsini, 1977; Feist, 1985).
Inherited predisposition, and reward and punishment are viewed as having a part in personality formation, however, imitating behavior of a significant other, is viewed as the most important factor. Modeling or learning by observing other people's behavior and its consequences for them, is seen as responsible for the vast majority of human learning; behavior need not be performed or reinforced for learning to occur. We imagine ourselves in the same situation and incurring similar consequences (Corsini, 1977; Ewen, 1993).
Emotional reactions are seen as transmitted vicariously by observing the affective reactions of others. Cognitive functioning is promoted by abstract modeling or observation, or repeated exposures. The pre
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