What You See Might Be What You Get: Vicarious Reinforcement of Children's Engagement in Aggression
Restricted (Penn State Only)
- Author:
- Stoop, Tawni Blaze
- Graduate Program:
- Psychology
- Degree:
- Doctor of Philosophy
- Document Type:
- Dissertation
- Date of Defense:
- August 03, 2023
- Committee Members:
- Amy Marshall, Co-Chair & Dissertation Advisor
Erika Lunkenheimer, Major Field Member
Pamela Cole, Co-Chair & Dissertation Advisor
Mark Feinberg, Outside Unit & Field Member
Kristin Buss, Program Head/Chair - Keywords:
- early childhood
aggression
vicarious reinforcement - Abstract:
- Although use of aggression among young children is normative, deviations from the typical decline in frequency of aggressive behavior can have detrimental long-term consequences for socioemotional, academic, and mental health outcomes. The origin of children’s aggressive behavior is most often understood through the lens of Social Learning Theory. This theory suggests that children learn to engage in aggressive behavior through observing others’, specifically their parents’, behaviors, and the consequences of those behaviors. The principles of direct reinforcement incorporated into Social Learning Theory are often utilized in treatments for child aggression, but little is known about the effects of vicarious reinforcement on children’s future use of aggression. In the current study, to predict children’s use of aggression over time, I examined the predictive value of children’s observations of parents’ aggression, children’s observations of three types of parental reinforcement following parents’ aggression, and the interaction of these variables using lag and growth curve modeling among an at-risk sample of 139 children and their parents (N = 261). Results indicate that the frequency of parent aggression is positively associated with children’s use of aggression. Children’s observations of parental receipt of love and affection also contribute to increases in children’s aggression in subsequent incidents, particularly when parents are more aggressive. The reinforcing effects of tangible support differs between mothers and fathers, and there is limited support for decreases in parental negative emotions as a vicarious reinforcer of children’s aggression. In addition, the nature of these reinforcers may differ when comparing incident-to-incident fluctuations within a family versus differences between families. Findings suggest that vicarious reinforcement serves a contributory role in explaining children’s aggressive behavior, but the nature of the reinforcer matters. The current research highlights the need to consider parental behavior and consequences of parent aggression in treatment for children’s aggression.