Highly publicized novel aggressive acts trigger copycat imitations

Evidence

These unintended powerful natural experiments, with fictional dramas and authentic newscasts as the vehicle, provide insights into the role of the media in the social transmission of forms of aggression that cannot be studied by other means. The causal relations revealed in the modeling of novel styles of aggression under naturally occurring conditions complement those verified in laboratory experiments. Once a novel idea is planted, some time must pass before it fades from public consciousness. Highly publicized novel modes of aggression typically trigger copycat events. — Albert Bandura, Moral Disengagement, 760

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to how moral disengagement can spread socially through modeled behavior endorsed by authorities — relevant to reader’s interest in how Islamophobic/racist policy gets rationalized collectively. — connects to: Broadcast crime modeling triggered an eightfold surge in copycat extortions.; A single successful novel hijacking technique triggered eighteen immediate imitations; Highly publicized novel crimes trigger a wave of copycat events before fading (+1 more)
• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Albert Bandura, Moral Disengagement: How People Do Harm…, 760