Societies that devalue and rarely model aggression produce nonviolent people

Evidence

The traditional Polynesians of the Society Islands, which include Tahiti, presented a marked contrast to the Dani in the socialization of aggression (Levy, 1969). In Tahitian society, aggressive behavior was rarely modeled but rather devalued. Unlike in the belief system of the Dani, ancestral spirits were punishers rather than inciters of aggression. Tahitians characterized themselves as affable people who were slow to anger, who quickly got over any ill feelings, and who lacked vengefulness and hostile aggressiveness. … They were disinclined to create anger-provoking situations, and when they showed aggression, it generally was expressed in words rather than by physical fights. On the infrequent occasions when they aggressed physically, they did so in relatively harmless and intentionally inept ways. — Albert Bandura, Moral Disengagement, 167

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Developed civilization cannot curb aggression because it depends on regimentation. — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School: Its History,…, 2134; Scarcity makes human existence itself a threat to others and the root of violence — Fredric Jameson, Marxism and Form, 472; Ethnoreligious violence stems from human social psychology, not Buddhism’s tenets — Neil DeVotta, Sinhalese Buddhist Nationalist…, 86 (+1 more)