Watching aggression increases rather than cathartically releases it

Evidence

The theory in vogue at the time contended that exposure to modeled aggression is cathartic, allegedly reducing aggression by draining aggressive impulses. The modeling experiments demonstrated otherwise. Children who had observed the modeled aggression readily adopted the unique verbal and physical aggressive style of behavior, as illustrated in Figure 3.1. Some of the children also improvised on the novel modeled aggression. For example, in creative improvisation one of the girls pummeled Bobo with a doll as well as with the mallet! In contrast, children who had no exposure to the televised modeling never exhibited the novel forms of aggression. — Albert Bandura, Moral Disengagement, 731

Categorization

• XREF: Catharsis theory’s empirical refutation resonates with moral-disengagement framing the reader is building. — connects to: Exposure to modeled aggression teaches aggression rather than cathartically draining it.
• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Albert Bandura, Moral Disengagement: How People Do Harm…, 731