The subject of people’s aggression is a fascinating topic for researchers, especially regarding children and their behavioral patterns. Albert Bandura conducted the experiment to identify the possibility of children learning the aggressive type of behavior through observation. At the same time, Hollis, in her research named “Lessons from Bandura’s Bobo Doll experiments” (2019), provides an effective approach to the issue from both behavioral and educational perspectives. Within a multi-dimensional analysis, the author represents practical solutions derived from Bandura’s experiments.
In fact, during the Bobo Doll study, Bandura identified the link between the behavior children observed from the grown people and how it impacted their further actions. By analyzing Bandura’s approach, Hollis presented a practical approach to resolving the issue in the workplace, while Bandura focused mainly on children’s education. By applying the appropriate democratic leadership style in the management practice, the ‘Bobo Doll’ syndrome might be gradually smoothed. The leaders in the workplace should immediately treat any aggression syndromes and provide a detailed analysis of them with the workers personally.
More specifically, Hollis focuses on the ‘controlling’ method, where the leaders in the workplace are more engaged than ‘laissez-faire’ ones but do not demonstrate their control to the employees, which is the case of the authoritative style. To effectively implement this approach, Hollis suggests creating a specific performance track recording system, where every worker will be regularly analyzed in terms of their behavior and commitment to the whole work atmosphere. Good employees are strongly motivated to leave the abusive workplace if the bad-quality or aggressive workers are ignored.
In conclusion, Hollis provided a specific analysis from different perspectives concerning the ‘Bobo Doll’ case in the workplace. Hollis proved that only those leaders who present regular but not constant control of their workers have the best chances to create a ‘perfect’ working atmosphere. In addition, by implementing the performance track recording system, high-quality leaders will be able to timely isolate and cure abusive employees, motivating good workers to stay within the enterprise.
Reference
Hollis, L. P. (2019). Lessons from Bandura’s Bobo Doll experiments: Leadership’s deliberate indifference exacerbate workplace bullying in higher education.Journal for the Study of Postsecondary and Tertiary Education, 4, 85–102.