What Bobo Dolls Teach Us About the Effects of Social Media
How mindless scrolling can produce harmful behaviors, and what to do to stop it.
Deciding what topic to do my experimental psychology project on was a difficult task. I am a naturally curious person, so every topic was interesting. Finally, mainly because I had already created an outline of the experiment in another class, I decided to experiment with how social media affects risk behaviors, such as excessive alcohol consumption and drug use.
As I dove into the research for my paper, I realized that many researchers were working in this area. I also realized that there is much evidence showing that social media influences what behaviors we choose, which is quite terrifying.
For example, one meta-analysis, or a study examining numerous studies, found many connections between social media and choosing to participate in risk-taking behaviors. While there is still much research to be done in this area, the preliminary findings are significant to discuss.
Because of all of this, this area has become one of my many research interests. This article will discuss the research literature and how it points to the impact of social media on behavior and how we can avoid these effects.
Bobo Dolls Are An Explanation
Bobo dolls are kind of creepy, in my opinion. They look like creepy clowns, and the weight is mainly on the bottom, so they come right back up if knocked over.
Despite their creepiness, an experiment utilizing Bobo dolls can help to explain the effects of social media on behavior.
Albert Bandura conducted this famous study in 1961. At that time, in psychology, theorists believed that the only way to learn behavior was by actually completing the behavior yourself and then either being rewarded or punished for it. However, Bandura thought that another way of learning existed-observation-and so he designed an experiment to make his case.
Thirty-six boys and 36 girls participated in the experiment. The experimenters placed the children into three groups:
- ⅓ watched a video of an adult model acting violently towards a Bobo doll,
- Another ⅓ watched a non-aggressive model, and
- The final ⅓ did not see footage of any model.
Afterward, the experimenters took the children into a room filled with fun, attractive toys. Then, the experimenters told the children that these were special toys reserved for other children. The purpose of this was to raise the child’s levels of aggression since they would likely become upset that they could not use those toys.
They took the children to yet another room with other toys, including a Bobo doll. The researchers then observed them playing.
The results showed that we can indeed learn through observation: The children who had viewed the model behaving violently towards the Bobo doll played with it in the same violent manner when giving the opportunity. Thus, they were imitating the model.
Bandura Adds Another Layer
In 1965, Bandura conducted a follow-up study. The experiment had a similar setup, but the models were rewarded or punished for their behavior towards the Bobo doll.
The results showed that the children were more likely to behave in a certain way if they saw the model rewarded for that behavior. Conversely, the children were less likely to act in the same way as their model if they received a punishment.
What Does This Mean for Social Media?
Bandura’s studies show that observing the behavior of others impacts our behavior, especially if we can observe others being rewarded or punished for their behavior.
When we use social media, we can become like those children watching videos of models playing with Bobo dolls. When we scroll and view others’ posts, we see them behaving in certain ways. And, through likes, comments, and other forms of reinforcement, we then see them being “rewarded” for the behaviors they are demonstrating in their posts.
And, just as the children were more likely to imitate a model’s behavior if the model received a reward, we may become more likely to imitate the behaviors we see on social media because they receive a reward.
These effects are all well and good if we only see positive, healthy behaviors on social media.
But think back to your last scroll. Not everything posted was healthy. People post about many unhealthy, harmful behaviors on social media, such as excessive alcohol consumption, drug use, and more. Suppose, as the results indicate, we are more likely to imitate behaviors rewarded, and these posts get lots of attention. In that case, our simple scrolls and observations of these rewarded behaviors can lead to us being more likely to choose these unhealthy behaviors.
Terrifying, isn’t it?
How to Fight These Effects
It can be tempting to read about how social media can change our behavior for the worse and then immediately want to throw it all out and go live off the grid.
Now, if that is best for you, then do it by all means.
But for most of us, social media and technology are here to stay. So many of us use it to work, keep in touch with loved ones, and keep up with the state of the world. Those things are good, and we should keep those positive aspects of social media.
But how do we keep these positive aspects of social media while avoiding the potential adverse effects of social media on our behavior?
The answer: Digital minimalism.
When people choose to become minimalists when it comes to their physical possessions, they typically do the following:
- Decide the lifestyle they want to have.
- Keep what is necessary to have this ideal life.
- Get rid of the rest.
They become intentional with their possessions, seeking only to have those things that improve their life.
We can do the same with our social media and technology use, as Cal Newport explains in his 2020 book Digital Minimalism. By doing so, we can keep those positive aspects of social media that genuinely improve our lives while avoiding having our behavior shaped for the worse through observing those rewarded, negative behaviors on our social media feeds.
How to Get Started
The primary first step you can take to get started with digital minimalism is to do a 30-day declutter.
During this time, Newport suggests:
- Remove all social media, apps, and other technology from your life-but only those that are optional and will not harm your work if you take a break from them. Do this for 30 days.
- In this time, take the time to get to know your core values and ideal lifestyle. This reflection will be helpful information for later. Also, pay attention to how you react to the temporary loss of this technology.
- After the 30 days, only add back in those technologies that optimally support your core values and ideal lifestyle. Make procedures for them, so you get the best use out of those technologies. For example: Say you want to add a particular social media account, but only because you want to be in touch with a few friends and a specific group. You could then unfriend or unfollow those not included in the few and have only certain, short times you check your feed.
The benefit of this new approach to technology is that you will avoid the mindless scrolling and observation that causes those effects on behavior demonstrated in the above research. Instead, you keep all of those positive, beneficial aspects of technology.
Conclusion
Our minds are essential, and being entirely in control allows us to use them in healthy, beneficial ways. Conversely, mindlessly consuming social media can influence us to participate in behaviors that negatively impact our minds and our whole life.
Choosing to participate in digital minimalism helps us to regain control of our minds and live healthily. I hope you will join me in doing so!
