Characteristics of the Modeling Situation

Bandura and his associates (Bandura, 1977, 1986) investigated three factors found to influence modeling:
1. The characteristics of the models
2. The characteristics of the observers
3. The reward consequences associated with the behaviors

Characteristics of the models
The characteristics of the models affect our tendency to imitate them. In the laboratory, Bandura found that although children imitated the behavior of a child model in the same room, a child in a film, and a filmed cartoon character, the extent of the modeling decreased as the similarity between the model and the subject decreased. The children showed greater imitation of a live model than an animated character, but even in the latter instance the modeled behavior was significantly greater than that of the control group that observed no models.
Other characteristics of the model that affect imitation are age and sex. Status and prestige are also important factors. Television commercials make effective use of high-status, high-prestige models with athletes, rock stars, or movie stars who claim to use a particular product. The expectation is that consumers will imitate their behavior and buy the advertised product.
The type of behavior the model performs affects the extent of imitation. Highly complex behaviors are not imitated as quickly and readily as simpler behaviors. Hostile and aggressive behaviors tend to be strongly imitated, especially by children.

Characteristics of the observers
The attributes of the observers also determine the effectiveness of observational learning. People who are low in self-confidence and self-esteem are much more likely to imitate a model’s behavior than are people high in self-confidence and self-esteem. A person who has been reinforced for imitating a behavior—for example, a child rewarded for behaving like an older sibling—is more susceptible to the influence of models.

The reward consequences associated with the behaviors
The reward consequences linked to a particular behavior can affect the extent of the modeling and even override the impact of the models’ and observers’ characteristics. A high-status model may lead us to imitate a certain behavior, but if the rewards are not meaningful to us, we will discontinue the behavior and be less likely to be influenced by that model in the future.
Seeing a model receiving reward or punishment for displaying a particular behavior affects imitation. The children who observed the punishment displayed significantly less aggression toward the Bobo doll than did the children who saw the model being reinforced (Bandura, 1965).