Factors Affecting Obedience Flashcards
What are situational factors affecting obedience?
Gradual commitment
Size of the majority
Buffers
Perception of legitimate authority
What is gradual commitment?
Refers to instances where a person might show some sort of commitment to a particular task
E.g starting something and then as they continue it becomes harder to back down/change their mind
What are buffers?
Any aspect of a situation that protects people from having to confront the consequences of their actions
What are dispositional factors (individual differences) affecting obedience?
Locus of control
Gender
Moral development
Personality factors
What is locus of control?
The extent to which an individual believes they are in control of their destiny (internal LOC) or at the mercy of events (external LOC)
People with a high internal LOC are less obedient
How does gender affect obedience?
In Milgram research females obeyed at the same rates as males
However, other studies show that females can be less obedient than men
What is moral development?
The extent to which individuals take into account moral values, the impact of their decisions and actions of others and society as a whole
The higher the moral development, the more likely an individual is to act independently
What is an authoritarian personality?
Hostile to people seen as inferior
Servile to people seen as superior
What kind of upbringing would people with the authoritarian personality have had?
Harsh
Punishing
Disciplinarian upbringing
Little affection shown
Latent hostility towards parents
