factors affecting obedience Flashcards
(12 cards)
1
Q
the authoritarian personality
Adorno et al 1950
personality factors
A
- harsh parenting causes children to develop authoritarian personality traits (e.g. toughness, destructiveness etc)
- this parenting style was common in Germany in the early 20th century, thus Germans were more likley to be submissive to authority
- permissive parenting (e.g unconditional love) might mean that children grow into adults who score low on f-scale e.g. they defy what they perceive as destructive orders
2
Q
internal and external locus of control (LOC)
Rotter 1966
personality factors
A
- internal LOC = people who take greater responsibility for their actions, and believe they are in control
- external LOC = people who take less responsibility, and feels what happens to them is due to other people and chance
- ‘internals’ are more likely to show dissent and defy orders, ‘externals’ are more likely to be obedient
3
Q
Miller (1975)
internals and externals - research
personality factors
A
- found, when told to grasp lives wires, externals are more obedient to high-than low-status experimenter
- internals were unaffected by status
- low task val.
4
Q
Sheridan and King (1962)
women more obedient than men
gender factors
A
- ppts. ordered to give real electric shocks to a live puppy
- 100% of female ppts were fully obedient, 54% of males were fully obedient
- males in this study were more defiant (with puppy targets) than the males in Milgram’s study (with human target)
5
Q
Kilham and Mann (1974)
men more obedient than women
gender factors
A
- replicated Milgram’s study in Australia
- found unusually low obedience rate of just 28%
- 40% of male ppts and 16% of female ppts were fully obedient
6
Q
Gilligan (1982)
moral reasoning - men & women guided by different principles
gender factors
A
- ethic of justice - more common in males, values of equality & fairness, requires a detached outlook to avoid bias
- ethic of care - more common in females, emphasises interpersonal relationships, nurturing, supporting of those in need
- males may be more obedient due to their feelings of obligation to an authority figure, females may be less obedient due to their desire to support the person being harmed
7
Q
A strength of the authoritarian personality is research support
A
- Elms and Milgram 1966 used the F-scale with 20 fully & 20 non-fully obedient ppts.
- obedient ppts. scored higher, plus other authoritarian features (e.g. not close to fathers)
- findings suggest that obedience is related to the personality trait of authoritarianism
8
Q
Counter argument - authoritarian personality
A
- we cannot claim a casual relationship between childhood experiences and authoritarianism / obedience
- other factors may be involved (e.g. obedience and authoritarianism may be caused by poorer education)
9
Q
A weakness is LOC does not predict defiance
A
- Schurz 1985- in a milgram-type task, ppts told to blast a student with a painful ultrasound
- fully obedient ppts. did not differ significantly from resistant ppts in LOC score
- suggests that personality (LOC) may have little impact on obedience
10
Q
Application to field of HR
A
- companies requiring employees to follow strict procedures may prefer obedient people
- HR departments could use a scale assessing LOC to select suitable job applicants
- leads to greater productivity and job satisfaction
11
Q
A strength of Gilligan’s explanation is support from qualitative research
A
- Gilligan & Attanucci 1988 found males and females used both ethics in real-life dilemmas
- men overall favoured a justice orientation & women favoured a care orientation
- gender differences in moral decision making
12
Q
A weakness is that many studies find no gender difference
A
- Blass 1999 reported 9 milgram-style studies with male & female ppts.
- no significant difference between men and women in 8 studies
- suggests gender does not affect obedience
