Factors effecting obedience: personality and gender

Question 1

What is personality?

Answer 1

A relatively stable set of traits about a person which remain constant between situation.

Question 2

What is gender?

Answer 2

A trait which is particularly due to biology and particularly due to environment which correlates with the sex of a person.

Question 3

What is authoritarian personality?

Answer 3

Where a person is more submissive to an authority figure.

Question 4

Does authoritarian personality make someone more or less obedient?

Answer 4

More

Question 5

What is the internal locus of control?

Answer 5

Believing they are responsible for their own actions and are less influenced by others.

Question 6

Does internal locus of control make someone more or less obedient?

Answer 6

Less.

Question 7

What is the external locus of control?

Answer 7

More influenced by an authority figure and are less responsible for their own actions.

Question 8

Does the external locus of control make someone more or less obedient?

Answer 8

More.

Question 9

What is empathy?

Answer 9

The ability to understand and share feelings of another person.

Question 10

How does empathy effect obedience?

Answer 10

People who have higher level of empathy are less likely to hurt someone even under authority figure orders.

Question 11

What are gender sterotypes?

Answer 11

Make people perceive genders as less or more authoritive to them or to other people.

Question 12

What is some studies to show gender does not effect obedience?

Answer 12

-Burger(2009): Repeated Milgram’s research on males and females and found no difference between the genders.

Question 13

What is a study to prove gender effects obedience?

Answer 13

-Sheridan and King (1972):Adapted Milgram’s study, using a live puppy as a victim finding all 13 females ppt were more compliant (delivering maximum shock levels) compared to men.

Question 14

What was Blass’s study (1999) on gender?

Answer 14

Across 10 pieces of research he reviewed 9 of them obedience rates were consistent for males and females (no gender differences).

Question 15

What study does not prove empathy effects obedience levels?

Answer 15

Burger(2009): although people who score high in empathy show more protest against giving electric shock, it does not translate to lower levels of obedience.

Question 16

What study shows authoritarian personality effects obedience?

Answer 16

Milgram and Elms(1966): Compared F scale scores for 20 obedient ppts and 20 defiant ppts. Finding obedient ppts had a higher F score.

Question 17

What is an F score?

Answer 17

A way to measure authoritarian personality.

Question 18

What study proves internal and external locus effects obedience?

Answer 18

Milgram: From Milgram’s variations 1 to 4, 118 ppts were asked to judge their responsibility for giving shocks.
-Those who disobeyed put more blame on themselves- 48% (internal)
-39% of people blamed the experimenter.
-12% blamed the learner.

Question 19

What Milgram Variation proves gender stereotypes does not effect obedience?

Answer 19

variation 8.

Question 20

What study did Kilham and Mann(1974) conduct to prove gender effects obedience?

Answer 20

-Found females to be less obedient (16% vs 40%)
-However there was a male experimenter which could have effected obedience levels.

Question 21

What study did Bambrun and Vatine conduct (2010) to prove authoritarian personality effects obedience?

Answer 21

• Conducted a simulation of Milgram.
  -Those who had a higher level of authoritarian personality were less likely to withdraw from the study.