Obedience 1.1.3+.7 Developmental- Gender

Question 1

Explain the link between gender social norms and expectations of obedience

Answer 1

> Males - aggressive,dominant protectors and workers in society
Females- subservient cargeivers who stay at home to raise children + do chores eg cooking, cleaning
LINK: Insinuates fem obedience levels may be dependant on the figure of authority being male as women are raised to be subservient to males, but male obedience lvls may be dependant on the authority figure having a more dominant persona

Question 2

Why might there be no gender diffs in obedience? (hint- culture)

Answer 2

> Obedience may be influenced by cultural + social factors > gender bc expectations of a particular culture can shape an individual’s perception of authority + their willingness to obey eg some cultures encourage authority but others question it eg active social groups.

Question 3

List 2 pieces of research that reject gender differences in obedience.

Answer 3

> Milgram’s (1963)
P- Rejects
E-Found that male and female pps were equally obedient- 65% of female pps administered what they believed was the max 450V shock- however stress levels when doing so was higher in female pps.
E- Weakness, suggests gender doesn’t link to obedience, women’s stress levels could be a result of women being raised to be more empathetic than men.

> Burger (2009)
P-Rejects
E-Replicated Milgrams- had a sample of men & women) but stopped at 165V w experimenter interjection and had the confederate verbally protest at 150V.
E- Weakness, found little difference between male and fem pps in terms of those whos topped and corresponding empathy. Concluded gender had no impact on obedience.

Question 4

List 2 pieces of research that support gender differences in obedience.

Answer 4

P-Sheridan and King’s (1972) Supports
E-Conducted study like Milgram’s, but used puppy as learner who was presented to ppts and given real shocks.
E- Supports; found that 100% fem were fully obedient whereas 54% male were obedience, suggesting gender differences in obedience.

> Kilham and Mann’s (1974)
P-Supports
E-Replicated Milgram’s, found 40& Australian male ppts were more obedient compared to 16% Australian fem ppts when administering max shock
E- Strength, as ppts were paired w another of their own gender, suggests that fem ppts would join together as companions/ alliance and oppose the male experimenter.

Question 5

Using the research findings of Blass (1991), conclude the results.

Answer 5

Blass (1999)
P-Rejects
E-Used meta-data analysis across 9 studies, only Kilham and Mann (1974) had significant gender diffs.
E-Concluded that in general there was no gender diffs for obedience, only emotional response differences.

Question 6

What does research conclude about gender differences?

Answer 6

There is some research to suggest that gender does affect obedience however more research concludes that there isn’t a significant difference and so it must be down to other factors such as individual differences eg free will.

Question 7

List 2 general strengths of testing gender and obedience.

Answer 7

1) Standardised procedures allows for high inter-rater reliability to compare and test for consistency for gender differences in obedience
2) Lab experiments have high control of EVs to establish cause and effect of different genders causing differing rates of obedience

Question 8

List 3 general weaknesses of testing gender and obedience.

Answer 8

1) Low ecological validity due to taking place in artificial conditions that may give rise to demand characteristics and behaviour that ppts wouldn’t exhibit in real life
2) Low task validity due to obedience being operationalised as a voltage in studies like Milgram’s (1963) which doesn’t reflect obedience in real life such as completing homework
3) Ignores situation factors that may change obedience levels eg. education, age