obedience: gender and culture

Question 1

how does Milgram’s research reject the theory of gender differences in obedience?

Answer 1

• Found that men and women were equally obedient in the 65% however stress levels in females were higher
• so found that gender does not link to levels of obedience and the stress could be due to women being regarded as generally more empathetic than men

Question 2

how does Burger’s research reject the theory of gender differences in obedience?

Answer 2

• replicated Milgram’s study, stopping at 165V with experimenter interjection and have the confederates verbal protests at 150V
• Due to him finding no significant different between women and men, he concluded gender did not affect obedience

Question 3

how does Sheridan and King’s research support the theory of gender differences in obedience?

Answer 3

• Conducted a study like Milgram’s, only they used a puppy as the learner, who was visible to ppts and was given real shocks
• 100% of females were fully obedient whilst only 54% of males were obedient, concluding that gender did affect levels of obedience

Question 4

how does Kilham and Mann’s research support the theory of gender differences in obedience?

Answer 4

• 40% of Australian male students obeyed compared to 16% of the females giving the maximum shock in a replication of Milgram’s study
• Due to ppts being paired with people of their gender they suggested women were more likely to form an alliance and oppose the experimenter

Question 5

Using the research findings of Blass (1991), conclude the results of gender affecting obedience

Answer 5

• When using a meta-analysis of 9 studies he found that only Kilham and Mann showed any significant gender difference
• The conclusion was that in general there are no gender difference in obedience and that the difference was in emotional responses

Question 6

2 strengths of testing gender with obedience

Answer 6

1) Standardised procedures allows for mass replication to compare and test for consistency
2) Lab experiments have high control of EVs to establish cause and effect of different genders causing differing rates of obedience

Question 7

3 weaknesses of testing gender with obedience

Answer 7

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

Question 8

define ‘culture’

Answer 8

The norms, values, and social behaviour of a group of people.

Question 9

define ‘individualist cultures’

Answer 9

Cultures that are more likely to behave independently.

Question 10

What does being an individualistic culture imply for levels of obedience?

Answer 10

less likely to obey due to being more self-reliant

Question 11

define ‘collectivist culture’

Answer 11

Cultures that value community and reliance on others.

Question 12

What does being an collectivistic culture imply for levels of obedience?

Answer 12

more likely to obey due to being more dependent on others

Question 13

Explain the research findings of Kilham and Mann (1974) and Edwards (1969) supporting the effect of culture on obedience

Answer 13

• Kilham and Mann (1974) found the lowest obedience rating of ppts administering 450V shocks 28% in Australia (an individualist culture) and Edwards (1969) found a high obedience rating of 87.5% in South Africa (a collectivist culture)
• A low obedience rating would indicate that ppts were rebelling against the authoritative orders. Ppts from South Africa have been brought up to respect authority, disregarding their own beliefs

Question 14

Explain the research findings of Schurz (1985) supporting effect of culture on obedience

Answer 14

• Conducted a replication of Milgram’s study in Austria using the procedure of giving bursts of ultrasounds instead of electric shocks that ppts were told would hurt
• 80% obedience rate in the experimental group which shows higher obedience in countries that are collectivist compared to America, and individualistic country

Question 15

Explain the research findings of Triandis (1994) rejecting the effect of culture on obedience

Answer 15

• Reported that in countries governed by dictators (such as Nazi Germany) have high levels of obedienc
• it may not be the culture itself that affects obedience, but the situation people find themselves in that affects it more

Question 16

Explain the research findings of Milgram (1963) rejecting the effect of culture on obedience

Answer 16

• 65% of his American male and female ppts administered the highest level of shock at 450V
• therefore shows that individualistic cultures can have high levels obedience too and so there is no significant affect

Question 17

What can we conclude about obedience and culture?

Answer 17

culture may have an impact in terms of affecting obedience due to situation rather than the culture itself therefore there are other factors such as personality and situation changing tendency to obey.

Question 18

2 strengths of testing culture and obedience

Answer 18

1) Standardised procedures allows for mass replication to compare against other cultures
2) Lab experiments have high control of EVs to establish cause and effect of different cultures causing differing rates of obedience

Question 19

3 weaknesses of testing culture and obedience

Answer 19

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 individual differences that may make people more obedient than others