Culture and gender

Question 1

Social 1

Answer 1

Obedience would have been predicted to be greater in females compared to males as gender stereotypes predict that women would be more compliant to male counterparts. However, evidence from Milgram’s study have not found this to be true as females … % and males showed .. % obedience.
Crutchfield, (1955) found women to be more compliant than males, however arguments state that this is due to methodological bias. Male and female participants are exposed to male-orientated persuasion, which may account for greater female compliance, because when exposed to female-orientated persuasion, males are more compliant.

Question 2

Social 2

Answer 2

The distinction of collectivist and individualistic cultures may be useful in understanding whether social influence is affected by culture.
Typically, collectivist cultures work together cooperatively and independently, so it could be predicted that a higher level of obedience would be observed.
However cross-cultural research is not methodologically comparable, which may account for the difference in obedience rates found and prejudice research has produced mixed findings.
Milgram’s study into obedience was originally conducted using 40 male American participants, but then also replicated using Spanish students (Miranda et al. found over 90% obedience rates in Spanish students) and Australian students (where only 16% of female participants continued to the highest voltage setting, as shown by Kilham and Mann). This suggests that Milgram’s original results were specifically bound to American cultures.

Question 3

Learning

Answer 3

Male and female children are treated very differently by others and strongly socialised according to their gender. Children observe stereotypical male and female behaviour and are encouraged through reinforcement to adopt behaviours to their assigned gender. Gender inappropriate behaviour may be ignored or even punished.

Question 4

Clinical

Answer 4

Linked to ideas of social control because the definition of abnormal behaviour and the classification of such behaviour as a diagnosis is culturally determined.
Scientific medical model would argue that mental health disorders are universal in the same way that other physical disorders are, this can be challenged by the existence of culturally specific disorders and by differences in the diagnostic criteria that exist in the American DSM and European ICD systems.
DSM has been designed to ensure that individuals from all backgrounds can be diagnosed using the manual.

Question 5

Culture and gender

Answer 5

Ethnocentric implications are those that can apply to only one culture/set of people
• Eurocentric implications are those that can apply to
European / Western concepts
• Male researchers may selectively use information to
promote stereotypical differences between the sexes

Question 6

Social 3

Answer 6

Burger (2009) found evidence for personality characteristics such as empathy and desire for control linked to obedience which supports the influence of personality on human behaviour