Factors affecting obedience

Question 1

What do we mean by personality?

Answer 1

A series of enduring traits about a person which are consistent across situations

Question 2

What are the personality traits which affect obedience?

Answer 2

Locus of Control, Empathy and Authoritarian personality/Right Wing Authoritarianism

Question 3

What are the situational factors which affect obedience?

Answer 3

1) Momentum of compliance 2) Proximity 3) Legitimacy of authority 4) Responsibility in the situation

Question 4

What is gender in terms of obedience research?

Answer 4

The traits of being male or female which is partially innate via biology and partially through socialisation

Question 5

What is meant by momentum of compliance?

Answer 5

Starting with small requests then gradually increasing them.

Question 6

What is empathy?

Answer 6

Your ability to feel emotions of others

Question 7

What is an internal and external locus of control?

Answer 7

Internal you think you are responsible for your behaviour and external you think it is other factors

Question 8

How does Locus of Control impact obedience?

Answer 8

People with an internal locus of control will be less obedient.

Question 9

How does proximity impact obedience?

Answer 9

The closer the authority figure is when giving the order, the more obedient the target will be.

Question 10

What is an issue with looking at personality as an influence on obedience?

Answer 10

They’re often measured through self-reports making them less valid due to social desirability

Question 11

Which study shows the importance of an authority figure?

Answer 11

Milgram variation 13

Question 12

What is used to measure Authoritarian Personality?

Answer 12

The F-Scale

Question 13

What did Milgram & Elms find?

Answer 13

That the more obedient participants in Milgram’s research scored higher on authoritarian personality.

Question 14

How does internal locus of control impact obedience?

Answer 14

You believe you are responsible for your own actions so are less influenced by authority figures.

Question 15

What did Burger find about empathy?

Answer 15

Burger found that more empathetic people protested more but were no less obedient.

Question 16

What did Sheridan & King find?

Answer 16

That females were more obedient than males when asked to electrocute puppies.

Question 17

What is a collectivist culture and what impact does this have on obedience?

Answer 17

A culture where the group wishes are more important than the individual wishes and it makes them more obedient as they forgo their own wishes to obey for the group benefit

Question 18

What did Burger find about gender and obedience?

Answer 18

Gender had little to no impact on obedience levels

Question 19

What did Kilham and Mann find?

Answer 19

Women were less obedient (16pc vs 40pc)

Question 20

What did Dambrun & Vatine (2010) find?

Answer 20

Those high in the trait of authoritarian personality were less likely to withdraw and more likely to punish.

Question 21

What situational factor did the study of Sedekides and Jackson support?

Answer 21

Authority figure- the zoo keeper got higher obedience than a normally dressed man

Question 22

What did Smith and Bond find?

Answer 22

Collectivist cultures were more obedient than individualistic ones

Question 23

When one of Milgrams variations asked participants to sign a contract before taking part in the research which stated they were taking part of their own free will and no legal responsibility would be taken by Yale University, what happened?

Answer 23

Obedience fell

Question 24

What study can be used to demonstrate momentum of compliance?

Answer 24

Milgram with the shock generator going up in 15v increments

Question 25

Which study supports proximity as a factor?

Answer 25

Milgram variation 7 with the telephone study where 22.5pc obeyed