Factors affecting obedience ad dissent

Question 1

Situational factors

Answer 1

• Legitimate power is held by those of certain roles, usually those of authority
• reward power is held by those with certain resources eg money
• coercive power is ability to force person to follow orders by threatening them
• expert power is held by those with knowledge
• referent power is held by those who are able to win people over with their charm and rhetoric

Question 2

Situation factors: defiance

Answer 2

• when participants refuse to follow orders and maintain responsibility for their behaviour as they continue to function in autonomous state

Question 3

Individual differences: personality

Answer 3

Authoritarian personality- excessive and blind obedience to authority and lack of tolerance to anyone who doesn’t have the same respect to authority. Likely to submit to authority and act as an authority to those below them.
Internal locus of control- blame themselves, lin between internal locus and resistance to obedience in Milgrams studies.

Question 4

Individual differences: gender

Answer 4

• no real difference between genders

- higher levels of stress and tension in female participants

Question 5

Cultural factors

Answer 5

Obedience is an universal aspect of behaviour
Individualistic cultures- seen as independent and autonomous
Collectivistic cultures- emphasise needs of group as a while