Factors affecting obedience and dissent: individual differences (personality and gender) (AO 3- evaluation)

Question 1

How is research support a strength of the authoritarian personality and explain?

Answer 1

Elms and Milgram (1966) -

• used the F-scale (Fascist scale) with 20 fully obedient and 20 non-fully obedient)
• obedient participants scored higher on the F-scale and had other authoritarian features, e.g. less closeness to fathers

aka obedience is related to the personality trait of authoritarianism.

Question 2

Competing argument for research support as a strength of the authoritarian personality and explain?

Answer 2

We cannot claim that there is a causal relationship between childhood experiences and authoritarianism/obedience, because these are correlations

Other factors may be involved
(eg obedience and authoritarianism may be caused by poorer education)

Question 3

How is the LOC (locus of control) not predicting defiance a weakness and explain?

Answer 3

Schurz (1985) -

Ppts were instructed to give painful doses of ultrasound to a female student.

Those participants who were fully obedient did not differ significantly from those participants who resisted in terms of their scores on a questionnaire measuring LOC

aka personality (LOC) may have little impact on obedience.

Question 4

How can the research of personality factors be applied, and why is it a strength?

Answer 4

It can be applied to the field of Human Resource (HR)

Companies requiring employees to follow strict procedures may prefer obedient people

HR departments could use a scale accessing LOC to select suitable job applicants.

aka leading to greater productivity and job satisfaction

Question 5

How is a strength of Gilligan’s explanation that it is supported by qualitative research?

Answer 5

Moral reasoning

• Gilligan and Attanucci (1988)
• males and females used both ethics (the justice and the care ethic) in real-life dilemmas
• men overall favoured a justice orientation and women favoured a care orientation

aka there are quite important gender differences moral decision-making

Question 6

How is many studies finding no gender differences a weakness

regarding gender as a factor affective obedience and dissent, and explain?

Answer 6

Blass (1999)

• reported 9 Milgram-style studies with male and female participants.

No significant difference in obedience between men and women (in 8 studies)

aka = gender does not affect obedience.