Factors Affecting Obedience and Dissent - Gender & Personality

Question 1

Who said that women are more obedient than men?

Answer 1

Sheridan and King (1972)

Question 2

Sheridan and King 1972 findings:

Answer 2

Participants were ordered to administer real electric shocks to live puppies:
100% of females obeyed
54% of males obeyed

Question 3

Who suggested that men are more obedient?

Answer 3

Kilham and Mann (1974)

Question 4

Kilham and Mann 1974 findings:

Answer 4

They replicated Milgram’s study in Austria and found a rate of 28% obedience:
40% of males obeyed
16% of females obeyed

Question 5

Who suggested than moral decision making is guided by different principles in men and women?

Answer 5

Gilligan (1982)

Question 6

What is moral decision making guided by in males?

Answer 6

The principle of ‘ethic of justice’:

• equality
• fairness
• detached approach to avoid bias

Question 7

What is moral decision making guided by in females?

Answer 7

The principle of ‘ethic of care’:

• interpersonal relationship
• nurturing
• supporting those in need

Question 8

Why are males more likely to be more obedient in terms of destructive obedience (Gilligan)?

Answer 8

Due to their sense of obligation towards authority figures.

Question 9

Why are females less likely to be more obedient in terms of destructive obedience (Gilligan)?

Answer 9

Due to their desire to support the person being harmed.

Question 10

What would happen in Milgram’s studies if Gilligan’s theory was applied to it?

Answer 10

Males may be more swayed by the scientific goals of the study (the greater good) whereas females may be more concerned with the wellbeing of the learner.

Question 11

Strength for Gilligan 1982:

Answer 11

Gilligan and Attanucci 1988:
Participants were interviewed on real-life moral dilemmas and reasoning. Overall, men favoured a justice orientation and women favoured a care orientation. The difference was highly significant.

Question 12

Weakness for Gilligan 1982:

Answer 12

Blass 1999:
He summarised the findings of 9 Milgram styled studies that included both men and women. In all but one case there was no significant observed difference in levels of obedience between genders.

Question 13

Who proposed locus of control and when?

Answer 13

Rotter 1966

Question 14

Internal locus of control:

Answer 14

If someone has an internal locus of control they:

• take greater responsibility for their own actions
• believe they are in control of what happens to them

Question 15

External locus of control:

Answer 15

If someone has an external locus of control they:

• take less responsibility for their own actions
• believe what happens to them is governed by other people and chance factors

Question 16

What are externals more likely to do when taking orders?

Answer 16

Be obedient.

Question 17

What are internals more likely to do when taking orders?

Answer 17

• Defy orders

- Show dissent

Question 18

Dissent:

Answer 18

Having opinions that differ from those held by others (refusing to carry out orders in terms of obedience).

Question 19

Strength of locus of control:

Answer 19

Miller 1975:
Participants were asked to grip live electrical wires by either a high status or low status experimenter. Externals obeyed the higher status experimenter more than the lower status, whereas, internals were unaffected by status.

Question 20

Weakness of locus of control:

Answer 20

Schurz 1985:
Austrian participant were asked to administer painful doses of ultrasound to a female student. Obedient and disobedient participants did not significantly differ in their placement based on a locus of control questionnaire.

Question 21

Application of factors affecting obedience:

Answer 21

Research in locus of control can be applied to human resources.
Some jobs require higher/lower levels of obedience.
To select suitable applicants in the HR department they might use a scale assessing locus of control.
Using personality tests in the process of recruitment might result in more successful matching of people and jobs.

Question 22

Who came up with the authoritarian personality and when?

Answer 22

Adorno et al 1950

Question 23

What do harsh styles of parenting lead to?

Answer 23

Children developing personality traits such as:
- destructiveness
-  toughness
- cynicism
All labeled authoritarianism.

Question 24

When/where did Adorno believe the authoritarian personality was rife in?

Answer 24

Germany, fist half of the 20th century.

Question 25

What do permissive (unconditional love) styles of parenting lead to?

Answer 25

Children who:

• grow up into adults that score lower in the F-scale
• are more likely to show resistance/defiance to what they perceive to be destructive orders

Question 26

Authoritarian Personality:

Answer 26

• a person’s disposition to be obedient (prejudiced) is high
• submissive to authority
• harsh to those perceived as subordinates

Question 27

F-scale:

Answer 27

Used to measure levels of authoritarianism.

F stands for fascism.

Question 28

Strength of authoritarian personality:

Answer 28

Elms and Milgram 1966:
They used the F-scale on 40 participants (20 fully obedient 20 not) of Milgram’s study and found that obedient participants scored higher on the F-scale and showed authoritarian characteristics such as less close to father.

Question 29

Opposing argument for authoritarian personality:

Answer 29

We cannot claim that there is a casual relationship between childhood experiences and authoritarianism because these are all correlations. Therefore, other factors may be involved.
Hyman and Sheatsley 1985 suggested that obedience and authoritarianism were caused by lower levels of education.

Question 30

Balanced conclusion for factors affecting obedience and dissent:

Answer 30

Some research indicates a role of personality and gender in determining obedience, but the picture isn’t very clear and there is little to suggest a casual relationship between personality/gender and obedience.