individual differences in obedience and dissent/resistance to obedience: gender and culture Flashcards
1
Q
what is thought about gender and obedience?
A
- it’s thought that there’s no differences between the genders in regards to how obedient they are
2
Q
what did Milgram find about gender?
A
- conducted exp 8 with 40 female teachers
- previous research indicated that females were more compliant than males, yet traditionally we think of women as less aggressive
- contradiction would be played out in exp that commanded both compliance and aggression
- Milgram found females were virtually identical to males in level of obedience (65%)
- 27.5% breaking off at 300v level
- their rated level of anxiety was higher than males for those obedient
- also found in Burger’s replication of exp
3
Q
what is Kilham and Mann find about gender?
A
- found some gender differences when replicating Milgram’s research in Australia
- when administering shocks, obedience was 40% for males and 16% for females
- when ppt gave order to someone else to administer the shock, obedience was 68% for males and 40% for females
- suggests that females are less obedient than males
4
Q
what did Sheridan and King find about gender?
A
- ppts were ordered to give real electric shocks to live puppy
- found that staggering 100% of female ppts were fully obedient compared with 54% of male ppts
- female ppts showed more distress, sobbing their way through exp
- worth noticing that males in this study were more defiant when asked to shock a puppy than male ppts in Milgram’s study who were asked to shock human being
5
Q
what was found about the differences with regards to emotion in genders?
A
- there are differences with regards to the emotions experienced by genders
- Milgram identified that females reported more tension than males when taking part in the study
- Shanab and Yahya found females were more visibly anxious
6
Q
what are strengths of gender affecting obedience?
A
- not all studies looked at gender when considering emotional reaction of ppts, but when it is it’s clear to see females show and feel more anxiety and tension
- exps used have good controls in place over variables, to see effect of the iv on the dv, therefore providing reliable data
7
Q
what are the weaknesses of gender affecting obedience?
A
- the one study carried out by Milgram (exp 8) is not enough to test gender as factor of obedience
- studies are exps, in artificial settings, therefore lacking validity, making them less applicable to real world settings
8
Q
what did Milgram’s research start interest in?
A
- different cultures
- to see if other cultures would be as obedient as his ppts has been
- Milgram wanted to see whether people in the US would obey in a similar way to those in Germany during WWII
- found that his ppts were more obedient than expected, so he didn’t find that ‘Germans were different’
9
Q
what is nurture?
A
- culture we are brought up in
10
Q
what is nature?
A
- nature of humans to obey those in authority
11
Q
what was concluded about nature of humans?
A
- it was human nature to obey in certain situations
- our nature is to obey and the situation affects the level of obedience
- question was whether obedience would be found in all cultures when there were orders from an authority figure
12
Q
what did Hofstede find about culture?
A
- Hofstede identified 6 dimensions
- allows for comparison between countries with regard to their cultural values
- two of the dimensions are particularly interesting with regard to possible links to obedience:**
1. individualism-collectivism
2. power distance index (PDI)
13
Q
what is individualism-collectivism?
A
- individualistic cultures value personal autonomy and self reliance
- collectivistic cultures value loyalty to the group, interdependence and cooperation in pursuit of group goals
- individualism is about ‘I’, while collectivism is about ‘we’
14
Q
how does individualism-collectivism link with obedience?
A
- people from individualist cultures eg US and Northern Europe may be less obedient due to value placed on self determination and independence
- collectivist cultures eg China and Brazil where obligation and sense of duty may override desire to rebel
15
Q
what is power distance index?
A
- refers to how accepting people are of hierarchical order and inequality in society
- in high PDI cultures ‘subordinates expect to be told what to do and the ideal boss is a benevolent autocrat’ (Hofstede 2017)
16
Q
how is Milgram linked to culture affecting obedience?
A
- his work has been replicated in different cultures
- suggested that if obedience is in our nature then we would expect to find obedience universally
17
Q
what is said about non-western cultures?
A
- collectivist
- considered more obedient due to tradition and respect to their families compared to individualistic cultures
18
Q
what do the results from different cultures about obedience conclude?
A
- there are some differences in obedience levels, obedience is found across cultures suggesting it’s universal and possible an evolved trait that support survival
- however, cultural influences and differences in procedures are not explicit in results
19
Q
what did Schurz find about culture affecting obedience?
A
- carried out study in Austria
- obtained 80% baseline obedience
- ppts were asked to give bursts of ultrasound rather than electric shocks to learner
- bursts were still painful and could damage the skin
20
Q
what did Blass find about culture affecting obedience?
A
- reviewed studies carried out in the US and elsewhere
- found an average obedience level
- US = 60.94% and other countries = 65.94%
- indicates that although differences are found in exps the averages are very similar
- concluded that people have a powerful tendency to obey authority and this may be ’one of the universals of social beheviour’
21
Q
what are the weaknesses of culture affecting obedience?
A
- same procedures not carried out across all cultures; therefore it’s difficult to tell whether differences are down to culture or differences in actual exps
- obedience research in other countries all have different procedures, so can’t be sure if culture has had an effect on obedience
- looking at findings from other studies showing high levels of obedience, despite the differences in procedure, it seems unlikely that culture has an effect on obedience
