Obedience: Culture Flashcards
Define ‘culture’.
The norms, values, and social behaviour of a group of people.
Define ‘individualist cultures’.
Cultures that are more likely to behave independently.
What does being an individualistic culture imply for levels of obedience?
That they are less likely to obey due to being more self-reliant.
Define ‘collectivist cultures’.
Cultures that value community and reliance on others.
What does being an collectivistic culture imply for levels of obedience?
That they are more likely to obey due to being more dependent on others.
List 2 pieces of research that support culture affecting obedience.
1) Kilham and Mann (1974) and Edwards (1969)
2) Schurz (1985)
Explain the research findings of Kilham and Mann (1974) and Edwards (1969).
P - Kilham and Mann (1974), and Edwards’s (1969) research supports
E - Kilham and Mann (1974) found the lowest obedience rating of ppts administering 450V shocks 28% in Australia (an individualist culture) and Edwards (1969) found a high obedience rating of 87.5% in South Africa (a collectivist culture)
E - A low obedience rating would indicate that ppts were rebelling against the authoritative orders. Ppts from South Africa have been brought up to respect authority, disregarding their own beliefs
Explain the research findings of Schurz (1985).
P - Schurz (1985) research supports
E - Conducted a replication of Milgram’s study in Austria using the procedure of giving bursts of ultrasounds instead of electric shocks that ppts were told would hurt
E - They found an 80% obedience rate in the experimental group which shows higher obedience in countries that are collectivist compared to America, and individualistic country
List 2 pieces of research that reject culture affecting obedience.
1) Triandis (1994)
2) Milgram (1974)
Explain the research findings of Triandis (1994).
P - Triandis (1994) study rejects
E - Reported that in countries governed by dictators (such as Nazi Germany) have high levels of obedience
E - And so it may not be the culture itself that affects obedience, but the situation people find themselves in that affects it more
Explain the research findings of Milgram (1963).
P - Milgram’s (1963) research rejects
E - He found that 65% of his American male and female ppts administered the highest level of shock at 450V
E - This therefore shows that individualistic cultures can have high levels obedience too and so there is no significant affect
What can we conclude about obedience and culture?
Some research suggests different cultures have differing levels of obedience however culture may have an impact in terms of affecting obedience due to situation rather than the culture itself therefore there are other factors such as personality and situation changing tendency to obey.
List 2 general strengths of testing culture and obedience.
1) Standardised procedures allows for mass replication to compare against other cultures
2) Lab experiments have high control of EVs to establish cause and effect of different cultures causing differing rates of obedience
List 3 general weaknesses of testing culture and obedience.
1) Low ecological validity due to taking place in artificial conditions that may give rise to demand characteristics and behaviour that ppts wouldn’t exhibit in real life
2) Low task validity due to obedience being operationalised as a voltage in studies like Milgram’s (1963) which doesn’t reflect obedience in real life such as completing homework
3) Ignores individual differences that may make people more obedient than others
