Obedience: Culture Flashcards
Define ‘culture’
The norms, values and social behaviours of a group of people
Define ‘individualistic cultures’
Cultures that are more likely to behave independently
What does being an individualistic culture imply about levels of obedience?
They are less likely to obey due to be more self-reliant
Define ‘collectivist cultures’
Cultures that value community and reliance of others
What does being a collectivist culture imply about levels of obedience?
They are more likely to obey due to being more dependant on others
Name 2 pieces of research that support culture affecting obedience
1) Kilham and Mann (1974) and Edwards (1969)
2) Schurz (1985)
What are the findings of Kilham and Mann (1974) and Edwards (1969) supporting the affect of culture on levels of obedience?
P - Kilham and Mann (1974), and Edwards’s (1969) research supports the idea that culture affects levels of obedience
E - Kilham and Mann (1974) found the lowest obedience rating of ppts administering 450V shocks, being 28% in Australia (an individualist culture) and Edwards (1969) found a high obedience rating of 87.5% in South Africa (a collectivist culture)
E - Therefore, this demonstrates that individualist cultures are less likely to obey and collectivist cultures are more likely to obey
What are the findings of Schurz (1985) supporting the affect of culture on levels of obedience?
P - Schurz (1985) research supports the idea that culture affects levels of obedience
E - Schurz 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 which therefore shows higher obedience in countries that are collectivist compared to America, and individualistic country.
Name 2 pieces of research that reject culture affecting obedience
1) Triandis (1994)
2) Milgram (1974)
What are the findings of Triandis (1994) rejecting the affect of culture on levels of obedience?
P - Triandis (1994) research rejects the idea that culture affects levels of obedience
E - He reported that in countries governed by dictators (such as Nazi Germany) have high levels of obedience
E - Therefore, this suggests that it may not be the culture itself that affects obedience, but the situation people find themselves in that affects it more
What are the findings of Milgram (1974) rejecting the affect of culture on levels of obedience?
P - Milgram’s (1963) study rejects the affect of culture on levels of obedience
E - He found that 65% of his American male and female ppts administered the highest level of shock at 450V and obeyed fully.
E - Therefore, this shows that individualistic cultures can also have high levels of obedience, not just collectivist cultures and that there is no significant effect of culture
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.
What are 2 general strengths of testing culture and obedience?
1) Standardised procedures allows for 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
What are 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
