Personality factors affecting obedience Flashcards
Authoritarian personality - P1, A01
Some individuals may have developed an authoritarian personality as they have grown up which may lead them to be more obedient to authority figures.
An authoritarian personality can be developed due to harsh parenting which causes individuals to be submissive to authority figures as they have been raised in strict households and are punished for non-compliance.
However, some individuals experience permissive parenting as they grow up which causes them to be less obedient to authority figures.
Strength of Authoritarian personality - P1, A03
One strength of using the authoritarian personality as an explanation for differences in obedience levels is that there is study evidence.
Elms and Milgram used the F-scale with 20 fully and 20 non-fully obedient participants.
Obedient participants scored higher and had other authoritarian features. The individuals with an authoritarian personality were found to be more likely to obey the orders than those with a non-authoritarian personality.
Therefore, this means that there is study evidence findings to suggest that obedience levels can be related to the personality trait of authoritarianism and those with this personality type are more likely to obey.
COUNTER ARGUMENT TO Strength of Authoritarian personality - P1, A03
However, a relationship cannot be claimed between childhood experiences and authoritarianism because these are correlations.
Other factors may be involved such as poorer education causing obedience.
Correlation does not always mean causation. Therefore, this means that there may be other factors which affect obedience levels unrelated to personality, not just a child’s upbringing and parenting type they experienced.
Internal locus of control - P2, A01
Another type of personality associated with resistance to obedience is internal locus of control when an individual thinks that they are in control of their own actions and believes that what happens is something which they have caused.
Individuals with an internal locus of control are thought to be more resistant to obedience due to feeling more responsibility for their actions.
Strength of internal locus of control - P2, A03
One strength of using internal locus of control to explain differences in obedience levels is that there is study evidence from Blass.
Blass looked at data which Holland had analysed from Milgram’s ideas on obedience and found a link between individuals with an internal locus of control and resistance to obedience.
Therefore, this means that there is study evidence to show individuals with an internal locus of control are more resistant to obedience as they hold themselves responsible for their actions.
FURTHERMORE TO Strength of internal locus of control - P2, A03
Furthermore, Schurz carried out a further study in Austria looking at obedience levels.
It was also found from this study that those with an internal locus of control felt more responsibility for their actions so were less likely to obey the orders of an authority figure.
Therefore this means that there is more study evidence to support the idea that individuals with an internal locus of control are more resistant to obedience due to feeling a higher level of responsibility for their actions
External locus of control - P3, A01
External locus of control is when an individual believes that what happens to then comes from outside their control and if they were in a stressful situation they would feel helpless and wouldn’t be able to do anything about it.
Individuals with an external locus of control are believed to be more obedient to authority figures as they do not feel as much responsibility for their actions as they believe this lies with the authority figure who is giving them orders.
Weakness of External locus of control - P3, A03
One weakness of using locus of control as an explanation for differences in obedience levels is that it does not predict defiance.
In a Milgram-type task participants were told to blast a student with painful ultrasound. Fully obedient participants did not differ from resistant participants who had a different locus of control score.
Therefore, this means that there is study evidence which suggests that locus of control may have a smaller impact than originally though on obedience levels.
