Social Influence : The Dispositional Explanations Of Obedience Flashcards
What is the research to support the authoritarian personality as a dispositional explanation for obedience?
Milgram and Elms conducted interviews with participants after they had completed the Milgram procedure. They found a positive correlation between scores on the F-scale and obedience, meaning people who scored highly were more likely to obey. This finding supports authoritarian personality as an explanation for obedience, as if it does explain obedience we would expect to see a positive correlation I.e., higher scores of the F scale being linked with higher rates of obedience. This makes sense, given the unquestioning respect for an authority figure (a key trait of authoritarian personality) could lead a person to obey the destructive orders of an experimenter in an experiment. However, it must be noted that the findings of Milgram and Elm’s research are correlational and therefore psychologists are unable to establish whether or not authoritarian personality traits cause obedience. Therefore, while it was concluded that the obedient participants in Milgram’s original research displayed more characteristics of the authoritarian personality these results should be treated with caution as they are correlational in nature and we are unable to conclude whether authoritarian personality causes people to obey; we only know that the two factors are linked. Therefore, this study provides support for the claim that authoritarian personality is a dispositional explanation for obedience, though limited support given the issues with correlational research.
What are the issues with the research behind authoritarian personalities explanation for obedience?
Since APs are partially measured using the F-scale , the questionnaire worded all the items in the same direction. Meaning every time you agreed with an item your score on the F-scale increased. It is possible that those who scored highly, indicating they had AP, may have actually had a type of response bias called acquiescence bias (biased to agree with statements even if they didn’t believe them). Therefore it is difficult to know if someone who scores high on the F-scale actually has an AP or if they have acquiescence bias. This shows that F-scales and APs may not directly correlate therefore an AP cannot be trusted as an explanation for obedience.
Why (for most social psychologists), can dispositional explanations, like authoritarian personality, only offer a limited explanation for obedience?
Personality is considered a moderating factor with less significance in “strong” social situations compared to “weak” social situations. Whereas social psychology tends to view the social situation as paramount (most important) in explanations of social behaviour. Therefore AP may play a less significant role in explaining why people obey in a social situation. Thus first researchers might look into situational variables (e.g. location, uniform & authority figure) then AP. Therefore although AP may be important it is limited as an explanation of obedience in comparison to social support in certain social situations.
What is Dispositional Explanation?
They explain obedience with reference to consider how a persons personality (i.e. stable pattern thinking, feeling & behaving) causes them to obey.
What is Authoritarian Personality?
A person who has an extreme respect for authority and is therefore more likely to obey those with higher authority.
What is a feature of Authoritarian personality?
One feature of this personality type that predisposes (makes someone vulnerable) a person to be obedience AUTHORITARIAN SUBMISSION. Meaning they have an unquestioning respect for authority figures that predisposes them to be highly obedient.
What is a Personality Trait of AP that IS NOT directly linked to Obedience?
AP also includes a range of other personality traits not directly linked to obedience, such as conventionalism (the desire to adhere to group norms), and authoritarian aggression (intolerance to those who violate group norms)
What does they F in the “F-scale” stand for?
Fascist (advocate a follower).
What was the F-scale questionnaire Adorno developed ?
Measures whether a person has an AP. The F-scale presents the reader with statements like “Obedience and respect for authority are the most important virtues children should learn” and asks them to what extent they agree with the statement. (Agreeing they should respect those with authority). Agreeing with statements on the F-scale leads to a high score, and a high score indicates of an AP (meaning they are likely to be obedient).
What Psychodynamic explanation did Adorno develop for why people have an AP?
According to this, people with AP experience an overly strict upbringing, focused on obedience and adherence to conventional norms. Adorno proposed that such an upbringing causes a child to admire but also resent their parent. It is the feeling of resentment that leads to the development of AP. This happens because rather than targeting hostile impulses directly at the parent, who the child views as powerful and able to retaliate, the child represses any conscious feelings of hostility towards the parent and then displaces their unconscious resentment onto weaker, and therefore safer, targets such as minority groups.
