Individual differences in obedience (social)

What?

dispositional factors that results in people responding differently to situations

personal factors make some more/less able to resist pressures to obey

independent behaviour

examples

gender

personality

education

culture

Milgram argues:

people obey because of situation

found that likelihood of obedience increases if:

authority figure is near

victim cannot be seen

but must be other factors as obedience was always below 100%

Locus of control

proposed by Rotter 1966

type of personalities

Studies

External Locus of Control: helpless to control events (victims of fate). What happens to them is a result of external factors

Internal Locus of Control: when you feel entirely in control of your actions. Any consequence is a result of their own behaviour

Blass 1991: subjects w/ high internal locus of control = especially resistant to obedience if they suspected they were being coerced by the experimenter

Schurz 1985: Austrian participants told the highest level could cause skin damage. Found no link between locus of control and obedience (80% went to the max) BUT found those w/ Internal locus of control took more responsibility

Gender

Culture

Kilham & Mann 1974 found Australia has the lowest obedience rating (28% took it to 450v)

Edwards et al 1969 found high obedience rating in South Africa (87.5%)

Australia = individualist culture (emphasis on importance of personal freedom and independence, children taught to be independent and self-reliant, encouraged to develop uniqueness)

South Africa = collectivist culture (exert emphasis on importance of social groups, obedience + conformity is viewed positively

Milgram found men and women were equally obedient in his shock experiment (but used small sample size of 40) Females report higher stress levels

Blass' meta-analysis of 9 of Milgram's shock procedures found only one study showed a significant difference between the genders (Australia, men = 40%, women = 16%)