Personality + gender essay

• Individual differences such as personality type can explain obedience. Julian Rotter proposed the idea that people have either internal locus of control where people believe they control their own destiny. They tend to have more confidence and need little approval from others. These people are less likely to obey and more likely to dissent. People who have an external locus of control feel they have little/no control over their lives, often believe in ‘luck’ or ‘fate’.believe that what happens to them is determined by external factors.therefore these people are more likely to conform or obey. 
• There is supporting research for the LOC explanation of obedience.  For example, Miller (1975) conducted research using high or low status experimenter s who told participants to grasp live electric wires.  Miller found people with External LOC obeyed the high status experimenter more than the low status experimenter, whereas people with Internal LOC were not affected by the experimenter's status.
• Grete Schurz (1985) instructed his participants to give painful doses of ultrasound to a female student. Those participants who were fully obedient did not differ significantly from those participants who resisted in terms of their scores on a questionnaire measuring locus of control.
• Who explained the individual difference in personality related to obedience?

  Adorno
• What does Adorno's theory suggest about the relationship between obedience and Authoritarian Personality?

  Levels of obedience can be predicted by the level of Authoritarian Personality
• What is the name of the questionnaire created by Adorno to measure Authoritarian Personality?

  1. scale
• What does a high score on the F-scale indicate?

  A very authoritarian personality type
• According to Adorno, what leads to toughness, destructiveness, and cynicism in children?

  Harsh parenting
• How do people with Authoritarian personalities typically behave towards authority and subordinates?

  They are submissive to authority but harsh to subordinates
• What implications does having an Authoritarian Personality have on obedience to authority?

  They are more likely to obey orders from authority
• How can the authoritarian personality be characterized in terms of authority figures?

  By demonstrating obedience to a legitimate authority figure
• What behavior might individuals with Authoritarian Personality exhibit towards those they consider inferior?

  They may suppress those who are considered inferior
• There is supporting research for the affects of the level of Authoritarian personality.  For example Elms and Milligram (1966) conducted research using 20 obedient and 20 disobedient participants from Milgram’s study. The 40 participants used the F-scale the results found were that the 20 obedient participants scored higher in the authoritarian personality test than the 20 defiant participants.