A03 - dispositional factors

• What is a strength of dispositional factors of obedience 


  Strength = evidence to support  link between  authoritarian personality + obedience. E.g Elms & Milgram (1966) studied pts who previously taken part in one of Milgram’s O.G experiments. Selected 20 obedient pts who delivered 450V shock + 20 defiant pts who refused to continue at some point. All pts completed  F-Scale. Found - F scale revealed ↑ levels of authoritarianism among the obedient pts. Supports suggestion that individuals w  authoritarian personality = particularly susceptible to obedience.  
• What is a strength of dispositional factors of obedience

  Strength = further evidence to support link between the authoritarian personality + obedience. E.g Altmeyer (1988) found pts with an authoritarian personality type who were ordered to give themselves shocks gave higher shocks than those w/out the personality type. Suggests individuals w authoritarian personality = more likely to obey authority fig than those w different personality type.
• What is a weakness of dispositional factors of obedience

  F Scale = politically biased, only measures tendency towards extreme right wing ideology. Christie + Jahoda (1954) stated that right wing ideology is very similar to left wing ideology - both emphasise importance of obedience towards political authority - suggests authoritarian personality X offer comprehensive explanation - does not account for obedience to authority across whole political spectrum
• What is a weakness of dispositional factors of obedience

  Weakness = dispositional factors e.g authoritarian personality cannot explain obedience on large scale - in pre-war Germany, many ppl obedient, racist + anti-semitic behaviour - however unlikely that ALL these ppl had authoritarian personality - suggests role of situational factors offer more realistic explanation