Dispositional Explanation

• :) RTS Milgram and Elms

  > interviewed participants from Milgram's experiment and asked them to complete the F-scale questionnaire

  > found higher levels of authoritarianism among those classified as obedient (gave shocks up to 450V) compared to those classified as defiant

  > suggests that the authoritarian personality is associated with obedience
• :( social desirability bias

  > participants may have exaggerated their fascist views on the F-scale questionnaire to present themselves in the best possible light - completed it just after WW2, so they may have wanted to look more obedient

  > reduces the internal validity
• :( alternative explanation

  > situational factors

  > obedience is due to external factors, such as uniform, rather than the authoritarian personality

  > weakens research into dispositional factors