personality

• what are the three aspects?

  locus of control, authoritarianism, empathy
• locus of control?

  extent people feel they are in control of their own situation.

  • external= behaviour is beyond their control (obey)
  • internal= they are responsible for their actions (resist)

  consistent with Milgrams research, many said they obeyed due to experimenter having final responsibility.
• authoritarianism?

  trait characterised by hostility toward minority groups. They are typically submissive to authority.

  • Adorno created F-scale as a measure, research shows higher scale=more likely to obey
• evidence supporting authoritarian trait?

  • Milgram and Elms(66) compared F-scale to 20 obedient/defiant Ps involved in Milgrams experiments. obedient Ps had a higher F-scale, defiant group showed more social responsiblilty.
  • Dambrun and Vatine (2010) simulation of Milgram using virtual environment, also seen high authoritarian scores=obedience.
• empathy?

  it is thought that people who are more empathetic will be more obedient.

  • Burger 2009 investigated, people who score high on empathy were more likely to protest against giving shocks but it didn't translate to lower levels of obedience.