Explaining Obedience

Which of the following is a dispositional explanation for obedience?

• Legitimacy of authority

• Authoritarian Personality

• Agency Theory

• Gradual Commitment

According to Adorno, people with an authoritarian personality...

• are highly obedient to authority

• look with contempt on people with inferior social status

• favour traditional values

• all of the above

'Believing you are carrying out the wishes of someone else' is a brief description of:

• Informational influence

• Situational explanation of obedience

• Agentic state

• Legitimacy of authority

Authoritarian personality is measured using the:

• Assertiveness scale

• Potential-for-fascism scale

• AP-scale

• Potential for obedience scale

Legitimacy of authority is a good explanation of cultural differences in obedience because:

• some cultures are traditionally more respectful of authority than others.

• some cultures are traditionally less respectful of authority than others.

• cultures vary in the way parents raise children to view authority figures.

• all of the above.

Authoritarian personality develops because a child:

• receives unconditional love and affection from parents

• is spoiled by parents who do not use any discipline

• experiences feelings of hostility towards his or her parents that cannot be directly expressed

• is accepted regardless of their achievements

A problem with agentic state as an explanation for obedience is:

• it's can't explain why the proportion of people who obeyed in Milgram's study was so high

• it can't explain why some people in Milgram's study did not obey.

• there is no research support.

• it is not as useful as legitimacy of authority.

People with Authoritarian Personality are very preoccupied with social status, therefore they...

• treat all people with respect

• feel sympathetic towards those with lower status

• tend to be unimpressed by the trappings of high status

• are servile and obedient towards those of higher status

Briefly outline one study supporting the authoritarian personality as an explanation for obedience.

Briefly outline a study that contradicts Agency theory as an explanation for obedience.