Obedience and dissent: personality and gender

Authoritarian personality

Adorno et al. (1950) described the authoritarian personality: rigid, respectful of authority, hostile to those seen as inferior, and shaped by a strict upbringing. They measured it with the California F scale.

Elms and Milgram (1966) compared 20 obedient and 20 disobedient participants from Milgram's studies: obedient participants scored higher on the F scale and admired the experimenter more.

Evaluation: the data are correlational, so personality may not cause obedience; education may be a third variable (less educated people scored higher on authoritarianism); the F scale may suffer from social desirability bias.

Locus of control

Rotter (1966) described locus of control. People with an internal locus believe they control what happens to them; people with an external locus believe outside forces (luck, powerful others) control events. Internals are expected to resist orders more because they take personal responsibility. In Burger (2009), participants who stopped in the base condition scored higher on desire for control than those who continued.

Gender

A common assumption is that women obey more. Pearson's guide notes research often shows no difference. Milgram's Experiment 8 used women as teachers and found the same full obedience rate as men, 65%, though Milgram reported that the women seemed more anxious. Burger (2009) found no significant gender difference: in the base condition 66.7% of men and 72.7% of women continued past 150 V.

Evaluation: Milgram's observations were made by a male researcher and may be biased; archive studies suggest some women received more than the four standard prods, which affects validity; gender may interact with the gender of the authority figure.

Worked example

A researcher finds that obedient participants score higher on the F scale. Explain why this does not prove that personality causes obedience.

1. The data are correlational: two variables were measured, not manipulated.
2. A third variable such as level of education could cause both.
3. Direction is unclear: taking part in an obedience study might change how people answer.

Answer: Correlation is not causation; a third variable such as education may explain both.

Check yourself

1. What did the California F scale measure?
   • Locus of control
   • Authoritarian personality
   • Conformity to a majority
   • Short-term memory capacity
   Show answer

   Authoritarian personality. Adorno et al. (1950) used the F scale to measure authoritarianism.

2. Which person is most likely to resist an unjust order?
   • Someone with an external locus of control
   • Someone with a high F scale score
   • Someone who was brought up very strictly
   • Someone with an internal locus of control
   Show answer

   Someone with an internal locus of control. Internals feel responsible for their own actions.

3. What did Milgram find when women were the teachers (Experiment 8)?
   • Much lower obedience, about 20%
   • The same rate of full obedience as men, 65%
   • Much higher obedience, about 90%
   • No women continued past 150 V
   Show answer

   The same rate of full obedience as men, 65%. Full obedience was 65%, matching the male baseline.

4. Elms and Milgram (1966) found obedient participants scored higher on the F scale. What is the main limitation of this finding?
   • It used too many participants
   • It was conducted in a field setting
   • It is correlational, so it cannot show cause and effect
   • It only measured gender
   Show answer

   It is correlational, so it cannot show cause and effect. Personality was measured, not manipulated.

5. In Burger's base condition 72.7% of women and 66.7% of men continued past 150 V. What is the difference in percentage points?
   Show answer

   6.0 percentage points. 72.7 - 66.7 = 6.0 percentage points (not significant).

6. Explain one reason why conclusions about gender and obedience from Milgram's research may lack validity.
   Show answer

   Milgram was a male researcher interpreting women's anxiety, so his observations may be biased; also some women were given more than the four standard prods, so the procedure was not the same.. Researcher bias and non-standard procedures both threaten validity.

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Sources

• Pearson Edexcel International Advanced Subsidiary/Advanced Level in Psychology specification (issue January 2026)
• Pearson International A Level Psychology component guide: WPS01
• Burger (2009) Replicating Milgram: Would people still obey today? American Psychologist 64(1) (full text)
• IAL Psychology revision site: Factors affecting obedience

Last updated 8 November 2026. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.