Personality traits as predictors of obedience to authority

Sopić, Ivana. (2015). Personality traits as predictors of obedience to authority. Diploma Thesis. Filozofski fakultet u Zagrebu, Department of Psychology. [mentor Vukasović Hlupić, Tena].

PDF (Croatian) - Registered users only Download (12MB) | Request a copy

Abstract

Obedience to authority is often associated with Stanley Milgram's experiment from early 1960s. His results showed unexpected obedience to authority which got a lot of attention in psychology. Similar experiments were replicated later, but relatively few studies have investigated the relationship of obedience with personality traits. The aim of this study was to test the possibility of predicting obedience to authority based on personality traits from the Big Five model on a sample of young people in Croatia. There were 163 participants from different parts of the country. The sample consisted of 97 women and 66 men, between the age of 18 to 30. Mini-Marker questionnaire was used to assess personality traits, and Croatian version of Authority Behavior Inventory to assess obedience. The results showed that, after controlling for age and gender, personality traits from Big Five model can explain 16% of the tendency to accept authority variance with agreeableness as a significant predictor of obedience to authority. The results did not confirm the hypothesis that conscientiousness would be a significant predictor of obedience to authority. Also, the results showed a statistically significant difference in obedience to authority between women and men, with women showing higher averege scores on the Authority Behavior Inventory.

Actions (login required)

View Item