Authority Knows No Gender – Gender Effects in Exerting Obedience in Milgram’s Experiment

StatusVoR
Dublin Core metadata
Alternative title
Authors
Grzyb, Tomasz
Doliński, Dariusz
Cantarero, Katarzyna
Monograph
Monograph (alternative title)
Date
2025-06-23
Publisher
Journal title
Social Psychology
Issue
2
Volume
56
Pages
Pages
85-97
DOI
ISSN
1864-9335
ISSN of series
Weblink
https://econtent.hogrefe.com/doi/10.1027/1864-9335/a000575
Access date
2025-06-23
Abstract PL
Abstract EN
Previous studies employing Milgram’s paradigm have reported no gender differences between “learners” and “teachers” in the administration and receipt of punishment. However, the potential influence of the experimenter’s gender on obedience remains underexplored. To address this gap, we conducted two studies. Study 1 was a laboratory experiment (N = 80) using the obedience lite paradigm. The results revealed no significant effect of the experimenter’s gender on compliance rates: 88% of participants complied with a female experimenter, compared to 90% with a male experimenter. Study 2 was an online experiment (N = 793) in which participants were asked to imagine receiving instructions from either a male or female professor to administer electric shocks. As in the laboratory study, the imagined gender of the authority figure had no significant impact on participants' reported willingness to obey. Across both studies, obedience levels were statistically equivalent regardless of the experimenter’s gender. These findings suggest that gender does not meaningfully influence obedience – whether in actual or hypothetical contexts – thus enriching our understanding of the gender dynamics underlying responses to authority.
Abstract other
Keywords PL
Keywords EN
gender
obedience
power
social influence
Milgram’s experiment
authority
Keywords other
Exhibition title
Place of exhibition (institution)
Exhibition curator
URI
https://share.swps.edu.pl/handle/swps/1558
Type
License type
cc-by
Except as otherwise noted, this item is licensed under the Attribution licence | Permitted use of copyrighted works
Funder
Time range from
Time range to
Contact person name
Related publication
Related publication
Grant/project name
Files
pdf
Authority Knows No Gender.pdf(523.54 KB)
Download
Views
Views6
Acquisition Date3.08.2025
Downloads
Downloads1
Acquisition Date3.08.2025
Altmetrics©
Dimensions
Google Scholar
Google Scholar