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

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Authors
Grzyb, Tomasz
Doliński, Dariusz
Cantarero, Katarzyna
Monograph
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Date
2025-06-23
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Journal title
Social Psychology
Issue
2
Volume
56
Pages
Pages
85-97
DOI
ISSN
1864-9335
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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.
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Keywords PL
Keywords EN
gender
obedience
power
social influence
Milgram’s experiment
authority
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https://share.swps.edu.pl/handle/swps/1558
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cc-by
Except as otherwise noted, this item is licensed under the Attribution licence | Permitted use of copyrighted works
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