An Exploration on Lewis Goldberg’sFive Factor Model in Association with Obedience
As often beyond what is of a simple explanation, behavior is determined through complex intertwinements of internal and external factors as well as individual differences (Paulhus, Delroy. “Trait Psychology.” CIRS building at the University of British Columbia. Vancouver. 25 January 2016. Lecture.). In the case of obedience to authority, behavior is, without exception, dependent on several intervening factors (Paulhus, Delroy. “Obedience.” CIRS building at the University of British Columbia. Vancouver. 24 February 2016. Lecture.) In the interest of such topic, my scope of my research lies on individual personality in relation to overt behaviors that are of obedient …show more content…
An individual who is neurotic show a tendency to be “anxious, insecure, guilt-prone and self-conscious” (Lindsay et al, 476). Prior to one version of Milgram’s experiment, which involves a subject teacher delivering noise shocks to a confederate learner, Zeigler-Hill et al report that subjects are surveyed by means of the completion of a neuroticism personality inventory test, which “consists of eight items that are rated on scales ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree)” (Zeigler-Hill et al, 165). Agreeing withtheir prediction, Zeigler-Hill et al find that subjects who “required more prods to continue [have indeed] also reported experiencing higher levels of negative [emotion] during the session” (168). In other words, the result reveals that “individuals who have reported more negative emotions during the session were more [unwilling to obey the experimenter’s instructions]” (Ibid). Zeigler-Hill et al have also identified that these negative emotions experienced by the subjects are only “associated with the reluctance to obey for individuals with low levels of neuroticism” (Ibid). A potential explanation here may be that, based on Lindsay et al’s description of neuroticism, people who have low levels of neuroticism may experience less anxiousness for not abiding by authority’s decisions or commands – especially for those subject teachers who …show more content…
From one perspective, Agreeableness and Conscientiousness, in terms of personality dimensions, are of cardinal importance in explaining the higher levels of obedience in inflicting pain on others. However, another perspective highlights Neuroticism for the reason being. As forobserving results of contrasting nature, more research is required to amass supplementary knowledge. Specifically, it is seen that the sample size of Toepfer et al 's study is quite limited, which may or may not be generalizable to an entire population. Further studies should build on by addressing children and adults in cohort-based longitudinal studies to be able to better observe understand, for example, developmental changes that affect obedience should they exist.
In addition, the situation in which individuals score highly on Agreeableness, Conscientiousness and Neuroticism is not at all of investigation in relation to obedience. Further research, thus, should also be targeted atunderstanding how obedience is likely to be affected under the influence of multi-dimensional personalities should it be
As often beyond what is of a simple explanation, behavior is determined through complex intertwinements of internal and external factors as well as individual differences (Paulhus, Delroy. “Trait Psychology.” CIRS building at the University of British Columbia. Vancouver. 25 January 2016. Lecture.). In the case of obedience to authority, behavior is, without exception, dependent on several intervening factors (Paulhus, Delroy. “Obedience.” CIRS building at the University of British Columbia. Vancouver. 24 February 2016. Lecture.) In the interest of such topic, my scope of my research lies on individual personality in relation to overt behaviors that are of obedient …show more content…
An individual who is neurotic show a tendency to be “anxious, insecure, guilt-prone and self-conscious” (Lindsay et al, 476). Prior to one version of Milgram’s experiment, which involves a subject teacher delivering noise shocks to a confederate learner, Zeigler-Hill et al report that subjects are surveyed by means of the completion of a neuroticism personality inventory test, which “consists of eight items that are rated on scales ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree)” (Zeigler-Hill et al, 165). Agreeing withtheir prediction, Zeigler-Hill et al find that subjects who “required more prods to continue [have indeed] also reported experiencing higher levels of negative [emotion] during the session” (168). In other words, the result reveals that “individuals who have reported more negative emotions during the session were more [unwilling to obey the experimenter’s instructions]” (Ibid). Zeigler-Hill et al have also identified that these negative emotions experienced by the subjects are only “associated with the reluctance to obey for individuals with low levels of neuroticism” (Ibid). A potential explanation here may be that, based on Lindsay et al’s description of neuroticism, people who have low levels of neuroticism may experience less anxiousness for not abiding by authority’s decisions or commands – especially for those subject teachers who …show more content…
From one perspective, Agreeableness and Conscientiousness, in terms of personality dimensions, are of cardinal importance in explaining the higher levels of obedience in inflicting pain on others. However, another perspective highlights Neuroticism for the reason being. As forobserving results of contrasting nature, more research is required to amass supplementary knowledge. Specifically, it is seen that the sample size of Toepfer et al 's study is quite limited, which may or may not be generalizable to an entire population. Further studies should build on by addressing children and adults in cohort-based longitudinal studies to be able to better observe understand, for example, developmental changes that affect obedience should they exist.
In addition, the situation in which individuals score highly on Agreeableness, Conscientiousness and Neuroticism is not at all of investigation in relation to obedience. Further research, thus, should also be targeted atunderstanding how obedience is likely to be affected under the influence of multi-dimensional personalities should it be