Using a modern replication of Milgram’s obedience paradigm, the study investigates whether the gender of the authority figure influences willingness to deliver harmful shocks. Across a lab-based and an online Polish sample, obedience was high and nearly identical for female and male professors (88% vs 90%), indicating gender did not meaningfully affect compliance. The findings suggest that the perceived power of professional status can override gender stereotypes in leadership contexts.
The work is of interest to psychology because it challenges assumptions about gender and leadership in determining obedience to authority, and it examines how hierarchy and situational cues shape moral action. It also integrates traditional and digital methods to explore how sexism and authoritarian beliefs relate to compliance.
Article Title: Female leaders command equal obedience in a modern replication of the Milgram experiment
Link to PsyPost Article: https://nolinkpreview.com/www.psypost.org/people-will-follow-harmful-orders-regardless-of-an-authority-figure-s-gender/
#Milgram #Obedience #GenderStereotypes #Authority #PsychologyResearch
