About the lecture

In this lecture, we think about how you as a psychologist would look to explore the factors impacting obedience, focusing in particular on: (i) a recap from Bocchiaro’s results, wherein participants predicted that themselves and others would not obey; (ii) the reductionist nature of scientific practice, through refining variables and breaking down constructs to observe effects of the dependent variable; (iii) approaching differentiating and breaking down the dependent variables of obedience and disobedience, as well as the independent variable of gender; (iv) Cialdini’s 2015 findings that people believe they are less likely to be influenced than they actually are; (v) the importance of recognising that the impact that gender has on behaviours surrounding obedience can be greatly influenced by the individual/cultural perceptions of that gender’s power dynamic in society; (vi) recognising the differences in impacts of gender and sex, while acknowledging the influence they can have on each other; (vii) the key points of assessment that would be required to complete this study.

About the lecturer

Dr Ayoub Bouguettaya is a lecturer in the School of Psychology at the University of Birmingham. Dr Bouguettaya’s research interests are in social psychology and how knowledge from that field can be applied to others, particularly health, including how we can apply social identity theory to societal problems, as well as investigating the different perspectives one might take on those issues. Some of Dr Bouguettaya’s recent publications include 'The relationship between gambling advertising and gambling attitudes, intentions and behaviours: a critical and meta-analytic review' (2020) and 'The Effect of a Food Addiction Explanation Model for Weight Control and Obesity on Weight Stigma' (2020).