Document Type

Undergraduate Thesis

Publication Date

Spring 5-2022

Journal

Undergraduate Honours Theses

Abstract

While authority has been extensively studied by psychological researchers, there is a clear gap in the literature examining how authority works within research itself. Specifically, the current study examines how the attire of researchers affects participants’ obedience to their directives and participant perceptions of the researcher. The final sample of participants in the current study included 49 people, ages 17-54 years. Participants were shown a video of a researcher explaining the current study, with the researcher wearing either casual clothing, formal wear, or a white lab coat uniform. The researcher asked participants to give maximum effort on a series of tracing tasks that followed. The final tracing task was impossible, and the amount of time participants persevered on the task was operationalized as a proxy for obedience. Participants were then asked to rate the researcher on several measures, including scales for competence and warmth. The only significant finding in the current study was a correlation between competence and warmth ratings. Strengths and weaknesses of the current study are discussed, including the researchers’ concerns with the use of perseverance as a proxy for obedience, with some of the other stimuli in the study, and with online research in general. Avenues for future research into authority in psychological research is also discussed.

Notes

Thesis Advisor(s):
Dr. Irene Cheung

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

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Psychology Commons

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