obedience

what is obedience to authority?

“A type of social influence whereby somebody acts in response to a direct order from a figure with perceived authority”

What was the aim of Milgram (1963) experiment?

To investigate what level of obedience would be shown when participants were told by a figure of authority to administer electric shocks to another person.

Milgram hypothesis was that americans would not show high level of obedience

What were the samples of Milgram (1963) experiment?

• Volunteer sample

• 40 male participants between 20-50 from the same area

• They answered a newspaper advertisement

• paid $4.50 just for turning up to yale

What was the procedure of Milgram (1963) experiment?

• subjects were told that they would be participating into a study if learning and memory- effect of punishment on learning (pps were deceived which raises ethical questions)

• There were two roles: learner and teacher told by An experimenter wearing a lab coat

• a rigged draw meant the real pps would always be the teacher.

• The learner was a confederate- they were taken to another room and the pps were shown the confederate being strapped to a chair and having electrodes placed on their head.

• Teachers were then taken to another room and shown a shock generator which was fake but looked and sounded real

• they were given a sample 45V shock to that they knew what it felt like

• The experimenter told pps that their job was was to teach learners a list and if the learner repeated one of the list items incorrectly then the teacher was to give them a shock.

• the volt went up to 450- which milgram placed a warning on the shock that said ‘XXX’

As shocks increased, recordings of the learner complaining were played.

At 300 volts they pounded on the wall and screamed in agony.

the experimenter would use prod to urge to teacher to continue

the experiment ended when pps refused to continue the experiment when the experimenter had used all four prods or had given the 450 volts 4 3 times

what were pps told in the debrief in Milgram (1963) study

they were told about the true nature of the experiment and were introduced to the learner so they could see they were infact not hurt.

There were reassured that their performance was normal

what are the findings of Milgram (1963) experiment?

• all pps gave shock up to 300v level

• 65% continued up to the maximum level of 450v even though they knew it may be fatal

• most pps showed extreme tension such swearing; stuttering, nervous laughter and one seizure

How did Milgram try and address the ethical issues of his experiment?

• by debriefing all pps and reassuring them about their behaviour and reunited with the learner (who was a confederate acting)

• one year later, 40 participants were interviewed by a psychiatrist who concluded that none of them had suffered long term harm.

what were Orne & Holland (1968) criticism towards Milgram experiment?

1. the participants realised that it was a sham and knew they weren’t really giving shocks

2. the pps obeyed because of the lab conditions simply doing as it was expected of them. They responded to demand characteristics

3. obedience was due to payment in advance and the idea that contract had been entered

what was Milgram defence to Orne & Holland (1968)

1. 70% of pps in later studies report afterward that they thought it was genuine

2. Milgram was trying to show that the situations we find ourselves in could cause obedience. In a way- it was a study into demand characteristics obedience

3. payment happens in everyday life- the SS were paid for their service in WW2

Why does Milgram (1963) study lack ecological validity?

the situation was unlikely to occur in everyday life therefore the results could not be generalised to the real world.

However, Milgram states that the pps clearly believed the situation was real due to distress experienced by pps so the experiment had mundane realism.

why does Milgeam (1963) study lack generalisability?

the sample was unrepresentative, since only men and people from one town were used. There was also an age restriction on who could apply and the sample was volunteer (so only one personality type)

what were the variations of Milgram (1963) study?

1. Change of location to a run down office

2. teacher forces learner hand onto place

3. experimenter gave orders by phone

4. experimenter played by ‘member of public’

how did proximity effect the results of Milgram (1963) experiment when teacher and learned were seated in the same room?

percentage of pps who went to 450 volts dropped from 65% to 40% due to the teacher being able to experience the learner’s pain more directly

how did the results change in the variation of Milgram (1963) experiment were the teacher had to physically force the learner hand directly?

The percentage dropped a further 30%

how does the proximity of the authority figure in Milgram (1963) effect the level of obedience?

in this variation, after the experimenter had given initial instructions, they left the room and all other instructions were provided over the phone. In this variation pps were more likely to defy the experimenter and only 21% administered the 450 volts

how did location effect Milgram (1963) experiment

Percentage of pps who administered the full 450 volts dropped from 65% to 47.5%.

This Highlights the impact of location on obedience, with less credible location resulting in a reduction in the level of obedience

How did Milgram test the power of uniform?

In this variation, the experimenter was called away and replaced by a confederate in ordinary clothes

what were the results in the variation of uniform in Milgram study?

pps who administered the full 450 volts dropped from 65% to just 20%

whats agentic state

it’s when an individual carried out orders of an authority figure and acts as their ‘agent’ with little personal responsibility

how were pps coxed into the agentic state in Milgram (1963) experiment?

in the original experiment, they were told that the experimented had full responsibility and therefore they could act as an agent, and carrying out the experiments order

what’s an autonomously state

carry out orders from authority with no responsibility

whats an agentic shift

occurs when changing from an autonomous to an agentic state

what are binding factors

aspects of the situation that allows the individual to ignore the damaging effect of their behaviour and keep them in a agentic state

what are examples of binding factors

by shifting the responsibility to the victim, denying the damage that was done or feeling obligated to continue due to payment received

what is legitimacy of authority

refers to the belief that a person or institution has the rightful power to give orders, and that others ought to obey those orders.

what was Bickman (1974) experiment?

he investigated the power of uniform in a field experiment in new york.

He advices three male actors dressed as either: a milkman, a security guard and one in ordinary clothes.

The actors asked members of the public to follow one of three instructions: pick up a bag, give someone money for parking meter, stand on the other side of the bus stop which said “no standing”

what were the findings of Bickman (1974) experiment?

on average, the security guard was obeyed on 89% of occasions.

the milkman of 57%

the pedestrian 33%

what do the findings in Bickman(1974) suggest?

that people are more likely to obey when instructed by someone wearing a uniform. This is because uniform infers a sense of legitimate authority and power.

How did Hofling (1966) conduct his experiment?

nurses in hospital were given orders from an unknown doctor over the telephone to administer a dose of unknown medication above the maximum allowance. The nurses were observed, they would be breaking the hospital rules if they administered the drug.

what were the findings of Hofling (1966) experiment?

21 out of 22 nurses obeyed without hesitation.

what was Hofling suggestion on the results?

that hierarchies are able to pressure people into obedience without question

what are evaluation points of Bickman (1974) experiment

1. support the findings of Milgram

2. has good ecological validity since it’s a field experiment

3. not a rappresentative sample since it only tests those who happened to be in the streets at the time

what are evaluation points of Hofling (1966) experiment

1. ethics- no consent given since they were decided and had no right to withdraw

2. has good ecological validity since its in a real life setting- has mundane realism

3. perhaps goes further than milgram findings as it still shows very high obedience

what is authoritarian personality

a distinct personality pattern characterised by devotion to conventional values and belief in absolute obedience to authority. Individuals with this personality were rigid thinkers who obeyed authority, saw the world as black and white and enforced strict adherence to social rules and hierarchies

who developed the F-scale

Adorno et al (1950)

what were the findings from the F scale?

Adorno et al (1950) found that individuals who scored highly on the F-scale tended to have been raised by parents who used an authoritarian parenting style.