Milgram’s study on obedience (Booklet 10)

Define obedience

A form of social influence in which an individual follows a direct order. The person issuing the order is usually a figure of authority, who has the power to punish when obedient behaviour is not forthcoming.

Why did Milgram want to study obedience? (what inspired him?)

• He wanted to know why such a high proportion of German people supported Hitler’s plan.

• Wondered if Germans were more obedient than other nationalities.

Briefly outline the procedure of Milgram’s original study

• Recruited participants who arrived at the lab and were “randomly” given the role of the ‘teacher’

• A confederate was always given the role of the ‘learner’ (participants made to think learner was also a participant)

• There was also an ‘experimenter’ (confederate) dressed in a lab coat in the room with the participant

• Participants were told they could leave the study at any time

• Participants made to believe they were delivering electric shocks (ranging from 15-450 Volts) to the ‘learner’ when they made a mistake on the learning task (matching word pairs)

• The shocks were demonstrated to the teacher, after that the shocks were not real

• When the participant delivered 300 volts (intense shock) the learner pounded on the wall and then gave no response to the next question

• No response was treated as a wrong answer

Outline key information about the participants in Milgram’s original study:

• How many were there?

• How were they recruited?

• How diverse were the participants?

• What reward did they receive for participating?

• 40 participants

• Newspaper adverts and flyers in the post

• All males, aged between 20-50 years, large range of jobs (unskilled to professional)

• $4.50 an hour

What were the results of Milgram’s study? Include both qualitative and quantitative data.

Quantitative data

• No participants stopped below 300 volts

• 12.5% of participants stopped at 300 volts (intenses shock)

• 65% of participants continued to the highest level at 450 volts (labelled danger severe shock)

Qualitative data

• Observations that showed participants had signs of extreme tension: sweating, trembling, stuttering

• 3 of the participants had full blown seizures

What predictions did the psychology students make about the experiment?

That no more than 3% of participants would continue to 450 volts

What percentage of participants were glad to have taken part when they received their full debrief?

84%

What did Milgram conclude about obedience on the basis of his findings?

That ordinary people are surprisingly likely to obey authority figures, even when those orders conflict with their own moral beliefs.

How generalisable is Milgram’s study? Why is this a strength/weakness of his explanation?

Weakness: Cannot accurately apply findings to whole population as only a certain group was tested

Less generalisable factors:

• Only 40 participants

• All participants were American males

• Participants were aged between 20-50 years, so only young to middle aged adults participated

More generalisable factors:

• Participants had a large range of jobs from unskilled to professional

How replicable is Milgram’s study? Outline a replication that has been done and explain why this is a strength of Milgram’s explanation.

High replicability as similar results have been attained from other research. This means Milgram’s results are more reliable, so is a strength.

Example:

• Hofling et al. (1966)

• Studied nurses on a ward

• Found 21/22 nurses obeyed unjustifiable orders given to them

• For example: administering amounts of a drug that would kill someone

• Study had good external validity as situation had higher mundane realism

What implications has Milgram’s research got for society? Why is this a strength of Milgram’s explanation of obedience?

• Allowed us to find that we are more obedient than we thought

• This is a strength as it means if we are aware of our obedience, so we can change (could help prevent groups like Nazis gaining a following again)

What ethical issues are there with Milgram’s research? Why is this a limitation of his research?

• Deception: Participants were lied to about the aim of the study

• Protection from harm: 3 participants suffered seizures and all participants were put in a stressful, pressured situation

• Right to withdraw: Participants put under pressure from experimenter to continue (even when asking to stop)