0.4 Obedience - Milgram

what is obedience

a type of social influence which causes someone to act in response to an order given by another person

that other person usually has power or authority

who studied obedience

Milgram

give key facts of Milgram’s study

• 40 men paid to take part

• experimenter in lab coat

• electric shock generator (15-450V)

• administer shock if actor gave incorrect answer

• at 300V the learner pounded on the wall and then had no further reaction

• the experiment would issue further prompts if they seemed reluctant - ‘essential’ ‘no choice’ ‘requires’

what were the results of Milgram’s study

• 100% participants went up to at least 300V

• 65% gave shocks up to 450V

• most participants showed clear signs of distress

why is Milgram’s experiment okay though it’s unethical

at the time the ethical guidelines did not exist

he defended his work because of this and as he did not expect the dramatic effects

what are the main ethical guidelines

• informed consent

• deception

• confidentiality

• debriefing

• right to withdraw

• protection from harm

research support for Milgram

replicated - Hofling -nurses

what was Hofling’s research

• 22 nurses

• telephoned by doctor to give 20mg of drug when the bottle says the limit is 10mg

• 21/22 obeyed and prepared dosage before they were stopped

• shows real life importance

what situational variables did Milgram use

• proximity

• location

• uniform

what did he find with proximity

when teacher and learner were in adjoining rooms obedience = 65%

when they were in the same room = 40%

when teacher forced their hand onto plate (touch) = 30%

by telephone = 20.5%

what did he find with location

in prestigious setting - Yale university = 65%

in run-down office downtown = 47.5%

what did he find with uniform

experimenter wore lab coat = 65%

experimenter role played by confederate = 20%

who’s research supports uniform as a situational variable

Bickman

what was Bickman’s research

tested ecological validity of milgrams work by doing it in a more realistic setting

tested 153 random pedestrians

given order by uniform of policeman (guard uniform), milkman, civilian

what did Bickman’s research find

80% participants obeyed police officer

40% obeyed the other 2 uniforms

what was an additional variation to milgrams study

social support

what did he do/find with social support

added 2 confederates alongside participant (teacher) and at a certain point they refused to continue

obedience levels dropped

only 10% took shocks to the highest level