obedience

what is one reson to why we obey

legitmacy of authority

What does obedience mean

When we follow direct orders from someone who we feel has power and authority over us

what is legitiamcy of authoruity

this theory proposes that people are more likely to obey orders when they percieve the authority figure as legitmate and as soemone who holds power over them

why is legitmacy of authority a thing

socirty grants power to people who are more of knwoledge and tend to have a high status in society. indiciuadlas tend to trust these figures as they beleive they have the right to direct others behaviours,

how does lgeitmacy of authoruty link with milgram study

• In Milgram’s original study at Yale University, 65% of participants administered the full 450 volts.

• When the study was conducted in a run-down building in Bridgeport, Connecticut, obedience dropped to 48%.

  • The change in location reduced the perceived legitimacy of the authority.

  • Participants were less likely to trust the experiment.

• When the experimenter was replaced by another "participant" in ordinary clothes, obedience dropped further to 20%.

  • The lack of a uniform and unclear authority reduced credibility.

  • Participants were far less likely to obey.

what is one ther explanation of obedience

agentic state

what is agentic state

A psychological condition where individuals see themselves as agents executing another person's orders, thereby reducing personal responsibility for their actions. they put their perosnal resposnivility to the authroity and that makes them feel less guilty.

why does agentic state happen

happens because of the shift form the autonomous state (where they feel repsonsible for their own actions) to the agentic state. ( an agent that is acting in behvalf of another)- caled agentic shift

why does agentic shift happen

people percve the authority figure as soemone who has greater power cuz they have a high psotiion is a social hierachy.

how might a perosn who is epxriencign the agentic shift feel

feel in moral strain - where an indivual ahs t obey orders that conflict wotht hteir moral values and even tho thye migh wxperince anziety they will still continue to obey.

what are the 3 situational factors that effect obedience

• proximity of the authority figure

• location

• uniform

• prximity of the vicitm

what is and how does the rpoximity of the authority figure and vicitm effect obeidence

refers tot he closeness of the authoruty figure and or victim to the p. people are more likely to obey when the authoirty figure is lcoser to them. and they are less likely to obey when when the victim is closer.

how does the proximity of the vicitm with ilgrams obedience study

in one variation when teacher and learner were in the same room, obedience level dropped form 65 to 40%.

why in one variation when teacher and learner were in the same room, obedience level dropped form 65 to 40%.

because the teacher (p) was able to witness and experience the learners pain more directly. This increased emotional conflict made it harder for participants to obey the authority's instructions to inflict pain.

how deos rpximity of authoriatna figure link woth milgram study

In one variation, after the experimenter had given the initial instructions they left the room. All instructions were provided over the phone. In this variation participants were more likely to defy the experimenter and only 21% of the participants administers the full 450 volts.

how doe slocation effect obedience and link to milgram study

people are more likley to obey in a lcoation that holds authoirty. evident in milgram study, where milgram decided to do expeirment ina rundown builing instead of uni, , obedience decreased from 65 to 47.5%.

how deos uniform affect obedience and link it to milgram study

people are more liekly to obey people woth uniforms on. this is made evident rams studyw, percentage of p who adinitstered the full 450 volts when bieng intrcuted by ordinary man, dropped from 65 to 20%.

what research study supports uniform and obedience

Bickman 1974

Outline procedures and findings of Beckmann 1974 research

Investigated the power of uniform

In a field experiment

Used 3 male actors - one dressed asa milkman,security guard and one in ordinary clothes

Actors asked member of public to follow one of the three instructions - to pick up a bag,give someone money for a parking meter and stand on another side of the bus stop that said no standing

He found that guard was obeyed on 76% of the locations, the milkman on 47% and the pedestrian on 30%.

Results suggests people are likely to obey someone who is wearing a uniform. Cuz uniforms infers legitimacy of authority

outline the procedure and the finding of milgram study

To investigate onceice to authority, exploring whether indivials would obey instructions to harm another person because of an authoritarian figure who told them to

Study involved 40 male p who aged between 20 -50 who were recruited through newspaper advertising. Volunteer sampling

The p and confederate choose slips from a hat to determine their roles

The drawing was rigged so the p always chose out as a teacher . The p was always the first to choose.

Ensured that the confederate was always the learner

Th eke arbor was taken into a seperate room and strapped onto an electric chair

The teacher and the experimenter (confederate) went into a seperate room next door that contained the electric shock generator.

Experimenter told teacher to give the learner an electric shock if they answered the question wrong. The shock arranged form 50-450 volts each increasing ever time. Socks were not real

12.5% of p stopped giving electric shocks at 300 v and 65% continued at the highest level (450)

Study demonstrated that ordinary people are Leila’s to obey authority figures even when their orders conflict with their moral beliefs.

What are the 2 ctriism of milgram study

Milgram’s study has been criticised for lacking ecological validity. Milgram tested obedience in a laboratory, which is very different to real-life situations of obedience, where people are often asked to follow more subtle instructions, rather than administering electric shocks. As a result we are unable to generalise his findings to real life situations of obedience and cannot conclude that people would obey less severe instructions in the same way

ANDROCENTRIC and

lacked population validity. used a bias sample of 40 male volunteers, which means we are unable to generalise the results to other populations, in particular females, and cannot conclude if female participants would respond in a similar way.

what are strengths of milgram research

high control of IV and done under controlled lab condition. -

Can easily be replicated, therefore reliability can be assessed.

• It is easier to control the variables, so that it is only the independent variable that is being manipulated.

• Can determine whether the IV does cause the DV to change, causal conclusions can be drawn.

what are the dispositional factors (internal) affecting obedience and how does it affect obedience

one factor is authoritarian personality. this personality type is characterized by a strong adherence to conventional values and obedience to authority. Individuals with authoritarian personalities are more likely to obey orders from authority figures.

expalins adorno et als study

investigated more than 2000 middle class white americans and their unconscious attitudes towards other ethinic groups. developed the F-scale (Fascism Scale) to measure authoritarian tendencies in individuals.

they found that those with high F-scale scores tended to have an authoritarian personality, which correlated with a higher likelihood of obeying authority figures and were focused on status (their own and others)

origins of authoritarian personality from adorno

The Authoritarian Personality develops from harsh, conditional parenting in childhood, leading to repressed hostility that is displaced onto weaker groups through scapegoating.

criticsm and support of adorno study

It is possible that the F scale suffers from response bias or social desirability, where participants provide answers that are socially acceptable. For example, participants may appear more authoritarian because they believe that their answers are the socially ‘correct’ and consequently they are incorrectly classified as authoritarian when they are not.

Support:

• Obedient participants from Milgram’s study scored higher on the F-scale (measuring authoritarian traits) than disobedient participants.

• This aligns with Adorno’s theory, suggesting a link between obedience and authoritarian personality traits.

Counterpoint:

• Obedient participants lacked key authoritarian characteristics (e.g., no father glorification, no harsh childhood punishment, no hostility toward mothers).

• This inconsistency weakens the claim that authoritarianism reliably predicts obedience.

Conclusion: While there’s some correlation, the differences make authoritarian personality an incomplete explanation for obedience.

to expalantions of resistnace to social control

SOCIAL SUPPORT

someone not following the majority - social support.

if anohter perosn is seen to disobey. persons disobedience acts as a model for other people to copy and this frees them and the perosn to act form their own conscience and disobey the authoritarian figure.

LOCUS OF CONTROL

refers to an individual's belief about the extent of control they have over events in their lives.

internal - they have contorl over themselves and things that happen are because of them

external - believe that hting shappen outisde thier control

peoplw with high internla LOC sre more liekly resist social pressures to obey/conform they take responsibility for their actions and are more likely to base their decisions off of their own beliefs. They are also seen to be more intelligent so don't require social approval from others

minoruty infleucne

a minority influences the beliefs and behvaiours of the majority. msot likely to lead to internalisation.

expalin the process of minority influence

consistency - over time there consistency increases the amount of interest form other people. a consistent minority makes othe r poeple think their own views, can take form in people agreeing with each other through

synchronic consistency - there all saying the same thing and over time..

dychrnoic consistency - saying the same thing for a long time

committment - must show commitment to their belifs ad=nd may do silly actions that will get the majoities attention. (augemtnation pricnciple)

felxibiltiy - adapt point of view and accept valid and reosnable counterarguments

describe moscovisci study

He wanted to see if a consistent minority could influence a majority to give an incorrect answer, in a colour perception task.

sample consisted of 172 female participants who were told that they were taking part in a colour perception task. The participants were placed in groups of six and shown 36 slides, which were all varying shades of blue. The participants had state out loud the colour of each slide.

Two of the six participants were confederates and in one condition (consistent) the two confederates said that all 36 slides were green; in the second condition (inconsistent) the confederates said that 24 of the slides were green and 12 were blue.

Moscovici found that in the consistent condition, the real participants agreed on 8.2% of the trials, whereas in the inconsistent condition, the real participants only agreed on 1.25% of the trials. This shows that a consistent minority is 6.95% more effective than an inconsistent minority and that consistency is an important factor in minority influence.

howe does minority/social influence cause social change

consistentcy, commitemrn and flexibiltiy

The Snowball Effect

As minority views begin to gain traction, a snowball effect occurs. Initially, only a few individuals adopt the minority view, but as these new converts spread the message, the rate of change increases. Eventually, the minority position becomes widespread and, at some point, reaches a tipping point where it is accepted by the majority.

Social Cryptoamnesia

Once social change is established, social cryptoamnesia may occur. This is when people remember that a change has taken place but forget the origin of the change or that it was once a minority position. The new belief becomes embedded as a social norm, and people may forget that it initially faced opposition. For instance, attitudes toward smoking in public spaces have shifted dramatically, but many now take this for granted, often forgetting the original efforts of anti-smoking campaigners.

ISI AND NSI on socila change

ISI can lead to social change by spreading awareness and knowledge on certain issues, particularly through education and media.

NSI can reinforce new norms once they reach a critical level of acceptance. For example, recycling and environmental behaviours have become socially desirable. As more people engage in these practices, others conform to avoid being seen as environmentally irresponsible.

obedience on social change

Legitimacy of Authority

When laws or guidelines are issued by legitimate authorities (e.g., governments, health organisations), people are more likely to obey and follow them. For instance, the introduction of laws mandating seat belt use, banning smoking indoors, or implementing lockdown measures for public health relied on the perceived legitimacy of government authority.

Gradual Commitment

The gradual commitment effect, sometimes called the "foot-in-the-door" technique, can lead to larger changes over time. If individuals are asked to make a small commitment initially, they are more likely to comply with more significant changes later. This technique is often used in social campaigns where initial, minor actions (e.g., signing a petition) may later lead to larger commitments to the cause.