Obedience

What scientist studied obedience

Milgram - Shock experiment

In Milgrams shock experiment WHAT% of participants obeyed the experimenter to the max 450 volts switch

In Milgrams shock experiment 65% of participants obeyed the experimenter to the max 450 volts switch

Milgram argues that there were three factors at work in contexts where obedience was high

1. WHAT

2. WHAT

3. WHAT

Milgram argues that there were three factors at work in contexts where obedience was high

1. Cultural norm to obey authority

2. Requests to obey increasingly immoral acts was gradual

3. Shift in agency

Cultural norm to obey authority

People expect authority figures to be trustworthy and legitimate

Requests to obey increasingly immoral acts was gradual

Because the experiment was lengthy, people didn’t notice when they started shocking at lethal levels 

Shift in agency

People no longer regarded themselves as personally responsible but attributed the responsibility (agency) to others in the context (similar to diffusion of responsibility)

What are the three main determinants of obedience

1. WHAT

2. WHAT

3. WHAT

What are the three main determinants of obedience

1. Status

2. Proximity

3. Social support

Satus

high level of obedience observed in Milgram’s experiment (well known scientists - experiment done in a lab) suggest that participants were not just blindly following the orders of someone else but in fact taking other relevant factors into account 

Status

• Again attribution of WHAT makes us more likely to be persuaded

Status

• Again attribution of CREDIBILITY makes us more likely to be persuaded

Social support

Higher obedience when there were additional teachers who were confederates and were fully obedient - but if the other confederate rebelled obedience reduced

Social support is so powerful it helps people resist compliance when faced with both WHAT pressure to conform to social norms and WHAT orders from an authority figure

Social support is so powerful it helps people resist compliance when faced with both IMPLICIT pressure to conform to social norms and EXPLICIT orders from an authority figure

Proximity

• When the participants and the victim were in the same room, it reduced obedience by 40%, and it was reduced further when the participant was forced to touch the victim physically by placing the victim’s hand on the electric plate 

• Additionally, proximity of the experimenter - when orders were given by phone, obedience dropped 20%