Obedience

Obedience

• change behaviour to follow demands of other

• to avoid negative consequences

Overview of Milgrams Research into Obedience

• 20-50 males

• voluntary recruitment

• disception = ‘randomly’ selected as teacher or learner

• seperated from learner but with experimenters

• increase severe shock everytime mistake made

• 15V to 450V

• 300V learner pounded on wall

• 315V learner not respond

• 4 prods of investigators ‘please continue’

Results of Milgrams Research into Obedience

• 100% up to 300V

• 65% up to 450V (deadly)

Conclusion of Milgrams Research into Obedience

• ordinary people likely to follow orders

• given by authority figure

• even to extent of killing someone

Social-Psychological Variables as an Explanation of Obedience

• agentic state

• legitimacy of authority

What does the Agentic State explain

• why people go against conscience

• do as told even if causes themselves distress

What is the other Mode of Social Conscience

autonomous state

What is the Autonomous State

• act according to own conscience

• feel responsible for actions

• vast majority behave decent to each other

What is the Agentic State

• no longer independent

• act according to instructions from someone else

• justify behaviour by saying they act on instruction

What causes a shift in states

• autonomous into agentic

• confronted with authority figure

• agentic shift

How is Moral Strain caused

• obey order that goes against our conscience

• have to do something believe is immoral

• so as to function as agent of authority

What makes people believe they can’t stop

• binding factors

• aspects of situation

• allow person to minimise negative effect of their behaviour

• shift responsibility to victim and authority

• deny damage their doing

Self-Support Research strength of Legitimate Authority

• Milgram obedience research

• more likely obey researcher in Yale (65%) than rundown office (45%)

• suggests obey more when perceive figure of authority to have legitimate authority and social power

Research Support strength of Legitimate Authority

• Bickman asked pedestrians in NY to lend money for parking meter

• obey 49% in street clothes

• obey 92% in security uniform

• follow unusual orders if see individual as having true authority and social power

Personality criticism of Legitimate Authority

• not explain disobedience in hierarchy

• Hoflings nurse replicated to face to face of familiar doctor

• give overdose of familiar drug 2/18 obeyed

• some people more or less obedient than others so personality over situational factors

Internal Validity criticism of Milgrams Research

• participants guessed shocks weren’t real

• demand characteristics

• Milgram not measuring intended obedience

• little understanding of obedience

Research Support strength of Agentic Shift

• Milgram majority will follow instructions even against conscious

• Blass and Schmitt saw Milgrams study blamed experimenter

• showed participants saw those participants as agents of authority

• normal people act callous and inhumane historically

Alternative criticism of Agentic Shift

• obey authority figure

• due to personality rather than situation

• agency theory can’t explain disobedience

• 1/3 participants in Milgrams study disobeyed

What are the Situational Factors affecting Obedience

• proximity (learner and teacher in one room)

• location

• uniform

Overview of Proximity

• researcher left room

• orders given over telephone

• reduce pressure to obey

Result of Proximity

from 65% to 21%

Overview of Location

• run-down office

• location gave confidence in integrity of people involved

• prestige or status associated with location

Result of Proximity

from 65% to 48%

Overview of Uniform

• authority figures tend to have specific outfit

• symbolic of their authority and as a sign to people

• experimenter called away

• replaced with ordinary member of public

• everyday clothes not lab coat

Result of Uniform

from 65% to 20%

Results of all Situational Factors

• proximity = 21%

• location = 48%

• uniform = 20%

Research Support strength of Situational Variables

• Bickman uniform affects obedience

• field experiment with naive participants

• ecological validity since lack awareness

Standardised strength of Situational Variables

• standardised procedure in variations

• results easy to compare

• replicable

• reliable

Acting criticism of Situational Variables

• proximity condition requiring teacher to force learners hand on shock plate

• requires convincing acting

• any suspicion would impact validity of findings

Abuse criticism of Situational Variables

• use for nefarious reasons

• acts of cruelty excused as situational

• situation made them do it

• worrying idea

Dispositional Variables

• individuals own personal characteristics or traits

• not aspects of situation

• internal

Example of Dispositional Variable

authoritarian personality

Authoritarian Personality

• personality type

• susceptible to obeying authority

• hostile to inferior status people

• obedient to people of higher status

• dogmatic - no grey area for who is responsible for ills of society

• result of strict and rigid parenting

How is Authoritarian Personality developed

• formed in childhood

• result of harsh parenting - conditional love

• strict discipline

• high standard

• severe criticism

• absolute loyalty

• creates resentment and hostility

• displaced feelings onto those perceived weaker - scapegoating

• cannot to parent - fear of punishment

Research into Authoritarian Personality

Adorno et al

Overview of Research into Authoritarian Personality

• 2000 white middle-class US

• tested on F-Scale (fascism)

• determine attitude towards minorities, politics, economics, moral values

• higher scoring interviewed more depth

• investigate factors give rise to AP

Findings of Authoritarian Personality

• fixed stereotypical views about minorities

• identify with strong people

• dislike weak people

• very conscious of own and others status

• excessive respect to higher status

• strong positive correlation between AP and prejudice

Conclusion of Authoritarian Personality

• tendency to be especially obedient

• need strong leaders to enforce traditional values

• e.g. love of country, religion and family

Research Support Strength of Authoritarian Personality

• 20 obedient participants of OG Milgram study (450V)

• F-Scale scored higher on authoritarianism

• reported viewing experimenter as more admirable and learner less so

• AP makes more likely to obey

Majority criticism of Authoritarian Personality

• pre-war Germany millions displayed obedient and racist behaviour

• despite having different personalities

• AP explains number of specific cases

• fails to explain larger scale obedience

Situational criticism of Authoritarian Personality

• altering situation alters levels of obedience

• e.g. proximity, location, uniform

• significant effect on obedience

• social situations can influence regardless of personality

Correlation criticism of Authoritarian Personality

• cannot establish cause and effect relationship

• cannot say AP causes obedience

• third variable e.g. lower educational level may be involved

• results may be misleading