Situational explanations for obedience

what are the three factors that affect obedience ?

• proximity

• location

• uniform

what is proximity ?

refers to how physically close you are to someone

how was proximity used in Milgram variation study ?

conducted variation where teacher and learner were sat in the same room

what percentage of people went to 450V in this variation of proximity ?

dropped to 40 %

why did obedience rates fall ?

the teacher could directly understand the learner’s pain

what does this variation also suggest about how we view accountability and obedience ?

when we are held accountable for actions and not exempt from consequences , we are more likely to disobey instructions

when the experimenter left the room and gave orders over telephone , what happened to the rate of obedience ?

fell to 20.5%

what does this suggest about distance between an individual and an authority figure ?

less pressure to obey and less concerned about the punishments for disobeying

where did Milgram’s original study take place ?

laboratory at Yale University

To test location and it’s influence, where did Milgram conduct next study?

rundown building in Bridgeport , Connecticut

What happened to percentage of people that went to 450V in the location variation?

fell to 47.5%

What does this show about location and it’s importance ?

can create a prestigious atmosphere that generates respect and obedience

How does location and Legitimate Authority link to Milgram’s studies?

participants could have doubted the legitimacy of the authority (experimenter) due to the questionable environment

what did the experimenter where in original study ? what did it indicate about him ?

grey lab coat

showed his status as a professor or scientist

What was Milgram’s variation on uniform like?

experimenter was called away and replaced by a ‘normal clothes’ person , pretending to be a member of the public

When the ‘normally clothed’ person ordered the teacher , what happened to obedience rates ?

dropped to 20%

what can be suggested about uniform and obedience ?

uniform strengthens the legitimacy of authority and therefore influence levels of obedience

Try to recall all of Milgram’s variations and the the variable that associates , also the percentage of obedience rates .

What is a strength of the role of situational variable of uniform affecting obedience ?

• research support

• Bickman (1974) conducted a field experiment in NYC

• confeds stood on street Nd asked the public to perform tasks like pick up litter

• confeds were wearing different outfits varying from security , smart suit , milkman

• in security guard uniform , the public more likely to obey orders

• uniform adds to legitimacy of authority and situational variable that increases obedience