1.4 Social Influence | Obedience Flashcards
Define obedience.
A form of social influence in which an individual follows a direct order. The person issuing the order is usually a figure of authority who has the power to punish when obedient behaviour is not forthcoming.
Who was involved in this research study?
40 American men
How was the learner and the teacher decided?
They drew lots but this was fixed so the participant was always the Teacher
What was the nature of the shocks?
The shocks increased (therefore were more painful) with each mistake in 15-volt steps until 450 volts
What was used to usher participants to continue?
The Teacher made use of 4 different prods which include ‘please continue’ and ‘you have no other choice, you must go on’
How many participants stopped at 300 volts?
12.5% so 5 participants
How many had full-blown uncontrollable seizures?
3
What did Milgram do before the study?
Asked 14 psychology students to predict the participants’ behaviour
What did the students predict?
That no more than 3% of individuals would go to 450 volts
What did he suspect about the reason for the obedience?
That there were certain factors which encouraged obedience so he decided to conduct more studies to investigate these (situational variables)
