4.1.1 social influence 👨👩👧👦 ADVANCED INFO Flashcards
define conformity
a change in opinion or behaviour because of real or imagined group pressure from the majority group of people
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 .
define minority influence
a form of social influence in which a minority of people (sometimes just one person ) persuade others to adopt their beliefs attitudes or behaviours.
what was the aim of Milgrams experiment (1963)
To measure the extent to which people are willing to obey a figure of authority who asks them to do something which conflicts with their personal conscience using a laboratory based procedure.
what was the method/procedure of milgrams experiment
- recruited 40 male participants who volunteered through newspaper advertisement .
- everyone was payed 4.50 and told they would receive this even if they quit during the study.
- two confederates - an experimenter (the authority figure) and the “learner”
- teachers were instructed that they must administer an increasingly strong electric shocks to the “learner” each time he got a question wrong
what happens if the “teacher” asks to stop the experiment in milgrams study
The experimenter (the authority figure) uses prompts such as :
“please continue”
“the experiment requires that you continue”
“it’s a absolutely essential that you continue”
“you have no other choice you must go on “
how is the procedure standardised in the milgram study
The experimenter uses the same prompts such as “it’s absolutely essential that you continue” when the teacher (participant) asks to stop the study.
why did the voltage levels go up in 15 volt increments in the milgram study ?
They went up in 15 volt increments to a maximum of 450 volts in order to create a gradual commitment.
what were the results of milgrams study
- participants continued to the maximum voltage of 450 volts , far beyond what was marked - “danger severe shock”
- All participants shocked to 300 Volts
- only 12.5% of participants stopped at the point where the learner first objected
- 14 defied the experiment after 300 volts (remaining autonomous )
- 26 obeyed to the end and gave 450 vaults (agentic shift)
what qualitative data was collected for the results of milgrams experiment and how ?
qualitative data was collected using observations
- participants showed signs of extreme tension , many were seen to : sweat tremble stutter bite their lips groan dig their nails into their hands
THREE PARTICIPANTS HAD FULL BLOWN UNCONTROLLABLE SEIZURES
did the participants receive a debrief after milgrams study
All participants were debriefed and assured their behaviour was normal.
they were sent a follow up questionnaire and 84% reported they felt glad they participated
what was the conclusion of Milgrams study into obedience
- That ordinary people are surprisingly obedient to authority even when being ask to inflict pain onto others and behave in an inhumane manner.
- Therefore elucidating that it is not evil people who commit atrocities it is in fact , ordinary people obeying orders
- Crimes against humanity may be the result of situational factors rather than dispositional factors
- Agency theory is apparent in this study.
Why is agency theory present in Milgrams study
- 14 participants defied the experimenter after 300 volts . showing that they remained in an autonomous state .
- 26 participants obeyed to the end and gave 450 volts showing they were in an agentic state.
evaluate the internal validity of milgrams. research
Milgrams study appeared to have high internal validity . It took place in a laboratory. The situation appeared real to participants as evidenced by their severe reactions to the experiment e.g seizures
COUNTER ARGUMENT - However many of the participants worked out the procedure was faked . This can then become a limitation as it is unclear whether the results are genuinely due to obedience or because the participants saw through the deception and acted accordingly.
explain the ethical issue of deception in milgrams experiment
-Deception was an ethical issue in milgrams experiment .
yes
-the participants were led to believe that the true aim of the experiment was to show how punishment affects learning. However the true aim is to investigate obedience to an authority figure .
-They were also deceived into thinking that they were actually administering real electric shocks to the “learner”. however they were not
COUNTER ARGUMENT- If the participants were told the true aims of the study , they may or acted differently.
explain the ethical issue of protection fr harm in milgrams experiment
- Milgram failed to protect his participants from harm.
- Participants were led to believe they had rendered somebody unconscious or killed them . Three participants had full blown seizures and there were signs of extreme tension in most participants.
- this causes ethical issues as they feel guilty and upset they were harmed psychologically and physically in some cases with the seizures.
COUNTER ARGUMENT- there was a thorough debrief at the end and 84% of participants said they were pleased to have taken part .
THEY MET THE UNHARMED LEARNER AT THE END
what is a strength of Milgrams study into obedience supporting research
- A strength of milgrams study is that it has been recently replicated.
- A 2010 french reality Tv show partially replicated milgrams research .
- participants were paid to give electric shocks (fake) to the other participants (actors) when ordered to by the presenter.
- the results were that they were almost identical to milgrams .80% of participants shocked up to 460 v to an apparently unconscious man , + qualitative data was similar Particpants appeared nervous and showed signs of anxiety.
This supports milgrams original findings and conclusions about authority as it demonstrates his findings weren’t just a one off chance
what are the explanations for obedience
- agency theory , legitimacy of authority, situtational variables and dispositional variables
what is the agency theory
milgram beloved that we exist in two different states -
- the autonomous state
- the agentic state
what is the autonomous state
in the autonomous state we show free will and make our own choices and decisions , we feel responsibility for our own actions.
what is the agentic state
in the agentic state we follow instructions from someone we perceive has legitimate authority over us . We feel no personal responsibility for their actions
what happens when we are asked to do something we view as immoral?
we experience moral strain , once we have shifted into an obedient state we feel relieved of the strain and displace responsibility into the authority figure.
what is legitimacy of authority
-legitimacy of authority is an explanation for obedience which suggests that we are more likely to obey people who we perceive to have authority over us .
This authority is justified by the individuals position of power within w social hierarchy.
what is a consequence of legitimacy of authority
a consequence is that some people are granted the power to punish others .
we give up some of our independence to people we trust to exercise their authority properly .
we learned to accept authority during childhood from parents and teachers.
what is one strength of legitimacy of authority
one strength is that it can help to explain real life examples
explain how legitimacy of authority could be used to explain what occurred in the my Lai massacre in 1968
- During the war american soldiers entered my lai and were ordered to kill inhabitants.
- the soldiers involved started they were only following orders because an authority figured it old them to.
- The soldiers were no longer autonomous, they were agents of the army.
what is a strength of legitimacy of authority to explain cultural differences in obedience research
- Kilham and Mann (1974) found that in australia only 16% of participants went all the way to the top of the voltage scale when replicating milgrams study.
- Mantell 1971 found that 85% went to the top of the voltage scale in german particpants
this shows that in some cultures authority is more likely to be accepted as legitimate and entitled to demand obedience from individuals, reflects how different societies are structured to perceieve authority figures. cross cultural research support increases the external validity of the explanation
how can legitimacy of authority be used to explain the different obedience rates in different cultures
i’m some cultures authority is more likely to be accepted as legitimate and entitled to demand obedience from individuals .
The diffrence in obedience roles shows how countries offer in the degree to which people are traditionall obedient to authority , For example a country with a good governance obedience rates may be higher
what is some evidence supporting agency theory
-Hoffling et al (1966) used the hospital hierarchy to test obedience in nurses.
what was the procedure for hofling et al (1966) study supporting agency theory
- a confederate doctor rang a ward and asked the nurse to give twice the marked safe dose of an unknown drug to a patient
what were the results of hofling et al (1966) study supporting agency theory
- 21 out of 22 nurses obeyed the orders against the hospital rules
- when a control group of 22 nurses were asked what they would have done they denied they would of acted without proper authorisation in writing
what was the conclusion of hofling et al (1966) study supporting agency theory.
Hofling concluded that the power hierarchy in hospitals was a bigger influence on nurses than following hospital rules.
what is some evidence against agency theory
Rank and Jacobsen (1977) wanted to challenge Hofling’s findings
what was the procedure of Rank and Jacobsens study that goes against agency theory
- they repeating Hoffling et al.’s experiment using a familiar drug at three times the recommended dose.
- when the researcher pretending to be a doctor telephoned , he had a familiar name and the nurses were able to discuss the order with other nurses before carrying it out
what was the results of Rank and Jacobsens study that goes against agency theory
Only 2 out of 18 nurses followed the order
what was the conclusion of Rank and Jacobsens study that goes against agency theory
The increased realism of the experiment,
and the discussion with a colleague ,
lowered obedience rates in exactly the same way that milgrams addition of a dissenting confederate had done
strengths of the two studies for and against agency theory
- both studies have high ecological validity as they used a naturalistic setting
- Both studied have good application , as hospital procedures since have been tightened up
Limitations / evidence against agency theory
- it does not explain individual differences
- autonomy and agency are hard to measure and define concepts , they depend and vary on the situation
- it does not explain why some people are more motivated to follow certain people more then others who have equal authority.
who identified situational variables/explanations for obedience
milgram
what are the three situational variables / explanations for obedience
- proximity (to learner ) and (to authority figure)
- location
- uniform
how was milgrams original experiment altered to measure proximity to the learner as a situational variable
Milgram changed the location , he moved the teacher and learner into the same room .
he made the teacher force the learners hand on to an electroshock plate
what were the results when the teacher and learner and teacher were put in the same room in milgrams research into situational variables
obedience rates fell from 65% to 40%
what were the results of making the teacher force the learner hand on to the plate when investigating proximity in milgrams research
Obedience rates fell from 65% to 30%
