Bocchiaro (2012) Flashcards
What is social power?
Ability an individual has to influence another’s thoughts, feelings and behaviours.
Despite their beliefs, what do people tend to do?
Have strong inclinations to obey legitimate authority despite their beliefs.
What are independent behaviours ?
Individuals behaviour in accordance to their internal attitudes, morals and beliefs.
What is unjust authority?
Instructions that cause someone to behave in an anti-social way. People can disobey or blow the whistle.
Whistleblowers
People who expose someone / something engaging in unlawful or immoral activity.
Background to Bocchiaro
-Milgram showed obedience to legitimate authority figures despite beliefs.
-Little research on disobedience.
-Interested in understanding personal as well as social nature of disobedience.
First Aim of Bocchiaro
To investigate how people deal with unethical request of study (obey, disobey, blow the whistle)
Aim of comparison study in Bocchiaro
How people think they behave vs how they actually behave.
3rd aim of Bocchiaro
Do people, who whistleblow, show different personality characteristics than those who obey.
Pre-experiment of Bocchiaro
8 pilot test on 92 undergraduates to assure credibility and to standardise the study.
Comparison group Bocchiaro
138 ppts given detailed description of experimental setting and asked, “what would your peers do ? “
Sample of Bocchiaro
149 undergraduates (96 women and 53 males) with a mean age of 20.8. SD=2.65
Paid €7 or course credit. 11 removed due to suspicions of social desirability.
Self-selected by flyers in VU university, Amsterdam.
Method of Bocchiaro
Controlled observation
Procedure of Bocchiaro
Greeted by male confederate (stern), who asked for names of peers.
Told cover story on sensory deprivation.
First room and second room.
Ppts fully debriefed at the end.
First room in Bocchiaro
Ppts asked to write statement to convince named students to take part in sensory deprivation study.
Second room in Bocchiaro
Research committee forms, computer and mailbox. Told to be enthusiastic when writing ( use words such as exiting, amazing) and told not to mention the negative effects of sensory deprivation. If they wanted, they could anonymously challenge ethics by putting form in mailbox.
Materials of Bocchiaro
-HEXACO
-Social value orientation= how much importance a person places on welfare. ( pro-social, individualistic, competitive)
Open whistleblowers
Refused to comply with request and whistleblew.
Anonymous whistleblowers
Completed the request and still whistleblew.
Results of comparison group Bocchiaro
3.6% would obey
Predicted 18.8% obey
43.9% disobey
37.3% whistleblew
Results of Bocchiaro
76.5% obeyed =114
14.1 disobeyed = 21
9.4 whistleblew ( 6% anonymous and 3.4% whistleblew) =14
No significant differences in gender religious affiliation.
Significant differences with faith.
Conclusions of Bocchiaro
People obey authority, even unjust.
Behaviour changes in extreme circumstances that are unfamiliar.
Whistleblowers have more faith than obedient and disobedient individuals.
Situational factors offer better explanations for disobedience than dispositional.
How does Bocchairo link to social area ?
Social area as it revealed high levels of obedience from unjust authority but it also looked at if people would disobey and/or whistleblow. It does not consider individual explanations.
