Bocchiaro (2012)

Question 1

What is social power?

Answer 1

Ability an individual has to influence another’s thoughts, feelings and behaviours.

Question 2

Despite their beliefs, what do people tend to do?

Answer 2

Have strong inclinations to obey legitimate authority despite their beliefs.

Question 3

What are independent behaviours ?

Answer 3

Individuals behaviour in accordance to their internal attitudes, morals and beliefs.

Question 4

What is unjust authority?

Answer 4

Instructions that cause someone to behave in an anti-social way. People can disobey or blow the whistle.

Question 5

Whistleblowers

Answer 5

People who expose someone / something engaging in unlawful or immoral activity.

Question 6

Background to Bocchiaro

Answer 6

-Milgram showed obedience to legitimate authority figures despite beliefs.
-Little research on disobedience.
-Interested in understanding personal as well as social nature of disobedience.

Question 7

First Aim of Bocchiaro

Answer 7

To investigate how people deal with unethical request of study (obey, disobey, blow the whistle)

Question 8

Aim of comparison study in Bocchiaro

Answer 8

How people think they behave vs how they actually behave.

Question 9

3rd aim of Bocchiaro

Answer 9

Do people, who whistleblow, show different personality characteristics than those who obey.

Question 10

Pre-experiment of Bocchiaro

Answer 10

8 pilot test on 92 undergraduates to assure credibility and to standardise the study.

Question 11

Comparison group Bocchiaro

Answer 11

138 ppts given detailed description of experimental setting and asked, “what would your peers do ? “

Question 12

Sample of Bocchiaro

Answer 12

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.

Question 13

Method of Bocchiaro

Answer 13

Controlled observation

Question 14

Procedure of Bocchiaro

Answer 14

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.

Question 15

First room in Bocchiaro

Answer 15

Ppts asked to write statement to convince named students to take part in sensory deprivation study.

Question 16

Second room in Bocchiaro

Answer 16

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.

Question 17

Materials of Bocchiaro

Answer 17

-HEXACO
-Social value orientation= how much importance a person places on welfare. ( pro-social, individualistic, competitive)

Question 18

Open whistleblowers

Answer 18

Refused to comply with request and whistleblew.

Question 19

Anonymous whistleblowers

Answer 19

Completed the request and still whistleblew.

Question 20

Results of comparison group Bocchiaro

Answer 20

3.6% would obey
Predicted 18.8% obey
43.9% disobey
37.3% whistleblew

Question 21

Results of Bocchiaro

Answer 21

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.

Question 22

Conclusions of Bocchiaro

Answer 22

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.

Question 23

How does Bocchairo link to social area ?

Answer 23

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.