conformity and obedience: obedience Flashcards
obedience
a form of social pressure normally involving a direct command or instruction and is the result of an authority figure, a case of “follow my instructions”
factors affecting obedience
perceived legitimate authority, socialisation, authoritarian parenting, autonomous and agentic levels of behaviour, situational factors: proximity, location, uniform
perceived legitimate authority
max weber (1922) argued this comes from three sources: legal authority, traditional authority, charismatic authority
legal authority
based on a system of rules that is clearly understood where the authority figure is elected by law e.g. prime minister
traditional authority
based on a system in which each society have groups that are considered to have the right to give instructions e.g. parents and teachers
charismatic authority
based on an individual’s charisma deriving from them showing they possess the right to lead by virtue of heroism and personal qualities e.g. george washington
if someone who is perceived to have very little authority gives you an order
you are unlikely to follow it and will defy this order
if someone with a great deal of authority gives you an instruction
it is likely that you will comply with it
example of perception of how legitimate the authority is
a teacher in a school will have legitimate authority over pupils and they will usually obey her instruction to ‘be quiet’, if the same pupils were told by a stranger in the street the be quiet they are much more likely to defy that instruction as the stranger is not seen to have legitimate authority over them
for someone to inspire obedience
they need to posses authority from at least one of these sources
legitimate authority is usually derived from
power
power
french and raven (1959) indentified 4 types of power: expert power, coercive power, referent power, reward power
expert power
derived from possessing knowledge or expertise in a certain area, they are seen as powerful because they have knowledge that most people don’t or that is needed by an organisation e.g. a teacher has expert power as they know information that students need to pass exams
coercive power
derived from the ability to administer punishment, they are seen as powerful because if you don’t follow their instructions they can administer negative consequences e.g. a school depute has this power because if you don’t follow their instructions they can have you excluded
referent power
derived from the amount of respect and positive relationships that person has, they are seen as powerful because people want to follow their instructions because they like them and don’t want to let them down e.g. a close friend may have this power as you want to do what they’ve asked to make them happy
reward power
derived from someone’s ability to provide rewards, they are seen as powerful because if you follow their instructions, they are able to reward you e.g. your parents have this power because if you follow their instructions they are more likely to reward you with treats or presents
bickman (1974)
a study where actors gave strangers instructions e.g. pick up that litter, there were three conditions: casual clothes 19%, milkman 14%, security guard 38%. bickman found that the security guard outfit led to the highest obedience even thought they do not have the power to make someone pick up litter, the uniform conveyed a sense of legitimate authority
socialisation
society has prepared us for our role as agents, we are encouraged to obey instructions of those with more power than us, beginning in school where we are taught to listen to and obey teachers. this continues throughout our lives e.g. police officers, doctors, lawyers all while absolving ourselves of responsibility for our actions
authoritarian parenting
baumrind (1967) said authoritarian parenting is characterised by: very strict rules and expectations, very demanding but not responsive, very little warmth or nurturing, using punishments with little to no explanation, refusing to give child choices or options.
effects of authoritarian parenting
the children tend to display more obedience but less independence, they may also struggle to exhibit self-discipline
proximity
proximity between the teacher and learner affects obedience, the closer people are to observing the consequences of their actions, the lower the obedience rates, when people are able to feel detached from the consequences, the higher obedience is
location
this affects the amount of PLA the person giving order has e.g. a rundown office block suggests the experimenter giving orders has less PLA than a researcher at a well respected university
uniform
affects the PLA as those wearing them will have more people obey their orders
bushman (1988)
supports the power of uniform as a female dressed in police uniform asked people to loan a stranger money with an obedience rate of 72%, this lowered to 48% when dressed as a business woman or 52% when dressed as a beggar
anderson and zimbardo (1984)
socialisation: they argue that the ‘good child’ is one who learns their place in all social settings and never makes a scene, as children we are rewarded for obedience and conformity and this behaviour continues into adulthood. however socialisation cannot completely explain people’s willingness to obey or no one would defy orders so there must be other factors
