Conformity & Obedience Flashcards
Compliance
The lowest level of conformity where an individual conforms with a group publicly, but their core beliefs stay the same privately. For example, laughing at a joke your friend made as everyone else is laughing but you didn’t find it funny.
Perceived Legitamate Authority
And backup evidence
Refers to the idea that people will be more likely to obey those they believe to be in a position of authority.
Evidence
Hofling et al conducted a field experiment with nurses. The nurses received a phone call from an unknown doctor which asked them to prepare a dose of a drug that was double the maximum limit. 1 out of the 22 nurses did not obey which shows that the nurses obeyed a higher rank.
Socialisation & Obedience
Socialisation is the process that occurs from birth and throughout our lifetimes, where we learn the rules of the society we live in. We are rewarded for obedience to our parents especially when parents have an authoritarian parenting style.
Authoritarian Parenting
Includes having high expectations of children and very strict rules have to be followed without explanations. Positive rewards for behaviour is non-existant, there is only punishment. Due to this, children normally grow up to be higher obedient.
Autonomous and Agentic State
And backup evidence
The majority of time, people will tend to be in the autonomous states. This is when they are in charge of their own behaviours and will act based on their own morales and desires.
In times of stress, the agentic state is a tendency to look to the person in charge and follow their orders. This makes the person feel that their actions are not theirs, the authority figure is responsible. This increases obedience. When someone switches from autonomous to agentic, it is called the agentic shift.
Evidence
Milgram has supported the agentic shift. He told participants that wanted to leave that the experimenter would take responsibility for their actions and therefore participants were willing to continue. 65% of participants gave 450 volts of shock.
Obedience - Situational Factors
Location
And backup evidence
It has been found that less credible locations can have a reduction on the levels of obedice. If someone doesn’t consider the location credible, they will be less likely to follow orders.
Evidence
Milgram conducted an experiment in Yale University that was a variation of his electric shock experiment. He also held the experiment in a run-down building. The percentage of participants that went to 450 volts were 65% at Yale and 47.5% at the run-down building which shows location plays a key role in obedience.
Obedience - Situational Factors
Uniform
And backup evidence
When someone is dressed in more credible clothing, obedience increases. For example, we obey police officers as they have a unique uniform which also links to perceived legitamate authority.
Evidence
Milgram swapped the experimenter to be someone in ordinary, casual clothes. The man in ordinary clothes instructed the experiment just how the experimenter in a lab coat did and they found that obedience rates dropped from 65% to 20% who went to 450 volts. This shows that uniform is a factor of obedience.
Obedience - Situational Factors
Proximity
And backup evidence
The closer a person is to the authority figure, the more likely they are to obey. Example, in a school, a pupil will be more likely to follow orders from the teacher is the teacher is in the classroom.
Evidence
Milgram had the experimenter leave the room to communicate instructions over the phone. They found that only 21% of participants went to 450 volts which shows that proximity is a factor of obedience.
