Explanations for Obedience Flashcards
what is obedience
a type of social influence defined as complying with the demands of an authority figure
what is the difference between obedience and conformity in terms of response
obedience occurs in response to explicit order, whereas conformity occurs in response to implicit pressure
what is the difference between obedience and conformity in terms of occurrence
obedience occurs within a social hierarchy whereas conformity occurs between people of equal status
what are the three situational variables affecting obedience
proximity
location
uniform
how does proximity affect obedience
when an authority figure is in closer proximity, obedience is far higher than when they are not
give an example of how proximity affects obedience
in milgram’s original study 65% obedience rate, in variation where teacher gave the learner instructions over the phone 21% obedience rate
how does location affect obedience
there is a degree of status associated with different locations, higher status, more obedience
give an example of how location affects obedience
milgram’s original study took place in Yale University giving the participants confidence in the integrity of people involved, milgram’s variation took place in a rundown office building, obedience fell from 65% to 47.5%
how does uniform affect obedience
uniforms act as a symbol of authority, if someone wears one they are considered an authority figure
give an example of how uniform affects obedience
milgram’s original study - 65% obedience, teacher in grey lab coat
variation of the study - 20% obedience, teacher in everyday clothes
who studied how situational variables affect obedience
Milgram
which dispositional factors affected milgram’s study
participants were paid £4.50
personality of each participant
who formed the participants for milgram’s study
40 american males aged 20-50
how did milgram’s experiment involve deception
participants believed they were taking part in a study of memory and learning
what were the aims of the observation
to test the ‘germans are different’ hypothesis
what role did the participant play in the observation
‘teacher’
what role did the experimenter play
‘experimenter’
what role did the confederate play
‘leaner’ = victim
what phrases did the experimenter reply to the participant with
- please continue
- the experiment requires that you continue
- it is essential that you continue
- you have no other choice you must continue
- although painful, the shocks do no permanent damage
how did the observation have the issue of the right to withdraw
the experimenter told the participant they had ‘no other choice you must continue ‘
in milgram’s observation what was an obedient participant said to be
one who administered the 450 volts (the highest one 30/30 level)
what effort was made to make sure the participant left in a state of wellbeing
the participant and the learner met afterwards to resolve any tension that arose during the experiment
what were the findings of milgram’s original experiment
65% went all the way to 450 volts
100% went to 300 volts
participants showed signs of extreme tension
what conclusions were made from milgram’s original study
the ‘germans are different’ hypothesis is wrong
people obey those regarded as authority figures
we will obey orders that go against our moral code
what was the procedure of milgram’s original experiment
the participant administered a word-pair task, having to shock the learner with increasing voltage any time they got an answer wrong
name one reason why the participant would’ve thought the electrical shocks were real
the participant and the learner would draw slips of paper from a hat to determine who would be the teacher, this was rigged so that it would always be the participant as the teacher
how did the learner react to the ‘electric shocks’
shouting, calling out, asking to stop, kicking on a wall, no movement or sound after 315 voltage
how often did the learner get a question wrong
for every 4 answers, 1 was wrong
how did milgram defend his use of deception
debriefed the participants, explained how deception was necessary for them to display realistic behaviour
what are situational factors
ones which focus on environmental factors associated with obedience
what are dispositional factors
factors which focus on personality characteristics which influence people to obey
what is meant by the agentic state
when an individual gives up some of their free will and acts as an agent of the authority figure giving an order, the authority figure is responsible
what is an autonomous state
when an individual acts according to their wishes and sees themselves as personally responsible for their actions
what is an agentic shift
the process of shifting responsibility for one’s actions onto someone else (an authority figure)
what is the impact of someone being in an agentic state
they may obey orders which go against their moral code because they don’t see themselves as responsible for their behaviour
why might someone adopt an agentic state
because of the need to maintain a positive self image - action is no longer their responsibility so doesn’t reflect their self image
what are binding factors
things which make people enter or stay in an agentic state
what condition is needed for a person to shift to the agentic state
legitimacy of authority
what is legitimacy of authority
someone who is perceives to be in a position of social control
power, status, skills, qualifications
what is meant by definition of the situation
although it is the individual performing the action, they allow the authority figure to define its meaning
what danger does definition of the situation impose
the authority figure could reframe an inhumane act as morally correct which the individual would then partake in
what is meant by institution required
for destructive commands to be considered legitimate they must occur within some sort of institutional structure - have prestige
what is the dispositional explanation for obedience
the authoritarian personality
what are the features of someone with an authoritarian personality
high respect for people with higher social status, hostile to those below them, dogmatic (distinct right from wrong), conformist, traditional, fixed stereotypes
what did Adorno do
come up with the F scale
what is the F scale
a way to measure the different components that make up the authoritarian personality, formed of a series of statements
give an example of a statement on the F scale
‘rules are there for people to follow, not change’
if a person scores high on the F scale what does that mean
higher likeliness of having an authoritarian personality, tend to have been raised by an authoritarian parenting style
explain why having been raised by an authoritarian parenting style makes an individual more likely to have an authoritarian personality
growing up with a particular social system means people assume this is the norm and aquire the same attitudes of their parents
what is right wing authoritarianism
an individual who is highly submissive to their authority figures
who came up with right wing authoritarianism
robert altemeyer
what three personality characteristics do people with right wing authoritarianism have
conventionalism
authoritarian aggression
authoritarian submission
what is conventionalism
an adherence to conventional norms and values
what is authoritarian aggression
aggressive feelings toward people who violate conventional norms
what is authoritarian submission
uncritical submission to legitimate authority
what was altemeyers study
participants were ordered to give themselves increasing levels of shock when they made a mistake on a learning task
what did altemeyer find in his study
there was a significant correlation between RWA scores and the levels of shocks that participants were willing to give themselves
what participants did elms and milgram use in their studies
individuals who had previously taken part in one of milgrams experiments
20 obedient ones, 20 defiant ones
which two tests did the participants in elms and milgrams complete
MMPI (personality test)
F scale (authoritarian personality test)
what were the findings of elms and milgrams experiment
obedient group had higher traits of authoritarianism
- saw experimenter in milgrams study as admirable
- saw learner in milgrams study as unadmirable
- reported being less close to fathers
the participants in elms and milgrams study were asked open ended questions about what ?
- their relationship with their parents
- their feelings towards the experimenter and learner in Milgram’s original study
