Explanations for Obedience Flashcards
How did Milgrim find his participants
He advertised the obedience experiment as a memory study
Why did Milgrim find his participants in this way
To avoid biases
How many participants were there in Milgrim’s study
40 male participants
Who were the real participants greeted by
a scientist who was a confederate
How was Milgrim’s assignment for study rigged
Participants were supposed to be randomly assigned teacher and learner but they made it so that the participant always got teacher.
Where was the real participant led in Milgrim’s study
into a room with devices and switches labelled 15-450v and descriptions ranging from “slight shock “ to “danger: severe shock”
What was the teacher’s task
ask learner questions and for each wrong answer give them an electric shock
What happens as the fake shocks increase?
The participant could hear the learner’s reaction from the other room and silence after 300v suggesting severe harm or death
What would the scientist say when the participant questioned their responsibility
The scientist would say that he (the scientist) was responsible for the experiment
What would happen if the participant refused to continue administering shocks
the scientist would say : “Please continue”, “The experiment requires you to continue”, “It is absolutely essential that you continue” “You have no other choice; you must go on”
How many participants were shocked up to 300v
100%
How many participants continued to 450v
65%
What does footage from the experiment show?
The participants were very distressed
What does Milgram’s research suggest
The majority of people will follow orders of an authority figure even if it will lead them to harm
What are two explanations for obedience?
Agentic state and legitimacy of authority
What is The Agentic state
A mental state where the individual sees themselves as acting on the behalf of an authority figure
Why doesn’t an individual feel guilt or responsibility in the agent state
They believe responsibility for their actions lies with the authority figure
When does the autonomous state occur
when individuals act according to their principles and feel responsible for their actions
What is an agentic shift
The movement from an autonomous state to an agent state and happens in the presence an authority figure
How do people learn their position within the social hierarchy
through socialisation, people understand their position relative to those around them
What do most people accept is needed for society
Most people generally accept that legitimacy of authority is needed for society to function properly
What is legitimacy of authority communicated through?
symbols like uniforms, settings like police stations, centres of government, and courts
What are the three situational variables affecting obedience
proximity
location
Uniform
What did Milgram do in terms of distance?
increased the distance between the participant and authority figure by having the authority figure give instructions via telephone rather than being in the same room
What were the findings for Milgram’s proximity variation
obedience rates dropped from 65% to 21%
What did Milgram argue for the proximity variation
because of the increased distance participants were less likely to remain in an agent state and more likely to return to an autonomous state
What did Milgram do in terms of location
Instead of holding the experiment in Yale university he replicated it in a run- down office block
What were the findings for Milgram’s location variation
Obedience dropped to 47%
Why did the change in location cause obedience rates to drop
Because Yale is a high status university the status increased the scientists legitimacy of authority making them seem more genuine. The low- status location reduced the legitimacy of authority and the level of obedience
What did Milgram do in terms of uniform?
The researcher in the lab coat received a phone call, made an excuse to leave and was replaced by another confederate dressed in regular clothes instead of a grey lab coat
What were the findings of Milgram’s uniform variation
obedience dropped to 20%
Why did obedience rates drop so much in Milgram’s uniform variation
The new experimenter had reduced legitimacy of authority
What did Adorno want to understand
antisemitism in WW2
What did Adorno argue
high levels of obedient behaviour were dispositional due to a set of internal traits
What Personality type did Adorno reference
a personality type called the authoritarian personality
What did Adorno suggest about people with an authoritarian personality
their obedient personalities were shaped early in life by strict authoritarian parenting with harsh physical punishment
What did Adorno suggest about anger
The anger that they felt towards their parents was displaced onto others mainly minority groups
Who do Authoritarian personalities have high respect for
people with higher social status. (leading to obedience)
Who are Authoritarian personalities hostile towards
people they see as having low status
What type of stereotypes do Authoritarian personalities have
Fixed stereotypes about groups of people
How can Authoritarian personalities be described
Conformists with conventional beliefs and behaviours
How would they describe Authoritarian personalities view on morality
views on morality are dogmatic having a clear sense of right or wrong
How did Adorno study the Authoritarian personality
Used a questionnaire Calle the F-scale
What did it mean if people scored highly on the F scale
had fixed stereotypes, identified with “strong people”, disliked “weak people” and were inflexible with ideas of right and wrong
What are 2/9 factors that questions on the F- scale measured
- Authoritarian submission
- power and “toughness”
What does it mean by Authoritarian submission
an uncritical attitude towards authority e.g Q1 obedience and respect for authority are the most important virtues children should learn
What does it mean by power and “Toughness”
Preoccupation with dominance-submission, and identification with power figures. e.g Q20 “People can be divided into two distinct classes - the weak and the strong.”
