Explanations For Obidience

Question 1

Outline the procedure of milligrams obedience study

Answer 1

• 40 male volunteers
• all had the role of a teacher paired with a Confederate learner
• The teacher would ask the learner questions, and when a wrong answer was given the teacher was instructed to administer an electric shock
• The shock started at 15 V (labelled slight shock) rising in 15 V increments to 450 V (severe shock)
• if no answer was given it was wrong
• if the teacher hesitated he was encouraged to continue by the researcher, with phrases like “ please continue” and “ The experiment requires you to continue” “it’s absolutely necessary you continue” “you have no other choice but to continue”
• NO shocks administered
• p’s debriefed afterwards

Question 2

What were the findings of milligrams obedience study

Answer 2

BASELINE = 65% obiedience up to full 450V
100% went up to 300V
- most p’s showed signs of anxiety and discomfort but continued

Question 3

What were the conclusions of milligrams obedience study

Answer 3

• Under certain circumstances people will obey against their conscience
• Supports the idea of an agentic state

Question 4

Discuss the AO3 point of ethical issues within Milgram study

Answer 4

• Ethical issues including deceiving psychological harm and the right to withdraw made difficult
  + Milgram gathered presumptive consent (asking a similar group of people if they would be happy to participate)
  + Debriefed the participants and 84% were glad they participated

Question 5

Discuss the AO3 Point of gender bias within milgrams obedience study

Answer 5

• Milgram said he had gender bias as The sample consisted of only 40 men so findings couldn’t be applied to women
  + Blass (2000) Found in eight out of 9 Milgram variations he studied there were no apparent gender differences

Question 6

What is an agentic state

Answer 6

• when a person carries out orders on behalf of somebody else with little regard for personal responsibility as they believe the authority figure is responsible

Question 7

How does legitimacy of authority explain obedience

Answer 7

People feel obliged to follow figures with a defined role in society e.g. Police or teachers
- this is because we put trust in these figures And assume they are right


Question 8

What are the three SITUATIONAL factors affecting obedience

Answer 8

• Proximity
• Location
  -Uniform

Question 9

How does location affect obedience

Answer 9

• when the study was conducted in a rundown office block obedience dropped to 48%

Question 10

How does proximity affect obedience

Answer 10

• when the experimenter was absent and gave instructions over the telephone obedience dropped to 21%
• when the teacher and learner were in the same room obedience dropped to 40%
• When the teacher had to force the learner’s hand onto the shock plate obedience dropped further to 30%

Question 11

How does uniform affect obedience

Answer 11

• Uniforms convey power and authority
• in a variation when the experimenter is called away and replaced by a normal clothed experimenter obedience dropped to 20%

Question 12

Explain Bickmans research and how it supports uniform affecting obedience

Answer 12

• field experiment on the streets of New York with 153 random participants
• confederate dressed either in a suit, as a milkman or as a security guard would ask participants to pay for a parking meter or collect rubbish
• obedience was 38% for the security guard yet only 19% for the confederate in a suit

Question 13

What is meant by dispositional factor

Answer 13

Suggest behaviour is caused by internal characteristics that reside within an individuals personality

Question 14

What are the characteristics of an authoritarian personality

Answer 14

• conformist and obedient
• Believe in hierarchical structure, Serville out of those higher and hostile to those weaker

Question 15

What did Adorno suggest creates an authoritarian personality

Answer 15

• Harsh and distant Parenting
• Resentment and hostility towards parents is Displaced onto weaker groups

Question 16

Explain the procedure of Adorno’s F scale

Answer 16

• Measures conventionalism and preoccupation with power
• 2000 middle-class Americans took a questionnaire
• Collecting their unconscious opinions on groups
  

Question 17

Outline the findings from Adornos F scale 

Answer 17

• A high score was an indicator of an authoritarian personality
• people who scored highly showed
  High respect for people of high social status
  Low respect/prejudice towards weaker groups
  Inflexibility and strong ideas

Question 18

A03 valuation of authoritarian personality

Answer 18

+ Elms and Milgram, Took 20 obedient and 20 disobedient from milligrams original study
Showed obedient participants scored higher on the F scale and had a more distant relationship with their fathers
- Research is only correlational so it’s impossible to establish cause-and-effect
- cultural bias, Hyman and Sheatsley Found authoritarian personality is more common and less educated low economic areas
- The F skill relies on self-report which is open to bias, for example, the scale is prone to acquiescence bias—the tendency for people to agree. agreeing on the scale leads to a high score

Question 19

outline Hoflings research and how it supports agentic state

Answer 19

• studied obedience of 22 nurses in a field experiment
• a medical doctor who was on the staff list, but was not known
  personally to a nurse, called her asking her to administer twice the maximum daily dose
• 21/22 nurses administered the drug despite not knowing of the drug and going against hospital rules

Question 20

evaluation of Hofling’s nurse’s study

Answer 20

+ better representation of obedience in real life
- Rank and Jacobson conducted the same study but the nurses were asked to administer an overdose of a real drug (valium), knew the doctor’s name and had a chance to speak to other nurses. only 2/18 obeyed the orders suggesting that the more realistic the situation the less likely obedience is to occur.