explanations of obedience- situational

Question 1

what is gradual commitment

Answer 1

once somebody has agreed to do a small, negative task they are more likely to do a larger one as well

Question 2

how was gradual commitment used in Milgram’s study

Answer 2

participants had already committed to giving lower level shocks making it harder to resist at a higher level

Question 3

what made it harder for participants to resist in Milgram’s study

Answer 3

volts went up in small increments (15v) each time

Question 4

what was a limitation of this is Milgram’s study

Answer 4

lacked ecological validity so the findings should be treated with caution when using them as definitive explanations for obedience in real life situations

Question 5

what is the agentic shift

Answer 5

moving from an autonomous state to a agentic state

Question 6

what did Milgram 1974 say

Answer 6

people are in an autonomous state when they are taking responsibility for their own actions but they move into an agentic state when they pass this responsibility to the authority figure

Question 7

what di many participants report after Milgram’s study

Answer 7

they knew it was wrong but felt the authority figure was responsible

Question 8

evidence of the Agentic state in Nazi germany

Answer 8

at Nuremberg trials many Nazi soldiers defended their actions by saying they were just following orders

Question 9

limitations of agentic shift

Answer 9

it is innapropriate to draw links between holocaust perpetrators and Milgram’s lab
holocaust perpetrators carried out duties for years Milgram’s study was 30 mins

Question 10

in what ways was their a difference in perception of harm

Answer 10

holocaust perpetrators knew they were causing harm
Milgram’s participants were assured there’d be no long lasting damage

Question 11

what are buffers

Answer 11

anything that reduces the immediacy and impact of orders given or reduces the depersonalisation of the victim.

Question 12

when were buffers used in Milgram’s study

Answer 12

in follow up studies buffers were used when showing different proximities and locations

Question 13

what does legitimate authority mean

Answer 13

the authority certain people have is because society accepts it.

Question 14

why do we allow people to have authority

Answer 14

to allow society to run smoothly

Question 15

what is a consequence of having authority figures

Answer 15

they can dish out punishments

Question 16

who do we learn who has authority from

Answer 16

parents teachers adults

Question 17

where was legitimate authority shown in Milgram’s study

Answer 17

the authority figure wore a grey lab coat which showed participants he had legitimate power and prestige

Question 18

who showed power of uniform

Answer 18

Bickman 1974

Question 19

What was Bickman’s experiment

Answer 19

he had 3 people ask 153 civilians to do an order one was dressed in normal clothes another in police uniform and one in milkmans uniform

Question 20

What was concluded from Bickman’s study

Answer 20

higher percentage of people obeyed the one dressed in police uniform

Question 21

what did Mandel say and when

Answer 21

in 1998 he said in WW2 german reserve police battalion 101 shot a town in poland despite not being given orders to.- behaved autonomously

Question 22

how was cultural differences a strength of legitimacy of authority

Answer 22

85% of Germans went to 450v in a milgram style study.- mandel
Kilham and Mann in 1974 found 16% australian women went to 450V
countries with similar authority states have similar results

Question 23

example of real world application

Answer 23

milgrams study can be used to understand the abusive behaviour of guards at abu ghraib prison in iraq

Question 24

what was important in both these situatins

Answer 24

gradual commitment

Question 25

how was gradual commitment used in the prison in iraq

Answer 25

prisoner abuse observed was also gradual in natuire coupled with the presence of compliant peers and an apparently unconcerned authority figure

Question 26

What did Goldhagen argue and when

Answer 26

1996 and he suggested anti-semitism was the primary motivation for the acts. he argued the germans didnt need the pressure of authority to allow them to discriminate and ultimately kill the Jews.

Question 27

what is a limitation of legitimacy of authority

Answer 27

rank and Jacobsons study