factors affecting obedience Flashcards
what factors are involved in affecting obedience?
- gender
- culture
- personality differences
- situation
how does research carried out by Milgram suggest that the situation influences obedience - momentum of compliance?
- as the experiment requested the ptps to carry out small menial tasks the ptps felt duty bound to continue e.g. agreeing to the experiment
- this is also seen in the shock generator that went up in 15v each time
how did Milgram show that proximity influenced obedience?
- When the participant had to hold the victims hand on a plate to receive a shock, there was less obedience because the situation had changed.
- When orders were given over the phone distance seemed to act as a buffer.
- Milgram also referred to the shock generator as a physical buffer between the participant and the victim.
how can status of authority influence obedience?
- the obedience dropped as the participant appeared as an “ordinary man”
how did Milgram show that personal responsibility was also crucial in influencing behaviour?
In a variation study where participants had to sign a contract that stated they were taking part of their own
free will and had no legal responsibility from Yale University, obedience fell to 40 per cent.
what can be concluded from Milgram’s research on situation impacting obedience?
as the situation changes so does the level of obedience
what did smith and bond find? 1998
. Culture can be divided into two types: Individualistic and Collectivist.
- Individualistic cultures, e.g. America and Britain, tend to
behave more independently and resist conformity and compliance.
-Collectivist cultures, e.g China or Israel, tend to behave as a collective group based on interdependence,meaning that cooperation and compliance is important for the stability of the group
Thomas Blass (1999)?
he did a meta-analysis of all obedience research across cultures and found:
- he found that US was 40% compliant and UK was 50%
- compared to south Africa which was 87.5%
however Blass suggests that other factors such as gender and personality which are bigger influences on obedience.
what did Elms find (1998)
- one of Milgram’s assistants noted from the exit interviews that those in ‘caring’ jobs, such as teachers, showed less obedience than those in technical jobs, such as engineers.
- Catholics showed more obedience than those in other religious groups,
- and those with more years in education tended to obey less.
what did Milgram and Elms find?
- Milgram and Elms (1966) thought that those who were obedient fitted more into an authoritarian personality. — - An authoritarian personality is typically submissive to authority (i.e. gives in) but harsh to those who are not seen to have authority.
what does Blass believe regarding personality?
- People high in ‘ authoritarian submission ‘ (giving in to
authority) were more likely to obey, according to Blass.
what did Milgram find regarding personality?
obedient participants were more likely to blame the learner (25%) than the non-obedient ptps (only 12% blamed the learner).
what has been found in general regarding gender and levels of obedience?
no difference
Kilham and Mann (1974)?
they found that When administering the shocks,
obedience was 40% for males and 16%for females.
what did Blass find that suggests know gender diferences?
Blass (1999) carried out a meta-analysis, using 10 studies and found that only Kilham and
Mann showed gender differences, so the general conclusion is that there are no gender
differences in obedience.
