L6: Situational Variables Affecting Obedience Flashcards
What did Milgram do in 1974 and what was he testing?
Milgram conducted several variations of his original study because he wanted to see how/which situational factors lead to high levels of obedience and low levels.
What are situational variables?
Variables in the environment.
Proximity variation, procedure and findings.
Procedure: both the teacher and learner- Mr. Wallace were sat in the same room. The teacher was able to directly experience Mr. Wallace’s pain.
Findings: obedience dropped to 40%
Touch proximity variable, procedure and findings.
Procedure: the teacher was told to force the learners down onto a metal plate to administer shocks
Findings: obedience role was 30%
Absent experimenter variable, procedure and findings.
The experimenter left the room and gave orders through a telephone. The participants majorly missed out shocks or gave lower voltages.
Findings: obedience rate was 21%
Alternative setting variable, procedure and finding.
Procedure: experiment took place Ina randown office by an experimenter wearing casual clothes, different from the white labloat and Yale University. Participants admitted Yale gave them confidence in the integrity of people involved and said they would not have shocked p Mr. Wallace if it was elsewhere.
Findings: obedience rate was 48%
Bickman (1974) - uniform and social roles, procedure and findings.
He asked confederates to dress up in guard, civilian (smart clothes), or milkman and ask passers-by to pick up litter or more away from the bus stop. He found that obedience was higher when asked by a guard than a civilian.
Findings: guard =90%., civilian = 50%
Role of uniform on obedience.
Uniforms are easily recognisable symbols of power and status. Sometimes uniforms show that someone has power and status. Bickman (1974) experimented this.
