Milgram (1963) - 'Behavioural Study of Obedience' Flashcards
What is obedience
- a social influence that causes a person to act in response to a direct order form a figure with perceived authority
- (they would’t have done it if they weren’t told to)
What was the aim of Milgram’s research
- to test the ‘Germans are different hypothesis’ which explains obedience in terms of dispositional factions (e.g. personalities). In other words - there was something different about Germans that caused their behaviour
- Milgram wanted to do this by investigating destructive obedience
What is destructive obedience
Compliance with the direct or indirect orders from authority that results in negative outcomes, such as harm to innocent victims
When talking about the methodology, what do you talk about
- location (lab)
- wasn’t an experiment (a controlled observation)
- the sample
- how the sample was obtained
Describe the methodology in terms of location
- Conducted in a Lab environment at Yale university
- meant that the environment was very controlled and it had good access to equipment such as the shock machine
Describe the methodology in terms of it being an observation
- controlled observation
- observed via a one-way mirror
Describe the sample
- 40 males aged between 20 and 50 years
- had a range of jobs from postal clerks to engineers
- varied in level of education, some hadn’t finished primary school and some had a doctorate
Describe the methodology in terms of how the sample was obtained
- via self-selecting
- by an ad in a New haven newspaper
- paid $4.50 to participate in the study, regardless of if they stay or not
Describe the procedure (up to sample shock)
1) participants arrive at lab at Yale University and are greeted by ‘experimenter’ and another ‘participant’
2) the participant is told by the ‘experimenter’ that the study is about learning and punishment
3) who plays what role (teacher or learner) is determined by drawing lots (picking pieces of paper with roles on them)
4) however, this lots was rigged. The other ‘participant’ is actually a confederate and both pieces of paper said teacher. And the confederate declares that they drew the slip of paper that says learner
5) after choosing roles, they’re taken into an adjacent room where the ‘learner’ is strapped into the electric chair. They’re told the leather straps are to prevent excessive movement and that the electrode paste is for avoiding blisters or burns from the shocks
6) the teacher (participant) is told that the electrode is linked to a shock generator in the adjoining room. In response to a Q by the learner they are told that “although the shocks are extremely painful, they cause no permanent tissue damage
7) teacher is taken to that room and given a sample shock of 45 volts before they begin the learning task (demonstrates machine is real)
8) the task is a ‘pair-associate learning task’. The subject read a series of word pairs to the learner, and then read the first words of the pair along with 4 terms. The learner says which of the four terms was paired with the first word and communicated his answer by pressing one of the 4 switches. If he got it wrong, he was shock
Describe the procedure from the learning task onwards
1) the task is a ‘pair-associate learning task’. The subject read a series of word pairs to the learner, and then read the first words of the pair along with 4 terms. The learner says which of the four terms was paired with the first word and communicated his answer by pressing one of the 4 switches. If he got it wrong, he was shock
2) learner gives a predetermined set of responses to the learning task based on a schedule of approximately 3 wrong answers to one correct answer. When 300 volts is reached the learner is heard to pound on the wall and from this point on the learners answers no longer appear on the answer box
3) there is pounding again at the 315 volt level then there are no more answers or responses
4) if the teacher hesitates = 4 verbal prods. ‘Please continue’, ‘the experiment requires that you continue’, ‘it is absolutely essential that you continue’, and ‘you have no other choice, you must go on’
5) these prods were used in sequence
6) the max voltage level of each participant was prepared to go to before refusing was recorded. Notes were also taken on verbal/physical/emotional reactions via a one way mirror. Audio recordings and photographs were taken
7) after the research, the teacher is thoroughly ‘dehoaxed’ (debriefed) and the experimenter reunites the teacher and learner. They are then interviewed about their experience
Describe the findings
Split into 2
- the qualitative findings
- quantitative findings
Describe the quantitative findings
- Prior to experiment, milgram surveyed 14 Yale psychology professors. They estimated that 0-3% of participants would administer 450 volts
- the findings actually showed that 100% administered the 300 volts. And only 10% dropped out at 315 volts
- A total of 26 of the 40 participants (65%) administered the full 450 volts (obedient). And only 35% defied the experimenter’s authority (defiant)
Describe the qualitative findings
- Milgram recorded their behaviours. Most showed signs of extremes tensions
- the listed behaviours were:
1) sweated
2) trembled
3) stuttered
4) bit their lips
5) groan
6) dug their fingers into their own flesh - 14/40 displayed nervous laughter
- 3/40 had full-blown uncontrollable seizures
What was the conclusions
- it is the circumstances in which the participants found themselves that amalgamated to create a situation in which it proved difficult to disobey
- he suggested 13 elements in this situation that had contributed to these levels of obedience
What were the 13 elements in this situation that had contributed to these levels of obedience in the conclusion
- the location of the study at a prestigious university provided authority
- participants assumed that the experimenter knew what he was doing and had a worthy purpose, so should be followed
- the participant didn’t wish to disrupt the study because he felt under obligation to the experimenter due to his voluntary consent to take part
- it was a novel situation for the participant, who therefore didn’t know how to behave. If it had been possible to discuss the situation with others the participant might’ve behaved different;y
- the participant had very little time to resolve the conflict at 300 volts, and he didn’t know that the victim would remain silent for the rest of the experiment
- the participant assumed that the discomfort caused was minimal and temporary, and that the scientific gains were important
- the conflict was between 2 deeply ingrained tendencies — not to harm someone, and to obey those whom we perceive to be legitimate authorities
Describe Milgram’s Agency theory
- Milgram proposed the agency theory to explain obedience
- he suggests that when faced with commands from legitimate authority figures we lose our sense of responsibility for our own actions and become agents of other’s wishes
- so, the levels of obedience found in Milgram’s study resulted from the experimenter as the authority figure taking responsibility for the consequences of the obedience
- for the participants there is a shift from an autonomous state (where they feel in control and responsible for their actions) to an agentic state (where they regard themselves as ‘the instrument for carrying out another person’s wishes’)
