Milgram and Adorno Experiment Flashcards
What is obedience?
Behaviour in compliance with a direct command, often one used by a person in a position of authority
What was milgrams experiment (1963)
Forty males were given the role of teacher, and a confederate was given the role of learner. Another confederate dressed as a professor instructed the participant to give electric shocks to the learner when answering a question incorrectly. These shocks increased in intensity.
If participant resisted the proffesor would encourage then to continue
What were Milgrams findings?
100% of participants shocked up to 300 volts
65% of participants continued all the way to 450 volts
What does Milgrams research suggest?
The majority of people will follow the orders of an authority figure, even if that order will lead to harm
Define the Agentic state as an explanation for obedience
Dtate of mind in which the individual believes they dont have responsibility for their behaviour as they are the agent of an authority figure.
This allows the individuals to commut acts they personally and morally oppose
What is the autonomous state?
When individuals act according to their principles and feel responsible for their actions.
The opposite of an agentic state
What is an agentic shift?
The movement from an autonomous state to an agentic state happens in the presence of an authority figure
What is an agentic shift?
The movement from an autonomous state to an agentic state happens in the presence of an authority figure
Define Legitimacy of Authority as an explanation for obedience
Individuals accept that others higher up the social hierarchy should be obeyed.These people have the right to punish others like the police
It can be communicated through uniforms or certain settings such as police stations or courts
What were the 3 variables Milgram changed in his follow up experiments
Proximity
Location
Uniform
Outline the method and findings of Milgrams proximity replication study
The distance between the authority figure and the participant was increased (the authority provided instructions via telephone)
Obedience rates dropped to 21%
Outline the method and findings of Milgrams location replication study
When repeated at an office block in a run down area, obedience reduced to 47.5% due to a lack of Legitimacy of Authority
Outline the methods and findings of Milgrams uniform replication study
A professor in a lab coat id replaced with a confederate in regular clothes. Obedience dropped to 20% due to a lack of Legitimacy of Authority
What were the strengths of Milgrams experiment?
The use of standardised procedures led to a high level of control and enabled replications
What were the weaknesses if Milgrams experiment?
Lacks mundane realism
Lacks exological validity
This could cause demand characteristics
Gender bias (only used males)
Unethical
How does Bickmans (1974) research support Legitimacy of Authority?
Bickman demonstrated Legitimacy of Authority using a field study
39% of the public would puck up litter if asked by a person dressed as a security guard
But only 14% if the person was dressed as a milkman
How does Hoflings (1966) research support Milgram?
21 out of 22 nurses obeyed “Dr Smiths” phone call order to give double the maximum dose of an unfamiliar drug
This was a field study with a familiar task so high ecological validity and mundane realism
What was Adornos explanation of obedience?
He argued high levels of obedience were due to dispositional factors.
High level of obedience was due to an authoritarian personality.
How did Adorno study the authoritarian personality?
He used questionnaires
Question revealed unconventional feeling towards minority groups. He developed the F scale (F for fascism)
What did it mean if someone scored high on the F scale?
The individual shows high respect for people with a higher social status, have fixed stereotypes for other groups.
They identified with strong people and disliked weak people
Explain why individuals develop an authoritarian personality
Adorno suggested that these people had their personalities shaped early in life by strict authoritative parenting with harsh physical punishment.
Anger from this experience was displaced (Freud) onto others
What was one issue with the F scale questionnaire?
It lacked internal validity. All the questions were written in one direction meaning that agreeing to all questions will label someone as authoritarian. This is known as response bias
