Milgram (Obedience) Flashcards
Social approach
What is the psychology being investigated?
The Germans Are Different Hypothesis that they have a basic character deficit in which they obey authority orders regardless of the act.
What’s the background behind the study?
The death of innocent people during the WW2, Nazi’s defended themselves by claiming they were just following orders. Milgram wanted to see how obedient Americans were.
*Aim
To investigate the level of obedience that would be shown by participants when they are told by an authority figure to shock another person.
*What’s the method of the experiment?
Controlled observation
Where do the experiment take place?
Lab experiment in Yale University
*Sampling Method
Volunteer sampling
*Sampling size
40 males age between 20-50
*IV
none
How much were paid
4.50
*DV
Obedience
The shock generator
15-450 volts
*Quantitative results
65% went up to 450 volts
100% went up to 300 volts
35% wanted to withdraw
*Qualitative results
Behavior observed included sweating, trembling, nervous laughter, stuttering, and uncontrollable seizures in 3 participants
*Conclusions
U.S citizens obeyed authority figures orders much like the Germans. Results supported a situational hypothesis more than a dispositional hypothesis.
Strengths
High reliability - high levels of standardization made the experiment replicable to test for reliability.
High experimental validity - high levels of control in the lab give researchers confidence that the IV is affecting the DV without extraneous variables interfering.
Weakness
Low mundane realism - procedure of shocking people is not common and unrealistic.
Low ecological validity - a lab is not an everyday setting.
Distructive obedience
The type of obedience that has potential to cause psychological or physical harm to others
white collar workers
ppl who work in professional occupations
stooge/confederate
someone who is playing a role
*experimental design
independent experiment
legitimacy
the extent to which an authority figure or an organisation is worthy of obeydience (for example they are more legitimate when they wear bagdes/ uniform)
