Milgram's Obedience Study Flashcards
Where was the study done?
Yale University
How many participants partook?
40, all males
How were ‘teacher’ and ‘learner’ roles allocated?
the teachers were the naive volunteers
What was the maximum shock level?
450 volts
What level of volts did 100% of participants go up to?
300 V
What % of the participants went all the way to the end of the shock generator?
65%
What 3 ethical issues were involved in Milgram’s experiment?
- informed consent
- right to withdraw
- psychological harm
What were Milgram’s 4 variations?
- proximity of experimenter to teacher
- proximity of teacher to learner
- location
- uniform
How did Milgram decrease the proximity of experimenter to teacher?
the instructions were given over telephone
How did Milgram decrease the proximity of teacher to learner?
they were put in the same room
How did Milgram reduce the validity of the location?
held the study in a run down office building instead of Yale University
How did Milgram reduce the validity of the uniform?
the experimenter wore every day clothes instead of a grey lab coat
Why is legitimacy important in the location and unform
legitimacy assumes a position of power
What was the effect on obedience of the instructions being given by telephone (proximity of experimenter to teacher)?
20.5%
What was the effect on obedience of the teacher and learner being put in the same room as each other?
40%
What was the effect on obedience of the study being conducted in a run down office building?
47.5%
What was the effect on obedience of the experimenter wearing every day clothes?
20%
What was the effect on obedience of the teacher being instructed to hold the learners hand on a shock plate?
30%
Why did obedience reduce when the experimenter gave the teacher instructions over the phone?
the authority of the experimenter diminished
Give an example of legitimate authority?
if the police asked you to leave the park then you would obey, but you might ignore a member of the public
What is the agentic state?
an individual gives up their autonomy and moral responsibility to an authority figure, this occurs when the individual is stripped of any responsibility
