Miligram Experiment Flashcards
What was the purpose of the study?
Whether ordinary Americans would obey an unjust order from a person in authority figure
How many volunteers were there and how much did they get paid?
40 male volunteers each paid $4.50
What happened in the experiment?
The participants were told that the study concerned the role of punishment in learning. The participants always got the teacher role and the confederates played the learner role whose task was to memorise pairs of words. The participants gave a shock to the confederate everytime they got the wrong answer. Volts went from 15v to 450v.
If the teacher hesitated what would the researcher tell them.
Please continue
The experiment requires that you continue
You have no choice you must carry on.
What are the two figures you need to know about Milgrams work?
All participants went up to 300 volts.
65% of participants went to the end of the shock generator
What is legitimacy of authority
We feel obligated to those in authority we respect their credentials and assume they know what they are doing. Legitimate social powers is held in authority figures. This gives the right for people in control to exert control over others and others usually except it.
If we feel like someone doesn’t have legitimate authority we are less likely to obey.
What is agenetic state?
People obey a destructive authority because they do not take responsibility for their behaviour. They move from autonomous state( aware of their consequences) to agentic state. This is called agentic shift.
How does proximity affect obedience.
This refers to how close a person is to someone else. When both teacher and learner was in the same room in milgrams experiment obedience rate fell to 40%. In another variation when the experimenter wasn’t in the room the obedience fell to 20.5%.
How does location affect obedience?
When milgrams study was in a run down office building obedience fell to 47.5%. They felt there was less authority so they disobeyed.
