milligram and adorno: explanations for obedience

Question 1

What is obedience?

Answer 1

Compliance with a direct command, often by a person in position of authority

Question 2

What is the background to Milgram’s study?

Answer 2

Wanted to know why such a high proportion of the German population supported Hitler

Question 3

How did Milgram advertise his study? Why?

Answer 3

Memory study to avoid giving away the aim>bias

Question 4

What is the sample size of this study?
Who were the ppts greeted by?

Answer 4

40 males
Greeted by confederates (dressed as scientists)

Question 5

What roles were given in Milgram’s study?
Explain these roles

Answer 5

Teacher and learner
Confederate was learner, strapped to a chair and connected to electrodes
Ppts were teachers, told to ask the learner questions and give an electric shock after each mistake (voltage escalated by 15v) (not real shocks)

Question 6

What happened if the ppt refused to give out shocks?

Answer 6

Pressured by scientist to continue
After 4 pleadings, the experiment would stop

Question 7

What did Milgram find?

Answer 7

100% of ppts shocked up 300 volts
65% continued all the way to 450 volts
Ppts were visibly distressed in footage

Question 8

What are the 2 explanations to obedience?

Answer 8

Agentic state
Legitimate authority

Question 9

What is an agentic state?
Will the individual feel responsibility for their behaviour?
What is an agentic shift?

Answer 9

Individuals see themselves as acting as an agent (on the behalf of) an authority figure
Doesn’t feel guilty or responsible for their behaviour
Movement from an autonomous state (opposite of agentic) and agentic state in the presence of an authority figure

Question 10

How do we learn if someone has legitimate authority?
Why do most people accept that legitimacy of authority is needed?
How is legitimacy of authority communicated?

Answer 10

Through socialisation, we are taught who to respect and your position in the social hierarchy
In order for society to function properly e.g. recognising the right of police to give orders
Visible symbols e.g. uniforms and settings e.g. police stations

Question 11

What is the difference between dispositional and situational explanations of obedience?

Answer 11

Situational- focuses on the external circumstances
Dispositional- highlights the importance of the individuals personality

Question 12

What are the 3 situational variables that Milgram manipulated in his additional investigations?

Answer 12

Proximity
Location
Uniform

Question 13

How did Milgram manipulate proximity?
What did he find?
How did Milgram explain this?

Answer 13

Increased the distance between the ppt and authority figure by having authority provide instructions via phone
Obedience rates dropped from 65% to 21%
Distance>less likely to be in agentic state

Question 14

How did Milgram manipulate the location?
What did he find?
How did he explain this?

Answer 14

Study moved from Yale uni to an office block
Obedience rate dropped from 65% to 47.5%
Yale is high status uni>has high legitimacy of authority

Question 15

How did Milgram manipulate the uniform?
What did he find?
How did he explain this?

Answer 15

Scientist uniform of lab-coat changed to regular clothes
Obedience rates dropped from 65% to 20%
Reduced legitimacy of authority

Question 16

A strength of the explanations for obedience is that there’s research support:
PET

Answer 16

E: Milgram’s original study and variations (above)
T: validity

Question 17

A weakness of the explanations for obedience is that the research support has multiple methodological flaws
PET

Answer 17

E: lacks mundane realism (task of releasing volts isn’t realistic) ecological validity (environment of Yale uni isn’t normal, demand characteristics (because of lack of mundane realism, ppts may have figured out shocks weren’t real), gender bias (all males>can’t be generalised)
T: lacks validity

Question 18

One strength of Milgram’s experiment is the use of standardised procedures
PET

Answer 18

E: e.g. clear scripts for the experimenter to follow>high levels of control>enables replications for other researchers e.g. Bickmans study
T: reliable

Question 19

One strength of Milgram’s experiment is that the findings are supported by replicated research
PET

Answer 19

E: Bickman found that uniforms are a visible symbols of authority, tested this on the streets of New York: milkman, officer or no uniform gave instructions, 89% obedience rates when dressed in guard uniform, 33% in no uniform
T: reliable

Question 20

What is the dispositional explanation for obedience, argued by Adorno?

Answer 20

High levels of obedient behavior is dispositional (personality type) , the authoritarian : developed early in life due to strict authoritarian parenting with harsh punishments, anger they felt towards parents is displaced onto others (usually minorities)

Question 21

What are 3 features of Adorno’s authoritarian personality?

Answer 21

High respect for people with higher social status
Hostile to people they see with low status
Fixed stereotypes about groups of people

Question 22

What did Adorno study the authoritarian personality with?

Answer 22

F-scale questionnaire: fixed stereotypes, disliked the weak, identified with the strong=score highly

Question 23

One strength of Adorno is that he acknowledges that the willingness to obey an authority figure can very from person to person
PET

Answer 23

E: willingness to obey is dependent on the authoritarian personality
T: holistic

Question 24

A weakness of Adorno’s F-scale is that it’s subject to acquiescence bias (people tending to agree to questions)
PET

Answer 24

E: the F-scale was written in a way that agreeing to all the questions would inflate their score>inaccurate measurement, additionally argued that some questions were left-winged biassed
T: lacks validity

Question 25

A weakness of the authoritarian personality is that relying on it solely can lead to stereotyping
PET

Answer 25

E: Complex historical events e.g. ww2 are overly simplified into personality flaws, this approach reduces the accountability of peer pressure, norms, or legal force
T: limited explanation