Nurse obedience experiment Flashcards
Give the names of the people who conducted experiments on nurses about obedience to authority
Hofling et al. (1966) &
Rank and Jacobson (1977)
What were Hoflings and Rank and Jacobson’s results?
In Hofling’s experiment, the majority of nurses did obey. In Rank and Jacobson’s experiment, a minimal amount obeyed.
How were the instructions given to the nurses in BOTH experiments?
Over a phone call
In the two experiments, were the nurses alone or surrounded by others?
In Hofling’s experiment, the nurses were alone when the instructions were given. However, in Rank and Jacobson’s experiment, the nurses were given the instructions while they were allowed to freely communicate with their peers.
What type of drug were they asked to administer in Hofling’s experiment?
A fake drug called ‘Astroten’, unknown to the nurses.
What type of drug were they asked to administer in R&J’s experiment?
A non-lethal overdose of Valium.
What were the main findings in Hofling’s experiment?
95% of the nurses obeyed (21 out of 22), and 11 of the nurses who went to administer the drug admitted to being aware of the unusually large dosage.
What were the main findings in R&J’s experiment?
16 out of 18 nurses tested refused to administer the Valium. Knowledge of the drug’s effects and peer group contact were assumed to be primarily responsible for the results obtained.
What conclusions can you draw from Hofling’s findings?
People are unwilling to question supposed ‘authority’, even when they might have a good reason to - showed how social pressure and the imbalance of power could lead to putting a patient at risk, rather than disobeying orders.
What conclusions can you draw from R&J’s findings?
There is a smaller likelihood of people obeying orders like these when they’re in a group, or are scared of an outcome (in this case a lawsuit), or are more confident in themselves.
