Obedience

Question 1

What % of people in Milgrams experiment went to 300v?

Answer 1

100%

Question 2

What % of people went to 450v?

Answer 2

65%

Question 3

How much did obedience rates drop to when in run down office blocks?

Answer 3

47.5%

Question 4

What % of people went to 450v while the learner and teacher were in the same room?

Answer 4

40%

Question 5

What % of people went to 450v when the experimenter left the room and was instructed by phone ?

Answer 5

20.5%

Question 6

What % of people went to 450v when the experimenter was in ordinary clothing?

Answer 6

20%

Question 7

What % of people went to 450v when the teacher was paired with 2 confederates who refused to carry on?

Answer 7

10%

Question 8

What % of people went to 450v when the teacher was paired with a confederate who pressed the leavers?

Answer 8

92.5%

Question 9

Define obedience.

Answer 9

Obedience is a form of social pressure where one person orders one or more people to do what they want. Usually the person who is issuing the commands has some sort of enforcing submission and have power over those on the receiving end. E.g police officer.

Question 10

Describe the difference between conformity and obedience.

Answer 10

They are both forms of social influence. Obedience takes form of orders from an authority figure whereas conformity is when the majority exerts influence on an individual to go along with the behaviour of the group.

Question 11

What are the different factors that effect obedience?

Answer 11

PAASS- Perceived legitimate authority, Autonomous and agentic levels of behaviour, Authoritarian parenting, socialisation, situational factors: proximity, location, wearing a uniform.

Question 12

Explain perceived legitimate authority.

Answer 12

If we think that someone has the right to tell us what to do, then we will generally obey. E.g police officers have legitimate authority over us and failure to obey may lead to legitimate authority.

Question 13

What is a danger to do with perceived legitimate authority?

Answer 13

Because we feel so obligated to those in power as it’s been engrained in our brains growing up we may obey which leads to unethical or immoral issues.

Question 14

Give supporting research evidence of perceived legitimate authority.

Answer 14

Milligrams (1963) experiment shows a perceived legitimate authority as the experimenter was wearing a lab coat.
Hoflings (1966) study also shows the power of a perceived legitimate authority as nurses obeyed the orders of a doctor even though it was against the rules.

Question 15

Explain Autonomous + Agentic levels of behaviour.

Answer 15

^Autonomous behaviour is when individuals behave voluntarily and are aware of the consequences of their actions.
^Agentic behaviour is when individuals see themselves as the agents of others and not responsible for their actions.

Question 16

When do people go from an autonomous state to an agentic state?

Answer 16

They may go through this agentic shift when they perceive the experimenter as an authority figure who knows what they are doing.

Question 17

Describe the binding factors which keep an individual in the agentic state.

Answer 17

^Fear of being rude or arrogant- by disrupting a well defined situation such as a laboratory experiment.
^Fear of increasing one’s anxiety- by challenging thr authority figure.

Question 18

Give supporting research evidence of autonomous + agentic levels of behaviour.

Answer 18

Milgram (1963) suggested that there were 2 things needed for someone to enter the agentic state
^ the person giving the orders must be seen as legitimate
^the person being ordered about it able to believe that the authority with accept responsibility for what happens.

It was shown that the individuals would obey the experimenter if they said they would take full responsibility for what happens

However, some people still disobeyed the experimenter and refused to continue.

Question 19

Explain socialisation

Answer 19

This process occurs from birth and continues throughout our lives.
It teaches us the rules of life, what is correct behaviour for the given situation.
For example if our parents are authoritative this may lead us to internalise the need to obey.

Question 20

Explain Authoritarian Parenting

Answer 20

This theory talks about how the way our parents treats us and how it may effect our obedience.
It was found that people with strict parents grew up to being rigid in their beliefs and believing their group was superior, this means if someone outside that group tells them to do something they are unlikely to do so.

Question 21

What are the situational factors?

Answer 21

Proximity
Location
Uniform

Question 22

Explain Proximity

Answer 22

Proximity means how far away the person is who is giving orders.
It was found obedience rates dropped to 20.5% when instructions were given over the phone.

Question 23

Explain location.

Answer 23

Setting can seen to be important in obedience.
It was found that when the milgram experiment was completed in a run down building only 47.5% obeyed.

Question 24

Explain uniform.

Answer 24

It was found that obedience rates are linked to uniform.
Obedience levels dropped to 20% when the researcher was wearing ordinary clothing.