Obedience Flashcards
what is obedience
type of social influence where someone acts in response to a direct order from another person
explain the procedure of milgrams research
- 40 american male volunteers taking part in a memory study
- yale university
- worked in pairs, one as a teacher (participant) and one as a learner (confederate)
- the participants witnessed the lesrner being strapped into a chair and attached to electrodes lined to a shock generator ranging from 15 o 450 volts
- if the learner didnt repeat correctly the teacher woukd guve them a shock, moving up the scale each time
what were the findings of milgrams research
- all participants gave shocks up to 300 volts
- 65% gave shocks to the maximum of 450 volts
- showed visible signs of extreme stress
explain a study that discredits milgrams research
gina perry
- listened to tapes of milgrams participants
- only half of them believd he shocks were real
- this questions the validity of the research
explain a study that supports migrams research
hofling et al
- studied obediant relationahips of nurses to doctors
- it was found that 21 out of 22 would break several hospital rules when told to by an unknown doctor over the phone
what situational variables that affect obedience did milgram look into
- location
- proximity
- uniform
explain how milgram researched the affect of location on obedience and what was his findings
- changed the location of his study from yale university to a run down office building
- obedience went from 65% to 45%
explain how milgram researched the affect of proximity on obedience and what was his findings
- when the teacher could not see the learner obedience rates were 65%
- when they were i the same room this dropped to 40%
- this suggests the further away from the suffering they are causing, the more able to continue
explain how milgram researched the affect of uniform on obedience and what was his findings
- milgram substituted the experimenter and his lab coat for a member of the public in their normal clothes
- this caused obedience rates to drop from 65% to 20%
explain a study that provide evidence for the role of uniform in obedience
bickman
- the confederate wa either dressed in a security guards uniform, jacket and tie or a milkmans outfit
- confederates asked people to carry out requests
- people were twice as likely to obey the confederate drssed as a security guard than one dressed in a jacket and tie
- this shows uniform is an important visual cue that we recognise as a sign of legitimate authority
what are the 3 explanations for obedience
- agency theory
- legitimacy of authority
- authoritarian personality
what are the two states in the agency theory
- autonomous state
- agentic state
explain the autonomous state
state in which people see their actions as voluntary and self directed
explain the agentic state
state in which pople se themselves as being the agents of others and in which individual consciousness does not operate
the consequence of moving from the autonomous state to the agentic state is known as the ……
agentic shift
explain how the agency theory can be applied to milgrams research
- the autonomous state can be seen in milgrams research when the participant was choosing to give the electric shocks
- the agentic state can be seen when the participant started to refuse and one of the verbal probds were given
explain what legitimacy of authority is
the idea that people are more likely to obey people they perceieve to have authority over us
explain how milgrams research supports the legitimacy of authority explanation for obedience
- the authority figure wore a lab coat
- obedience fell when the experimenter was not wearing his lab coat
- supports the expkanation because it demonstrates when participants dont view the authority figure to have real legitimacy, obedience reduces
what is the authoritarian personality
personality type more likely to obey
what is used to measure the authoritarian personality
f-scale
who is the main researcher into the authoritarian personality
adorno
what was the procedure of adornos study
- studied 2000 middle clas white american and their unconscious attitudes towards other racial groups
- this was measured using the f scale
what were the findings of adornos research into the authoritarian personality
- strong positive correlation between authoritarianism and prejudice
- people who scored high on the f scale showed contempt for the weak
how is authoritatian personality formed
harsh childhood parenting
expain research that supports adornos authoritarian personality
milgram
- participants who were highly obedient in milgrams research were significantly more authoritarian on the f scale
- supporting the link between authoritarian personality and obedience
strength
give a PEELH for milgrams research
- P - supporting evidence
- Eg - hofling et al found similiar results of milgrams where they assesed the obediant realationships between nurses and doctors. it was found 21 out of 22 nurses would break several hospital rules when being told to be an unknown doctor over the phone
- Ex - the similiarity in findings to milgram suggests his research has high extneral validity as it reflects real world obedience
- L - it supports the generalisability of milgrams conclusions about obedience
- the studies supporting milgram lack full control over extreneous variables
limitation
give a PEELH for milgrams research
- P - questioned validity of the research due to participant belief about the shocks
- Eg - gina perry listened to recordings of the participanst in milgram research and found many of them believed the shocks werent real
- Ex - if the participants didnt believe the shocks were genuine, their behaviour may not reflect true obedience to authority
- L - this undermines the external validity of milgrams findings as the experiment may not accursately measure how people would react to real life obedience situations
- H - milgrams research still provides valuable insights into the influence of authory figures on obedience
strength
give a PEEL for the agency theory
- P - supportinmg evidence
- Eg - milgrams research. participoants originally acted in the autonomous state where they were independantly shocking the learner however shifted to the agentic state when they became hesitant and the verbal prods were given and they transfered responsibility to the authority figure
- Ex - shows that when the exdpeirment issues verbal prompts the participoants were more likely to continue adminserting shocks even when viosibily distressed
- L - supports agency theory whiuch arghues people obery orders because they view themselves as agents as others and dont feel personally responsible
limitation
give a PEEL for the agency theory
- P - oversimplification of human behaviour
- Eg - doesnt explain why some participants in milgrams study did not fully obey. some resisted and questioned the authority figure
- Ex - this suggetss there may be other factors such as persaonality that may play a role in determining obedience
- L - the thory doesnt account for how or why people may disobery when authpruty figures are present and legitimate
strength
give a PEELH for the authoritarian personality
- P - supporting evidence
- Eg - milgrams study showed that participants who where highly obedient scored higher on the f scale
- Ex - this suggetss a link between authoritarian personality and obedience rates
- L - these findings support the idea that people wiht the personality are more likely to obery to authority figures
limitation
give a PEELH for the authoritarian personality
- P - cultural and situational influences are not accounted for
- Eg - in post war germany, many individuals followed the nazis orders despite not having authoritarian personalities
- Ex - this suggests situational fa tors such as propaganmda and social poressures may be more influential than personality alone
- L - the personality may be too simplistic and doesnt ake into accoutn the broader social context
