Obedience Flashcards
What is obedience?
Is the result of Social Influence where somebody acts in response to a direct order from an authority figure(s)
• Cardwell (2000)
- It is believed that without such an order the person would NOT have behaved in this way
- It may be destructive – as when people comply with orders from malevolent authority
Who conducted the KEY STUDY into obedience, and when?
Milgram, 1963
Milgram’s 1963 obedience study - Stanford Prison
Aim – To find out whether ordinary Americans would obey an unjust order from a person in authority to inflict pain on another person
Milgram wanted to discover what factors in a situation lead people to obey
Procedure
- 40 male volunteers, paid $4.00 per hour, were deceived into thinking they were giving electric shocks
- Participants were told it was concerning punishment in learning. The genuine participants were always the teacher, and had to administer an electric shock to the learner (confederate) every time they made a mistake. They watched the learner being strapped to a chair but couldn’t see them during the experiment
- To begin with the accomplice answered correctly then began to make mistakes. Shocks started at 15v and rose at 15v increments to 450volts
- If the pps hesitated they were prompted by the teacher:
a. ‘please continue…’
b. ‘the experiment equires you to continue…’
c. it is absolutely essential that you continue…’
d. You have no other choice, you must go on…’ - No shocks were actually administered
- The experiment continued either until the teacher effused to continue or until 450volts was administered and given 4 times
- The pps were debriefed and taken to meet their learners after the experiment was over
Findings
• All pps went to at least 300V
• 65% believed they had administered the full 450V
• Most pps found the procedure very stressful and displayed severe signs of anxiety. Although they dissented verbally they continued to obey the researched who prompted them to continue giving the shocks
Conclusions
• Under certain circumstances, most people will obey orders that go against their conscience
• When people occupy a subordinate position in a dominance hierarchy, they become liable to lose feelings of empathy, compassion and morality and are inclined towards blind obedience
• Atrocities such as WWI genocide may be largely explained in terms of pressures to obey a powerful authority
What range did the electric shocks go from in Milgram’s Obedience study?
15V - 450V
Evaluate Milgram’s Obedience Study
- The study has received many criticisms, most relating to the potential harm that might have been done to participants
- Did participants really believe they were giving electric shocks? Orne and Holland (1968) claimed the study lacked EXPERIMENTAL (INTERNAL) VALIDITY. They also suggested that Milgram’s laboratory bore little resemblance to real life situations where obedience is required so it lacked ECOLOGICAL VALIDITY.
What was the original obedience rate from Milgram’s obedience study?
65%
Variation:
Venue moved to seedy office
What happened to obedience rate?
fell when pps exposed to less prestigious surroundings
Obedience rate = 47.5%
Variation:
Teacher had to force learner’s hand onto plate to receive shock
What happened to obedience rate?
Fell further when pps were required to us physical force personally to administer shocks
Obedience rate = 30%
Variation:
Teacher support from 2 other confederate teachers who refused to obey
What happened to obedience rate?
Fell when pps conformed to modelled disobedience by confederates
Obedience rate = 10%
Variation:
Teacher paired with an assistant (confederate) who threw the switches
What happened to obedience rate?
levels soared when someone else was administering the shocks
Obedience Rate = 92.5%
What is the A grade evaluation point of Milgram’s study?
Milgram asked psychiatrists to predict how many would go to 450 Volts – they said less than 1% and that these 1% would be psychopaths
- Therefore, justifying Milgram’s underestimation of the effects of his experiment
You can Evaluate Milgram’s study using three factors, what are they?
Ethics
Ecological Validity
Experiment (Internal) Validity
Evaluate Milgram’s study using it’s ecological validity
- Degree of generalizability beyond context of investigation
> Milgram’s studies = internationally repeated – higher obedience levels in Germany and lower levels in Australia (Kilham and Mann 1974)
> Plenty of Research support
However, Orne and Holland challenged the generalizability of Milgram’s findings as it bore little resemblance to real life
Hofling et al (1966) = supported ecological validity of Milgram’s study
Then Rank and Jacobson’s later study questioned ecological validity of the Hofling study!
What is Ecological Validity?
The Degree of generalizability beyond context of investigation
What is Experimental (internal) validity?
The measure of experimental procedures work and if its effects are genuine
Evaluate Milgrams study using it’s Experimental (internal) validity
-measure of experimental procedures work and if its effects are genuine
> Orne and Holland claimed pps pretended to be distressed to please researcher and didn’t believe they gave electric shocks
>Milgram used evidence from video footage and post-experimental interviews to support his belief that pps were under real, extreme stress and that they believed they were administering shocks
>Orne and Holland could not explain why some pps refused to continue giving shocks or why altering location reduced obedience
What Ethical issues to Milgram get challenged with?
- Deception
Purposefully misleading
participants - Informed consent
A requirement that participants should have sufficient information - Protection of participants
Participants should be protected from undue risk during experiment, including humiliation - Right to withdraw
Should be made clear from outset they have a right to withdraw at any time, without reason - Debriefing
Discussion of experiment – informing participants of the nature and outcome of the study
Why was this Ethical Issue for and against Milgram?
Deception
For Milgram
Eliminated demand characteristics and social desirability
Against Milgram
It is deceptive to lie to pps and lead them to believe they are causing real harm
Why was this Ethical Issue for and against Milgram?
Informed consent
For Milgram
Eliminating demand characteristics by not keeping them fully informed
Against Milgram
Milgram technically removed their right to informed consent because they did not know the purpose of the experiment
Why was this Ethical Issue for and against Milgram?
Protection of participants
For Milgram
Milgram did not know before the experiment that he would cause that much distress
Against Milgram
>Emotional Strain
>Short term psychological harm: stress from carrying out orders
>Long term psychological harm: Learning they were willing to kill someone - humiliation
Why was this Ethical Issue for and against Milgram?
Right to withdraw
For Milgram
Milgram said he made it clear that they had the right to withdraw which was evident as some pps left.
>Milgram argued the prompts were vital as the order to continue was vital to the study
Against Milgram
It was not clear in Milgram’s study to what extent the pps had the right to withdraw
>Arguable that the prods made it ambiguous
Why was this Ethical Issue for and against Milgram?
Debriefing
For Milgram
Debriefing was used to fully inform pps what happened & why
>Milgram claimed it was instrumental to helping reassure and protect pps
>Disobedient pps: reminded that their behaviour = socially desirable
Against Milgram
Too little too late?
Which two researchers conducted alternative research into obedience?
Bickman (1974) - the power of uniform
Hofling et al (1966) - Nurses study
Alternative research into obedience:
Bickman’s 1974 study - the power of uniform
Bickman (1974) the Power of Uniform
Procedure
- Three male experimenters dressed as either: a civilian, a milkman or a policeman.
- They made requests to passers-by to pick up a bag or provide money for a parking meter
Findings
People were most likely to obey the policemen and least likely to obey the civilian
Conclusion
Uniform does have an effect on people’s willingness to obey
Evaluation
Strength of the study = natural setting
- Weakness of the study = pps were random, so the individual differences/type of pps (e.g. their mood on the day)
High ECOLOGICAL VALIDITY
High REPEATABILITY
Alternative research into obedience:
Hofling et al (1966) Burses study
Procedure
A nurse, alone on a late shift, received a phone call from an unknown doctor and asked to administer 20mg of an unknown drug. If she obeyed, she’d be giving twice the maximum dose and taking instruction from an unknown person.
Findings
21/22 started to give the medication (which was actually harmless but they were stopped by another nurse.
Conclusions
Nurses argued it was because they were used to obeying orders, so the pressures to obey were higher than they’d imagined
Evaluation Supports ecological validity of Milgram’s study because high levels of validity found in real life - high ecological validity - field experiment - no informed consent (ethics) - Lack of respect for nurses?
