Obedience Flashcards
Define Obedience
A change in your behaviour due to commands given by an authority figure
What is the aim and method of Milgram’s study?
Aim:
He wanted to find out if ordinary American citizens would obey an unjust order from an authority figure and inflict pain on another person because they were instructed to.
Method:
Milgram’s sample consisted of 40 male participants from a range of occupations and backgrounds. The participants were all volunteers who had responded to an advert in a local paper, which offered $4.50 to take part in an experiment on ‘punishment and learning’.
The 40 participants were all invited to a laboratory at Yale University and upon arrival, they met with the experimenter and another participant, Mr Wallace, who were both confederates.
The experimenter explained that one person would be randomly assigned the role of teacher and the other, a learner. However, the real participant was always assigned the role of teacher. The experimenter explained that the teacher, the real participant, would read the learner a series of word pairs and then test their recall. The learner, who was positioned in an adjacent room, would indicate his choice using a system of lights. The teacher was instructed to administer an electric shock ever time the learner made a mistake and to increase the voltage after each mistake.
The teacher watched the learner being strapped to the electric chair and was given a sample electric shock to convince them that the procedure was real. The learner wasn’t actually strapped to the chair and gave predetermined answers to the test. As the electric shocks increased the learner’s screams, which were recorded, became louder and more dramatic. At 180 volts the learner complained of a weak heart. At 300 volts he banged on the wall and demanded to leave and at 315 volts he became silent, to give the illusions that was unconscious, or even dead.
The experiment continued until the teacher refused to continue, or 450 volts was reached. If the teacher tried to stop the experiment, the experimenter would respond with a series of prods, for example: ‘The experiment requires that you continue.’ Following the experiment the participants were debriefed.
What are the findings of Milgram’s study?
Milgram found that all of the real participants went to at least 300 volts and 65% continued until the full 450 volts.
What did Milgram Conclude?
He concluded that under the right circumstances ordinary people will obey unjust orders.
Evaluate Milgram’s study
Weakness:
Milgram’s study has been criticised for lacking ecological validity. Milgram tested obedience in a laboratory, which is very different from real-life situations of obedience, where people are often asked to follow more subtle instructions, rather than administering electric shocks. As a result we are unable to generalise his findings to real-life situations of obedience and cannot conclude that people would obey less severe instructions in the same way.
Research support
Bickman supports Milgram’s study because people in the street were asked to pick up litter from the ground by either a milkman, a civilian or a guard, who were all confederates. people were more likely to obey the guard because of the uniform. therefore this supports Milgram’s study because the experimenter was dressed in a lab coat (uniform) which was the reason why participants obeyed to his instructions and directions.
What are the Situational Factors of obedience?
- Proximity
- Location
- Uniform
Proximity
AO1:
People are more likely be obey an authority figure who is in close proximity (i.e. nearby). In Milgram’s study, the experimenter was in the same room as the participant (i.e. teacher).
If the authority figure is distant it is easier to resistant their orders. When the experimenter instructed and prompted the teacher by telephone from another room, obedience fell to 20.5%. Many participants cheated and missed out shocks or gave less voltage than ordered to by the experimenter.
AO3:
Slater’s study was conducted in a virtual environment and included a condition in which participants were instructed to shock the learner via text message.
The decrease in Proximity produced through the use of a mobile phone led to the highest levels of obedience in all participants. This shows proximity can explain obedience
Location
AO1:
Milgram’s obedience experiment was conducted at Yale, a prestigious university in America. The high status of the university gave the study credibility and respect in the eyes of the participants, thus making them more likely to obey.
When Milgram moved his experiment to a set of run down offices rather than the impressive Yale University obedience dropped to 47.5%. This suggests that status of location effects obedience.
AO3:
Milgram found that when the study was conducted in a run-down building, obedience levels fell to 47.5%. This demonstrates how location can affect obedience
Uniform
AO1:
Milgram’s experimenter wore a laboratory coat (a symbol of scientific expertise) which gave him a high status. But when the experimenter dressed in everyday clothes obedience was very low. The uniform of the authority figure can give them status.
AO3:
(Bickman)
Define Legitimate Authority
The legitimacy of authority is an explanation of obedience offered by Milgram. Milgram suggested that we are more likely to obey a person who has a higher position or status in a social hierarchy.
Evaluate Legitimate Authority
Strength:
Milgram’s study can be used to support this explanation, participants may have obeyed because the experimenter was:
- Wearing a lab coat
- The study took place in the prestigious ‘Yale” university
When Milgram varied his study to a downtown office, obedience dropped. This suggests that without a perception of authority individuals will not obey
Define Agentic State
The Agentic State is an explanation of obedience offered by Milgram and is where an individual carries out the orders of an authority figure, acting as their agent. The shift from autonomy to ‘agency’ is referred to as the ‘agentic shift’.
Evaluate Agentic State
Strength:
It could be argued that the 65% of Milgram’s participants that obeyed were in the Agentic State. 35% may have been in the autonomous state
- When some of them asked about Mr Wallace’s health, the experimenter would say “you will not be held responsible for your actions”, this may have encouraged them to enter the Agentic State
Define Authoritarian Personality
The authoritarian personality was first identified by Adorno and refers to a person who has extreme respect for authority and is more likely to be obedient to those who hold power over them.
Outline the Dispositional Explanation: Authoritarian Personality
Adorno et al. (1950) developed a questionnaire called the California F scale, to measure levels of authoritarian personality. In Milgram’s original research, psychologists questioned whether the obedience occurred due to situational factors, for example, uniform and location, or dispositional factors, such as a particular personality characteristic. In order to answer this question, Milgram conducted a follow-up study, using participants from his original research.
