Obedience AO1

Question 1

What is Obedience?

Answer 1

Where people follow a direct order which is normally issued by a figure of authority

Question 2

What did Milgram aim to study?

Answer 2

To investigate how far people would obey if it involved harming others

Question 3

What was Milgram’s procedure?

Answer 3

• 40 male ppts; ppts were the teacher confeds where the learner
• Learner had to match pairs of words - they always got it wrong and were in a separate room to the ppts
• If learner got the wrong answer teacher had to deliver electric shocks (they were fake)
• If ppts refused, the investigator gave them 3 prods

Question 4

What were Milgram’s findings?

Answer 4

65% shocked to the highest volts
All shocked till 300V
12.5% stopped at 300V

Question 5

What are Milgram’s Variations known as?

Answer 5

Situational Factors

Question 6

What were Milgram’s Variations and their findings?

Answer 6

1) Proximity - decreased; 40% if ppt & confed in same room, 30% if ppt had to touch the confed, 21% if investigator gave instructions on the phone.
2) Location - decreased; in rundown building dropped to 45%
3) Uniform - decreased; investigator wore normal clothes, fell to 20%

Question 7

What are the Social-Psychological Factors?

Answer 7

Agentic State

Legitimacy of Authority

Question 8

Define Agentic State

Answer 8

A mental state where we feel no responsibility for our behaviour b/c we believe we’re acting for an authority figure.
We are freed from our conscience

Question 9

Define Legitimacy of Authority

Answer 9

When authority is justified by the persons position of power within a social hierarchy.

Question 10

What did Adorno (1950) study?

Answer 10

The cause of obedient personalities

Question 11

How did Adorno conduct his study?

Answer 11

• Gave a questionnaire called the ‘F-Scale’ to 2000 white, middle class American males.

Question 12

What did the F-Scale do?

Answer 12

Measure the ppts unconscious attributes towards radical groups & authoritarian personalities

Question 13

What did Adorno find?

Answer 13

Ppts with authoritarian learnings scored high & identified with strong people.
The were conscious of their own and other people’s status, and showed respect only to those who had a higher status than them.
They have a Black & White approach to views/attitudes w/ fixed stereotypes.

Question 14

What is the name of the obedient personality

Answer 14

the Authoritarian Personality

Question 15

Why is the Authoritarian Personality formed?

6 points

Answer 15

• Strict Parenting
• Discipline
• Expectations of absolute loyalty
• Impossibly High standards
• Criticisms
• Conditional Love