obedience - explanations, situational and dispositional factors and the Authoritatian Personality Flashcards
what is obedience
behaviour in compliance with a direct command often one issued by a person in position of authority
what did Milgram want to know
why ordinary germans obeyed Nazi orders during the Holocaust `
what did milgram believe
if people were put in the right situation they would show obedience
what did other people believe
germans had an inherent obedient disposition
how did Milgram advertise his experiment
as a memory study to avoid giving the aim away and biasing the results
who took part
40 male pp
there were confederates who were aware of the experiment - pretended to be a scientist in a lab coat participating
who was given the role of teacher and learner
teacher - real pp
learner - confederate
where were the teacher and learner taken
the teacher (real pp) was taken to another room with a device containing switches from 15 to 450 volts (labelled as slight shock, moderate, severe shock)
the learner/confederate was strapped to a chair and connected with electrodes
what was the procedure of the experiment
the teacher asked the learner questions. if incorrect the teacher gave learner electric shock - they escalated the voltage with each incorrect answer (not real shocks but pp thought they were)
what happened as the (fake) shocks increased
pp could hear the learners cries of pain. the learner went silent after 300 volts to imply they were either unconcious or dead
who took responsibility for whatever happened to the learner
the scientist would say that he was responsible
what phrases were told to the pp everytime they would refuse to give the shocks
“please continue”
“the experiment requires you to continue”
“it is absolutely essential that you continue”
“you have no choice you must go on”
when was the experiment over
if the pp could completely resist prompts and refuse to take part
what were the findings
100% went all the way to 300 volts and 65% went all the way to 450V
- the footage shows the pp were visibly stressed
what did Milgrams research show
the majority of people will follow the orders of an authority figure even if it will lead to harm
what are the two explanations for obedience
agentic state and legitimacy of authority
what is agentic state
a mental state in which the individual sees themselves acting as the agent of an authority figure
what is a person like under the agentic state
they dont feel guilt or responsibility - they believe the responsilbility for their actions lies with the authority figure
they dont question the morals or consequences of the orders
what is the opposite of the agentic state
autonomous state
what is the autonomous state
when individuals act according to their principles and feel responsible for their actions
what is an agentic shift
the movement from an autonomous state to an agentic state that happens in the presense of an authority figure
how does legitimacy of authority work
through socialisation people learn their position within the social hierarchy. individuals understand their position relative to those people who are above and below them. people accept that LoA is needed for society to function. they recognise the rights of authority figures to give orders
how is LoA communicated
through visible symbols (uniforms) and settings (police stations, courts)
what are the situational variables affecting obedience
proximity
location
uniform
how did milgram test these situational variables
he altered his experiment to test the limits of obedience
how does proximity affect obedience
increasing the distance between pp and the authority figure by having them give insturctions on the phone instead of in the same room made obedience rates decrease from 65% to 21%
pp went from agentic state to autonomous state
how does location affect obedience
the original study took place at Yale uni and they changed it to a run down office block. obedience rates were 47.5%. location of the uni inccreased scientists legitimacy of authority by making them seem more genuine. low status location decreased the LoA and obedience levels
how did uniform affect obedience
the original experimenter wore a grey lab coat. the researcher recieved another phone call, made an excuse to leave then was replaced by another confederate wearing regular clothes. this reduced LoA and obedience rates to 20%
how do the manipulation of the variables support milgrams argument that pp act with extreme obedience due to being in an agentic state
obedience dropped when proximity increased and when uniform changed. pp returned to autonomous state
- the researcher accepts responsibility for the harm of the learner
- scientist has LoA in the envt of yale uni and due to his uniform
how does Milgrams research into situational variables have methodological flaws
- task lacks mundane realism
- not realistic
- lacks ecological validity
- uni envt was not normal for the pp
- people obey in certain places with tasks they are familiar with
what did Orner and Holland claim
the task was so unusual that pp knew they werent shocking anyone and were just acting to demand characteristics (guessed the aims and acted accordingly)
why was there gender bias
study was conducted on males only
what can’t be explained by agentic state and legitimacy of authority
why 35% didnt conform
- each pp had the same experience
what does Adorno’s dispositional Authoritarian Personality acknowledge
the willingness to obey and authoriy figure varies from each person
what is a strength of Milgrams experiment
used standardised procedures - prerecordings of pp responses, clear script for the experimenter to follow
high control, each pp had the same experience. the clear instructions enables replications (reliable results in non US replications)
why did Milgrams research have methodological flaws
-using shock generator lacks mundane realism
- lacks ecological validity
- pp maybe acting to demand characteristics
- gender bias
why was Milgrams research considered to be unethical
pp suffered from emotional distress so it was difficult for them to withdraw
they were decieved about the study they were taking part in so were unable to provide informed consent
how can you look at Milgrams research from a cost benefits analysis
temporary harm of pp was worth it as it led to further understanding of obedience
give another study that is similar to Milgrams obedience study
Hofling (1966) .
what did Hofling do
conducted a field experiment in a hospital
what was the procedure of Hoflings experiment
22 real nurses called by unfamiliar voice claiming to be Dr Smith who ordered nurses to give patients twice the daily dose of an unfamiliar drug to a patient (obviously dangerous). unknown to the nurses it was actually a placebo
how many nurses obeyed
21 out of 22 nurses
what does Hoflings experiment show
even in a situation with ecological validity and a task with mundane realism people obey those they feel have a LoA- L of setting (hospital) its more important than proximity (order given on phone)
what did Adorno want to understand
antisemetism in ww2
what did Adorno argue
high levels of obedience were dispositional due to a set of internal traits a personality type
what was the term given to the dispositional obedience trait
Authoritarian Personality
where did people with Authoritatian Personalities get them from
shaped early in life by strict authoritarian parenting with harsh physical punishments
who did adorno link his ideas to
Freud
what did Adorno suggest was displaced onto minority groups
anger people felt because of their harsh childhood experiences
what do people with Authoritarian Personalities have
- high respect for people for higher social status (leading to obedience)
-hostile to people they see as having low status - fixed stereotypes about groups of people
- conformists with conventional beliefs and behaviours
- views on morality are dogmatic and have clear ideas about right or wrong
what questionnaire did Adorno develop
the F scale - fascism scale
what did people who scored highly on the F scale have
fixed stereotypes, identified with “strong” people, disliked “weak” people and were inflexible with ideas of right or wrong
how many factors did the F scale measure
9
how was Authoritarian Submission measured
refers to uncritical attitude towards authority
- “obedience and respect for authority are the most important virutes children should learn”
how was Power and Toughness measured
refers to preoccuptation with dominance and submission and identification with power figures
- “people can be divided into two distinct classes, the weak and the strong”
what is one strength of the AP
in Milgrams study 35% resisted authority figures - this cant be explained by situational factors as each pp had the same experience. Adornos theory acknowledges why obedience for authority varies for each person
what did Elms and Milgram studied
20 obedient males who gave electric shocks and 20 defiant males who refused to give electric shocks were given the F scale. the obedient males scored higher suggesting they had authoritarian personalities. they also tended to dehumanise or hold more negative attitudes towards the learner and saw the experimenter as someone knowledgeable and trustworthy
what is the problem with linking abusive childhood, the development of an AP and obedience together
can only be studied using correlation - cant study this
how have alternate situational explanations shown that majority of people have the capacity to be obedient
they are backed up by significant experimental research
how has the F scale been criticised
causes acquiescence bias - people tend to agree to questions.
the F scale was created in a way that agreeing to all the questions would artificially inflate their score on the score leading to inaccurate measurement
why is the AP and the F scale biased
Adorno was left wing and some questions are argued to be biased against people with a right wing political view
how can relying on the Authoritarian Personality lead to stereotyping
- complex historical events such as WW2 are overly simplified into personality flaws of people involved
- risks reducing accountability of social structures and leaders
- ignores how societal norms and peer pressure or legal form can lead to people with non authoritarian personalities to feel they need to participate in widespread social influence
