Obedience: Situational Variables Flashcards
Name 3 situational variables studied in Milgram’s variations?
Proximity, location and uniform.
How did proximity affect obedience in Milgram’s variation studies?
In the original study, the teacher and learner were in adjoining rooms (could hear but no see) but in the variations, they were in the same room. The obedience rate dropped form 65% to 40%. In an even more dramatic variation, teacher forced the learners hand to elicit the shock when they would not answer the question and obedience rates dropped further to 30%. When the teacher moved to a remote location and gave orders through the phone, obedience rates dropped again to 20.5%.
How did location affect obedience in Milgram’s variation studies?
Conducted in a run down building rather than prestigious university. People view the experimenter as having less authority. Obedience fell to 47.5%. This is still quite high but not as high as the original 60%.
How did uniform affect obedience in Milgram’s variation studies?
In the original, the experimenter wore a grey lab coat . In the variation the experimenter was called away for a telephone and a member of the public took over. They were wearing everyday clothes and the obedience rate dropped to 20%.
Evaluation of Obedience: Situational Variables. Research support?
Bickman (1974) did a field experiment where he had three confederates dress in different outfits- a jacket and tie, a milkman’s outfit and a security guard uniform. They stood in the street and asked the public to do tasks such as picking up pieces of rubbish. People were twice as likely to obey the person dressed as a security guard than the person in a jacket and tie. Supports Milgram- uniform conveys authority and is more likely to produce obedience.
Evaluation of Obedience: Situational Variables. Lack of internal validity.
Orne and Hollands argument is that ppts worked out that the procedure was faked. Even more likely in variations due to extra manipulation. E.g. where experimenter is replaced by ‘member of the public’. Even Milgram recognised the situation was contrived. This is a limitation because it is unclear whether the results are genuinely due to obedience or because ppts saw through deception and acted accordingly.
Evaluation of Obedience: Situational Variables. Cross-Cultural replications.
Findings have been replicated in other cultures so findings of cross- cultural research are generally supportive of Milgram. E.g. Miranda et al found 90% obedience in Spanish students which suggests research is not limited to American males but applies across cultures and to females too. Smith and Bond pointed out that most of these still took place in areas following Western culture that is not much different to America. This may mean it is premature to conclude Milgram’s findings about proximity, location and uniform apply to everyone.
