obedience: situational variables

Question 1

what are the 3 situational variables?

Answer 1

•proximity
•location
•uniform

Question 2

what is proximity?

Answer 2

the physical closeness or distance of an authority figure to the person they are giving an order to. it also refers to the closeness of the teacher to the victim ( learner) in Milgram’s studies

Question 3

how does proximity influence obedience in Milgram’s study?

Answer 3

when the teacher and the learner were in the same room, obedience dropped from 65% to 40%

Question 4

what did obedience drop to when the experimenter gave orders over the phone?

Answer 4

20.5%

Question 5

what does location refer to?

Answer 5

the place where an order is issued. the relevant factor that influences obedience is the status of prestige associated with the location.

Question 6

where was Milgram’s original study conducted?

Answer 6

Yale university

Question 7

how does location affect obedience in Milgram’s study?

Answer 7

when the location moved from Yale university to a run-down office, obedience dropped from 65% to 47.5%

Question 8

what percentage obeyed when the teacher and the learner were in the same room?

Answer 8

40%

Question 9

what percentage obeyed when the study was conducted in a run- down office?

Answer 9

47.5%

Question 10

what does uniform refer to?

Answer 10

people in positions of authority often have a specific outfit that is symbolic of their authority, for example police officers and judges. this indicates to the rest of us who is entitled to expect our obedience

Question 11

how does uniform affect obedience levels in Milgram’s study?

Answer 11

at yale university the experimenter wore a lab coat, and obedience was 65%
when the experimenter was played by an ‘ordinary member of the public’ in normal clothes, obedience rates dropped to 20%

Question 12

what did obedience rates drop to when the experimenter was dressed like a normal member of the public?

Answer 12

20%
this was the lowest obedience rates of all the conditions

Question 13

evaluation points for Milgram’s variations

Answer 13

strength: research support
limitation: lack of internal validity
strength: cross- cultural replications
limitation: the ‘obedience alibi’

Question 14

strength: research support

Answer 14

• in a field experiment in NYC, Bickman had three confederates dress in three different outfits- a jacket and tie, a milkman’s outfit and a security guards uniform
•the confederates stood on the street and asked passers by to perform simple tasks
•people were twice as likely to obey the assistant dressed in the security guard outfit than the one in a jacket and tie
•this supports Milgram’s conclusion that a uniform conveys the authority of its wearer

Question 15

limitation: lack of internal validity

Answer 15

•Orne and Holland criticised Milgram’s study and suggested that many of the participants worked out that the procedure was faked
•even Milgram recognised this situation especially when the experimenter was playing a member of the public
•this is a limitation as it is unclear whether the results are genuinely due to the operation of obedience or because the participants saw through the deception and acted accordingly

Question 16

strength: cross-cultural replications

Answer 16

•his findings have been replicated in other cultures, and cross-cultural research has generally been supportive of Milgram
•for example, a study found obedience rates of over 90% in spanish students
•this suggests that Milgram’s results can be generalised outside American Men
however
•Smith and Bond pointed out that these replications have taken place in western cultures so would not be too dissimilar to the results from Americans, implying these results actually cannot be applied to all cultures

Question 17

who suggested that Milgram’s cross-cultural research was only conducted in western cultures therefore still making it unable to be generalised?

Answer 17

Smith and Bond

Question 18

limitation: obedience alibi

Answer 18

Mandel suggests these situational factors give people (Nazis) excuses for their actions as it implies they were merely obeying orders and were ‘victims’ of the situational factors outside their control. gives people a way to not take responsibility