obedience: situational variables

Question 1

what are situational variables of obedience?

Answer 1

proximity
uniform
location

Question 2

proximity variation

Answer 2

teacher and learner in same room
obedience dropped to 40%

Question 3

touch proximity variation

Answer 3

teacher forced learners hand onto electroshock plate when refused to answer
obedience dropped to 30%

Question 4

remote instruction variation

Answer 4

experimenter left room and gave instructions by phone
obedience dropped to 20.5%
ppts also frequently pretended to shock

Question 5

explanation for proximity

Answer 5

decreased proximity = psychological distancing from consequences of actions

Question 6

location

Answer 6

run down office block instead of Yale uni
obedience fell to 47.5%

Question 7

location explanation

Answer 7

uni environment = study had legitimacy of authority
ppts more obedient in uni because they perceived experimenter shared legitimacy of authority and obedience expected
obedience still high in office block because ppts perceived experiments ‘scientific nature’

Question 8

uniform

Answer 8

experimenter wore grey lab coat - symbol of authority

Question 9

uniform variation

Answer 9

experimenter called away (inconvenient telephone) - replaced by ‘ordinary member of public’ in everyday clothes - obedience rate dropped to 20%

Question 10

uniform explanation

Answer 10

uniform encourages obedience
widely recognised symbols of authority
someone in uniform = obedience because authority is legitimate
someone without uniform = less right to expect obedience

Question 11

research support

Answer 11

studies demonstrated influence of situations variables
Bickman- confederates dress in different outfits - jacket and tie, milkman and security guard
confederates asked ppl to perform tasks e.g. picking up litter
twice as likely to ibex assistant in security guard outfit than jacket and tie

Question 12

cross cultural replications

Answer 12

Meeus and Raaijmakers - ppts irdered to say stressful things in an interview to someone desperate for a job
90% ppts obeyed
also replicated proximity - person giving orders wasn’t present obedience decreased

Question 13

however not cross cultural

Answer 13

Smith and Bond ice tied two replications between 1968 and 1985 taking place in ‘non-western’ countries
other countries not that culturally different from USA e.g. spain
bc smilies notions about role of authority

Question 14

low internal validity

Answer 14

ppts may know procedure was fake
Orne and Holland criticised Milgrims baseline study.
even more likely in variations ppts conform bc of extra manipulation of variables
e.g. experimenter replaced by member of public