Obedience to authority Flashcards
What is obediance to authority
- behaving as instructed
- to individual rather than group pressure
- hierachy where the instructor is of higher status so the individual feels unable to resist or refuse to obey, though their private opinion is unlikely to change
- emphasis is on power. Behaviour is in responses to authority rather than peers
Milgram (1963) obediance to authority aim
-to see if individuals would obey the orders of an authority figure that incurred negative consequences and went against one’s moral code
Milgram (1963) obediance to authority method
- 40 American males responded to a newspaper advert seeking volunteers for a study of ‘memory’
- the experimenter wore a lab coat
- each pp was intoduced to a confederate, acting like a pp
- they drew lots to see who would act as ‘teacher’ abd ‘learner’-but pp was always teacher
- pp witnessed the confederate being strapped in a chair connected to a fake shock generator
- pp thought the generator was real
- the pp taught rthe learner word-pairs over an intercom
- if the learner answered incorrectly, the pp had to give them an increasing level of shock
- after 300V, the learner made no further responses
- if pp hesitated, experimenter told them to continue
- debriefing afterwards involved an interview, questionnaires and being reunited with the ‘learner’
Milgram (1963) obediance to authority results
- 26 pp (65%) administered 450V and none stopped before administering 300V
- most pp showed obvious signs of stress like sweating, groaning and trembling
Milgram (1963) obediance to authority conclusion
- obediance to authority is due to situational factors (the experiment setting, status of the experimenter, pressure to continue)
- ordinary people will obey orders to hurt someone else. We will obey orders that distress us
Milgram (1963) obediance to authority evaluation
- no right to withdraw-pps felt like they had to do it
- psychological damage e.g. digging nails into skin
- deception-pp was decieved into thinking what he was doing was fine
- androcentric-males used
- ecological validity-task unlikely to occur in real life-study lacks ecological validity
- lab experiement-control of variables-establish cause and effect
- sample shock given-supports internal validity
Ethical issues with Milgram’s study
- Deception-Milgram deceieved his pps because he said the study concerned learning and memory
- right to withdraw-no explicit right to withdraw was given to the pps before the study
- Psychological harm-Milgram accused of exposing his pps to severe stress e.g. some had seizures
Orne and Hollan (1968)
- argued Milgram’s research lacked experimental realism as it was not believable. They thought msny of the pps did think the electric shocks were not genuine
- argued that the research lacked mundane realism because it was set in a controlled setting
Burger (2009)
- developed a variation of Milgram’s study but protected well being of pps
- 70 makes and females used, maximum shock 150V
- obediance rate of 70%-no difference between males and females
- it is possible to replicate Milgram’s study
- this study highlights the difficulties of extending research on destructive obediance
What situational factors, identified by Milgram, affect obediance
- proximity of the victim
- uniform
- location of the experiment
Situational factors that affect obediance-proximity of the victim
- this is how aware individuals are of the consequences of their actions in obeying authority figures
- when the physical distance between teacher and learner in Milgram’s study was made closer, pps were in less control of the consequences of their actions-obedience rates were lower
Situational factors that affect obediance-research for proximity of the victim
Milgram (1974)
- found that when teacher and learner were in the same room, obedience declined from 62.5% to 40%
- obedience fell to 30% when the teacher forced the learner’s hand on the plate
Situational factors that affect obediance-location of the experiement
- the location of an environment can be relevant to the amount of perceived legitmate authority a person giving orders is seen to have
- obedience rates higher when the location adds to the perceieved legitimacy of an authority figure
- Milgram’s study was in Yale Uni which was a high status insitution
Situational factors that affect obediance-research for location of the experiement
Milgram (1974)-variation of study
- took place in an office block in a run down part of town
- obedience dropped to 47.5% from 62.5%
- changes in location reduced the perceived legitimacy of the authority figure giving the orders
Situational factors that affect obediance-uniform
-the wearing of uniforms can give a perception of added legitimacy to authority figures when delivering orders-increasing obedience rates of Milgram’s experiment
