Obedience To Authority Flashcards
What is the definition of obedience to authority?
A form of social influence where someone acts in response to a direct order from a figure with perceived authority.
Who did a key study on obedience to authority?
Milgram, 1963
What was the procedure used by Milgram?
There were 40 p’s over a series of conditions. In every condition there were 2 confederates (always the experimenter and the learner) and a real p (the teacher) they were told it was a study of how punishment affects learning. The teacher tested the learner’s ability to learn word pairs, and if they got it wrong the teacher would administer a shock (15v-450v). The leaner gave mostly wrong answered and so kept receiving (fake shots). At 300v, the learner pounded on the wall and then didnt respond. He repeated this at 315v and then didnt respond to any more of the questions. If the teacher tried to leave/stop, the experimenter had a series of prods to repeat such as ‘it is absolutely essential that you continue’
What did Milgram find?
Prior to the experiment, a control group predicted that only a few p’s would go beyond 300v and 1 in 1000 would administer the full 450v. However, in the study, 26/40 p’s (65%) administered the full 450v. Every p went to 300v and only 5p’s stopped here.
3 situational factors that affect obedience?
- Proximity
- Location
- Power of uniform
How does proximity affect obedience levels?
In one condition, the teacher and the learner were seated in the same room. Obedience levels dropped to 40%.
In a touch proximity condition, obedience levels dropped to 30%
If the experimenter was absent from the room and gave instructions over phone, obedience levels dropped to 21%.
How does location affect obedience?
Milgram repeated the study in a run down office with no association to Yale uni. Obedience levels dropped, but not significantly : 48%
How does uniform affect obedience?
There has been research to show that uniform has an impact on obedience. They convey power/authority. For example; Bushman did a study where a woman dressed as a police,a business exec and a beggar told people to give money to a man. 72% obeyed the policewoman, 48% obeyed the business exec, and 52% obeyed the beggar. Afterwards, the people said they obeyed the police because they believed she had authority.
What were the ethical issues in Milgram’s study?
The p/p’s were deceived: told it was to test how punishment affects learning. Therefore could not give fully informed consent.
Milgram was criticised for lack of consideration/care for the p/p’s: psychologically harmed
P/p’s felt they could not withdraw because the experimenter was so forceful
What is a limitation of Milgram’s study? (IV)
In Milgram’s study, the experimenter remained cool and distant despite the learner showing clear signs of pain and discomfort. This could allow the p/p’s to guess that the shocks weren’t real. Perry (2012) discovered that many of the p/p’s were sceptical about whether the shocks were real or not.
One of Milgram’s assistants divided the p/p’s into doubters and believers. Belivers were more likely to disobey. This suggests high levels are due to knowledge of aim
What is a limitation of milgram? (Men vs Women)
It was assumed that women would be more susceptible to social influence than men. It was tested in a control condition, however they found the same levels of obedience. Brass compared several Milgram style studies and found no evidence of differences in gender in obedience
What is a strength of Milgram’s study?
Historical validity: Burger (2009) conducted a very similar experiment and found almost identical findings to Milgram, 46 years later
