obidence- milgram Flashcards
what does Milgram measure
obedience
what are the aims of milgram
wanted to see if general population would obey a stranger and inflict harm on a stranger just because they were told me
how many psychologists did Milgram interview before and what did they predict
14
said that less than 1% of the population would be willing
who were the volunteers
40 aged 20-50
what was the percentage of people exceeded the max
65%
benefit of it being all males
Milgram wanted to investigate the Nuremburg trails (why Nazis did what they did to Jews) and wanted to see if people actually would conformed
what did 14 participants start doing as they were uncomfortable
laughing nervously
sweating
stuttering
self-harm (biting or digging finger nails)
what was causing further pressure
had an authorative figure pressuring them saying things like it is essential to continue
findings
All participants went up to 300V and 65% went up to 450V. No
participants stopped below 300V, whilst only 12.5% stopped at 300V
factors that can affect levels of obedience (situational)
location
proximity
uniform
location
when experiment was moved to a set of run down offices when original at yale uni obedience level dropped 47.5%
uniform
in the original experiment the experimenter was wearing a grey lab coat
when role taken over by an ‘ordinary member of the public’ (confederate) in normal clothes obedience level dropped by 20%
proximity
easier to resist orders from an authoritative figure if they’re not close by
when e instructed through a telephone from another room obedience level dropped by 40%- many people also cheated by missing out shocks or giving lower shocks
buffer meaning and results
protects people from having to confront the consequence if their actions
when pp could instruct someone to do the electric shocks 92.5% of pp shocked up to 450V
the pp was buffered (protected) from seeing the victim
evaluation- weakness
There was deception and so informed consent could not be
obtained.
bias sample- all male- unrepresentative so we cant generalise findings
type of study
structured observation
conducted covertly
situational variable meaning
factors in the environment that could affect participants’ performance- set of circumstances
obedience meaning
when an individual acts in response to a direct order from another individual, who is usually an authority figure
example of a verbal prompt the experimenter gave during orginal
'’the experiment requires you to continue’’
real life application of acting in an agentic state
wars:
people act in an agentic state and kill innocent people because people of a higher power have told them to
who researched personality traits in relation to obedience
Adorno et al (1950)
what did he call this personality type
authoritarian personality type
what were the traits of this personality type
have extreme respect for an authoritative figure (submission) and more hostile towards those below them/ don’t obey social conventions
desire for power and toughness- often relate to personal insecurities
how does this differ from Milgram
Disposition vs. Situation: Adorno et al. argued obedience comes from inherent personality traits, whereas Milgram showed that situational pressures could make almost anyone obedient.
Long-term Traits vs. Short-term Influence: Adorno saw authoritarianism as a stable personality trait, while Milgram’s work suggested obedience could be influenced by immediate circumstances.
who studied this and had real life applications
Hofling (1969)
what did he find
95% nurses followed orders that could harm a patient from an unknown doctor, even when they knew the instruction was unsafe. Real world obedience to perceived legitimate authority.
how does this support milgram
shows that situational factors/pressures show a crucial role in obedience
what’s a strength in terms of an evaluative point for this
external validity due to the mundane realism and natural setting
since hospitals have clear hierarchies, the study’s findings can be applied to other professional environments where individuals must obey authority figures (e.g., the military, police, corporate workplaces).
The 95% obedience rate suggests that compliance with authority is not just limited to healthcare but is a broader social phenomenon.
real life example of agentic state
wars:
people act in an agentic state and kill innocent people because people of a higher power have told them to
opened eyes to problems of abidance within society in response to destructive authorities figures
whats an example of this
Nazis obeyed orders so Hitler managed to get what he wanted and what he wanted was not what the majority of people wanted. Such research also gives an insight into why people were so willing to kill innocent Jews
simply when told to, and so highlights how we can all easily be victims to such pressures. A general awareness of the power of
such influences is useful in establishing social order and moral
behaviors.
whats 2 general weaknesses of milgram
lack of internal validity- the experiment may have been about trust
rather than about obedience because the experiment was held at
Stanford University so, the participants may have trusted that nothing serious would happen to the confederate, especially
considering the immense prestige of the location. Also when the
experiment was replicated in a run-down office, obedience decreased
to a mere 20.5%. This suggests that the original study did not
investigate what it aimed to investigate.
It raises a socially sensitive issue – Milgram’s findings suggest that
those who are responsible for killing innocent people can be excused
because it is not their personality that made them do this, but it is
because of the situation that they were in and the fact that it is difficult
to disobey – some may strongly disagree with this, and especially the
judicial system, where individuals are expected to take moral responsibility for
their actions.
2 general strengths of milgram (1 already been over)
Highly replicable – The procedure has been repeated all over the world, where consistent and similar obedience levels have been found
shed a light on the humans unconscious and automatic nature of obedience- shows how easily people engage in harmful behaviors under the influence of an authoritative figure. . For example, in a replication of Milgram’s study using the TV show researchers found that 85% of
participants were willing to give lethal electric shocks to an
unconscious man (confederate), whilst being cheered on by a
presenter and a TV audience increasing the reliablity
wars:
people act in an agentic state and kill innocent people because people of a higher power have told them to
opened eyes to problems of obedience within society in response to destructive authorities figures
procedure of Milgram
40 male volunteers were recruited through a newspaper ad, which advertised a study on memory and learning at Yale University. They were paid $4.50 for participation.
Participants were always assigned the role of the “teacher,” while a confederate was the “learner.” Another confederate acted as the “experimenter” in a lab coat to add authority.
The teacher was instructed to administer electric shocks to the learner every time he made a mistake in a word-pairing task. The shocks increased in 15-volt increments, ranging from 15V to 450V.
The shock generator was fake, but the participant believed it was real. The learner (confederate) deliberately made mistakes and reacted with increasing distress, including pounding on the wall at 300V and eventually falling silent.
