Paper 1 - Social Influence - Obedience

Question 1

What is obedience?

Answer 1

Obedience is a type of social influence which causes a to act in response to an order given by another person. The person who gives the order in usually a figure of authority, who has the power to punish when obedient behaviour is not forthcoming

Question 2

Who did an experiment about obedience in authority?

Answer 2

Milgram

Question 3

What experiment did Milgram do?

Answer 3

Obedience to authority

Question 4

When did Milgram do his experiment?

Answer 4

1963

Question 5

What was Milgram’s method?

Answer 5

Milgram conducted a number of laboratory experiments to test factors thought to affect obedience. This condition tested whether people would obey orders to shock someone in a separate room. It took place at Yale University.
There were 40 male participants, who responded to a newspaper advert seeking volunteers for a study on ‘learning and memory’. They received payment for attending, which did not depend on them proceeding with the experiment.
The experimenter wore a grey technician’s coat. Each participant was introduced to a confederate (acting like a participant but who was part of the experimental set-up). They drew lots to see who would act as ‘teacher’ and ‘learner’ but this was fixed so the participant was always the teacher.
The participant witnesses the confederate being strapped into a chair and connected up to a shock generator in the next room. It did not actually give electric shocks but the participants thought it was real. The switches ranged from 15 volts (labelled slight shock) to 450 volts (labelled XXX). The participants taught the learner word-pairs over an intercom. When the learner answered incorrectly, the participant had to administer an increasing level of shock.
After the 300V shock, the learner pounded on the wall and made no further response. If participants hesitated during the process, the experimenter told them to continue.
Debriefing included an interview, questionnaires and being reunited with the ‘learner’.

Question 6

What were the results of Milgram’s experiment?

Answer 6

-26 participants (65%) administered 450V and none stopped before administering 300V.
- most of the participants showed obvious signs of stress like sweating, groaning and trembling.

Question 7

What were the conclusions of Milgram’s

Answer 7

Ordinary people will obey orders to hurt someone else, even if it means acting against their conscience.