PAPER 1- TOPIC 1 SOCIAL INFLUENCE ✅ Flashcards
Definition of obedience
directly following orders, usually from a figure of authority, to avoid a consequence
Explain the obedience experiment
•Milgram’s experiment 1963
- 40 American males age 20-50
- met a confederate and an experimenter (wearing lab coat)
- drew lots to see who was teacher and learner (real P always teacher)
- has to administer an electric shock every time leaner for a question wrong (P was told it was a memory test linked to how pain increases it)
- if the P asked to stop, the experimenter gave prompts to continue
- experiment ended after 4 prompts or the max 450V was reached
Findings of Milgram’s research
- All P’s delivered shocks up to 300V
- 65% delivered the maximum (deadly) 450V (much higher than the estimation of 3% from the 14 psychologists asked to predict the behaviour)
- P’s also were observed to show signs of extreme tension: sweating, trembling, nail biting and 3 had seizures
Strengths of Milgram’s research
•Findings replicated in French TV show ‘the game of death’
- P’s paid to give (fake) electric shocks to other P’s (actors) in front of audience
- 80% delivered max shock
- physical observation identical to that of the P’s in Milgram’s study: nail biting, nervous laughter
- shows reliability
•similar study was carried out by Sheridan and King by giving real shocks to puppies in vision of P (in order from experimenter)
- despite real distress of animal 100% of female and 54% of male P’s delivered supposedly the fatal shock
- increase validity as shows findings were accurate despite fake shocks
Weaknesses of Milgram’s research
• low validity as 50% of people believed the shocks were real and of those 2/3 disobeyed
-suggests they responded to demand characteristics and did not express their real or natural behaviour
•ethical issues
- protection of P’s- under emotional duress. 3 had seizures
- deception- P’s didn’t know the learner was confederate and the shocks were fake
- right to withdraw- needed to ask more than 4 times to be able to leave
What are situational variables
Features of the immediate physical and social environment which may influence a person’s behaviour
Milgram’s 3 variations (situational variables)
•Proximity
- increased proximity from P to learner means they can’t psychologically distance themselves from their actions so obedience decreases (when in same room 65% obey to 40% )
•Location
-less prestigious environment gives study less legitimacy and authority- believe the experimenter shares the authority of the environment
(seedy office block 65% to 47.5%)
•Uniform
-recognised as authoritative so encourage obedience, without uniform seems less legitimate, authoritative and important
(experimenter in lab coat swapped with ordinary person in everyday clothes- 65% obey to 20%)
define proximity
physical distance of an authority figure to the person they are giving orders to
(distance of P to learner)
describe touch proximity variation
results
P had to force learner’s hand onto electroshock plate when they answered incorrectly and refused to put it there
- obedience dropped to 30%
describe remote instruction variation
results
experimenter left room and gave instruction by telephone
- obedience dropped to 20.5%
- more pretended to give shocks
define uniform
outfit of person of authority who is giving orders
- people of authority usually have outfits symbolic to their authority, entitling them to obedience
define location
the place that the order is given in
- the status and prestige of location dictates level of obedience
Strengths of the influence of situational variables on obedience
•Support of uniform as a SV from Bickman’s research
- three confederates in uniform of a milkman, a security guard and a suit and tie
- asked GP to pick up litter- more likely to do it if wearing security guard uniform
•Milgram’s findings have been replicated in other cultures
- study (Meeus) on Dutch P’s who were ordered to say stressful things to desperate interviewees
- 90% obeyed shows reliability of Milgram’s findings -also replicated proximity and same findings (when experimenter not present obedience decreased dramatically)
Weaknesses of Milgram’s situational variables
•Research from Smith and Bond found shows different cultures have different notions about role of authority
- western countries and non western countries don’t have same views
- findings don’t apply to all people so not generalisable
•some P’s may have known that the procedure was faked
- situations like replacing experimenter with member of public is so contrived that many P’s would have realised the truth
- unclear whether findings are genuinely due to obedience or demand characteristics
- ….% of people went to 450V
- When venue was moved to seedy office block - ……%
- When teacher and learner in same room - ……%
- Experimenter in lab coat replaced by member of public in everyday clothes - …..%
- 65% of people went to 450V
- When venue was moved to seedy office block - 47.5%
- When teacher and learner in same room - 40%
- Experimenter in lab coat replaced by member of public in everyday clothes - 20%
Define agentic state
include binding factors
- mental state where we feel no personal responsibility for our behaviour
- instead blame any negative consequence on the authority figure giving the order
- become an agent of their orders
- stay in this state due to binding factors (aspects that allow the person to minimise the damaging effect of thief behaviour)
e. g. denial
define binding factors
examples
aspects of a situation, that cause the person to remain in the agentic state
- minimising the damaging effects of their behaviour and so reduce their ‘moral strain’
- shift responsibility to victim
- deny any damage they were doing
define moral strain
do agents have it
- state of high anxiety when agent’s actions conflict with their personal morality
- agents do have it but feel powerless to disobey
autonomous state
opposite of agentic state
behave based on own principles, feel a sense of responsibility for our actions
moving from autonomous to agency is agentic shift
Define Legitimacy of authority
more likely to obey someone who we deem to have power or authority over us
- authority is justified (as legitimate) by the individual’s position of power in the social hierarchy
- taught to accept society’s hierarchy: that some people have power than us, and we should hand control of power to them
