Section 1 : Social Influence - Obedience To Authority Flashcards
What is obedience
Acting in response to a direct order, usually from an authority figure
Who studied obedience
Milgram
What type of experiment were Milgram’s studies on obedience
Laboratory experiments
How many participants were there and what gender
40 Male participants
What did the experimenter (confederate) wear
A grey lab coat
How was it decided for ‘teacher’ and ‘learner’
Participants were introduced to confederate. They drew lots but this was fixed so participators were always the teacher
What did the participants watch happen to the learner
They watched them get strapped to the chair and shock generator. Shock generator didn’t give actual shocks
What did the switches range from
15 labels from ‘Slightly Shocked’ to ‘XXX’
What did the teacher (participators) and learners (confederates) actually have to do
Participants taught the learner word-pairs over an intercom. When the learner answer incorrectly the participant administered and increasing level of shock.
After what voltage did the learner (confederate) stop responding
300V - learner pounded on the wall and gave no further responses.
What happened if participants hesitated to give shocks
The experimenter told them to continue
What happened in the debriefing
It included an interview, questionnaires and reunited the learner (confederate) with the participant
What were the results of the experiment
-26 Participants administered 450V
-None stopped before administering 300V
-Most participants showed signs of stress e.g. sweating, groaning and trembling
What is the conclusion of Milgram’s study on obedience to authority
Ordinary people will obey orders to hurt someone else, even if it means acting against their conscience
did milgram’s experiment hold internal validty
it is possible that the participants didn’t believe they were inflicting electric shocks but Milgram claimed that participants stressed reactions showed they believed the experiment was real
did milgram’s experiment hold ecological validity
Milgram’s participants did a task that they were unlikely to encounter in real life, meaning the study lacks ecological validity. But, it was a lab experiment meaning there was good control of variables so it is possible to establish cause and effect
what ethical issues might’ve come up with this experiment
negatives:
-participants were deceived
-couldn’t give informed consent
-weren’t informed of their right to withdraw (prompted to continue when participants wanted to stop)
-participants weren’t protected as they showed signs of stress
positives:
-participants were debriefed after experiment (84% said they pleased in taking part)
-at the time of experiment there weren’t any formal ethical guidelines meaning technically milgram didn’t break any
what situational factors might’ve affected obedience
presence of allies
proximity of victim
proximity of authority
location of experiment
did the presence of allies affect obedience - how did milgram show this
yes - having allies makes it easier to resist orders. when there were 3 teachers (1 participant and 2 confederates, the real participant was less likely to obey if the two others refused to obey
did the proximity of the victim affect obedience
Milgram’s Research suggests an important factor was the proximity of the learner. Obedience dropped to 40% with the learner in the same room and 30% when the participant had to put the learners hand on the shock plate. Proximity made learners suffering harder to ignore
Did the proximity of authority have an affect on obedience
Obedience dropped to 23% when the authority figure gave prompts by phone from another room. When the authority figure wasn’t close orders were easier to resist
Did the location of the experiment affect obedience
Participants that gave maximum shock fell to 48% after being told the study was being run by a private company in run down offices in a nearby town. When the association with a prestigious university (Yale) was removed the authority if the experimenter seemed less legitimate
What theory made by Milgram explains obedience
Milgram’s agency theory
What is an Agentic state
When someone acts as someone’s agent, rather than taking personal responsibility for their actions
When is someone said to be in the Agentic state
When people behave on the behalf of an external authority (do as they are told)
What is the opposite of behaving on the behalf of an external authority
The opposite is behaving autonomously
What does autonomous mean
Not following orders
What did Milgram’s agency theory state
Stated that when we feel we’re acting out the wishes of another person (being their agent), we feel less responsible for our actions
Where was the effect of Milgram’s agency theory seen in his research
When some participants were concerned for the welfare of the learner and asked who would take responsibility is the learner was harmed. When the experimenter (authority) took responsibility, often the participant would continue
What was the Agentic state encouraged by
The set up of the experiment. The participants voluntarily entered a social contract with the experimenter to take part and follow the procedure of the study
What is the Agentic shift
When people can start off acting in an autonomous way (thinking for themselves) by then become obedient
How did Milgram’s participants undergo an Agentic shift
When participants arrived for the experiment they were in an autonomous state but as soon as they started following orders they underwent an agentic shift and entered and agentic state
What were the binding factors that Milgram claimed that might’ve kept his participants in the Agentic state
-Reluctance to disrupt the experiment
-Pressure of the surroundings
-The insistences of the authority figure
What was meant by the binding factor reluctance to disrupt the experiment
Participants had already been paid so many have felt obliged to continue
What was meant by the binding factor of pressure of the surroundings
The experiment took place in a prestigious university. This made the experimenter seem like a leg image authority
What was meant by the factor insistence of the authority figure
If participants hesitated they were told that they had to continue the experiment
What is Milgram’s agency theory supported by
His results
What did Milgram believe before his studies
He believed people were autonomous and could choose to resist authority
Give the 2 evaluations of Milgram’s agency theory
-There’s lots of experimental evidence to support it, participants often claimed they wouldn’t gone as far by themselves, but they were following orders
-Sometimes people resist the pressure to obey authority. Agency theory doesn’t explain why some people are more likely to exhibit independent behaviour than others
Why might some people resist pressure to obey authority
Could be because of the situation or because of individual differences
What can obedience depend on
Legitimacy of authority
What are legitimate authorities given
The right to tell us what to do - meaning we are more likely to obey them
Where do legitimate authorities come from
Having a defined social role which people respect (police officers and parents) usually because it implies knowledge or comes with from legal power
How did legitimacy of authority link to Milgram’s research
Obedience rate decreased when the experiment was done in the run down offices than in the prestigious Yale university - Milgram argued that the experimenters authority was higher in the university because of the status of the university
What was Bickman (1974)
A field experiment where researchers ordered passers-by to do something like pick up a bit of litter etc. they were dressed in a guards uniform, as a milkman or in smart clothes.
What were the results of Bickman 1974
People were much more likely to obey the person in a guards uniform
Why in Bickman 1974 did people more likely obey the guard
Because he seemed to be the most legitimate authority figure
What type of personality can explain obedience
Authoritarian
What theory is a dispositional explanation of obedience
Adorno’s theory of the authoritarian personality
What did Adorno et al (1950) propose
Over-strict parenting results in a child being socialised to obey authority unquestioningly because they learn strict obedience to their parents
What did Adorno say over strict parenting results in
Prejudice - strict parenting makes child feel constrained, this induces aggression. But if the child is afraid they’ll be disciplined if they express aggression towards their parents so instead they are hostile to people they see as weak or inferior - usually minority groups
What collection of traits to people who has over-strict parent have according to Adorno et al
Aggression to people of perceived lower status
Blind obedience
Conformist
Rigid moral standards
What scale measures how strongly people express authoritarian traits
F-Scale
What does the f in f-scale stand for
Fascism
What did Elms and Milgram (1966) find about participants who scored higher on the F-Scale
They found that people with high F-scale scores had been willing to administer bigger shocks in Milgram’s experiment
What factors cause people to be obedient
Strict upbringing
Having authoritarian traits
Education
Etc.
What did Milgram find that had a bigger effect on obedience than Adorno’s authoritarian personality theory
Milgram found that situational factors like proximity and location had a bigger effect on obedience
What does Adorno’s authoritarian personality theory not explain
Doesn’t explain how whole societies can become obedient - not everybody has this personality type
