Situational Factors of Obedience & Milgram Flashcards
What are situational variables in the context of obedience?
External factors that influence obedience, such as proximity, location, and uniform, rather than personality traits.
What is meant by ‘proximity’ in Milgram’s study?
The physical closeness between the authority figure and participant, or between the participant and the victim (learner).
What was the obedience level in the ‘touch proximity’ variation?
It dropped further to 30% when the teacher had to force the learner’s hand onto a shock plate.
What happened when the experimenter gave orders over the phone (remote instruction)?
Obedience dropped to 20.5%, and many participants pretended to give shocks.
What was the effect of the teacher and learner being in the same room (proximity variation)?
Obedience dropped from 65% to 40%.
How did a change of location affect obedience in Milgram’s study?
When moved from Yale University to a run-down office building, obedience fell to 47.5%.
What was the uniform variation in Milgram’s study?
The experimenter was replaced by a confederate in everyday clothes. Obedience dropped to 20%.
What does the uniform variable suggest about obedience?
People are more likely to obey someone who appears to have legitimate authority, symbolised by a uniform.
What research supports the role of uniform in obedience?
Bickman (1974) found people were more likely to obey a confederate dressed as a security guard than one in a suit.
What is a criticism of Milgram’s situational variations in terms of validity?
Participants may have realised the procedures were fake due to the artificial scenarios, reducing internal validity.
What did Miranda et al. (1981) find in their replication of Milgram’s study?
A 90% obedience rate among Spanish students, supporting cross-cultural validity.
What is the ‘obedience alibi’ criticism of Milgram’s situational explanation?
Mandel (1998) argued it excuses evil actions by blaming the situation, which could be offensive to victims like Holocaust survivors.
What is a strength of Milgram’s variations in terms of methodology?
He controlled variables tightly, changing one at a time while keeping others consistent, increasing reliability.
Why might a student obey a teacher’s request in a school canteen but not outside a supermarket?
The school setting and uniformed appearance of the teacher convey more authority than the informal supermarket setting.
What is a limitation of cross-cultural replications of Milgram’s research?
Most have been conducted in Western, developed countries, so results may not generalise globally.
In Milgram’s variations, which situation resulted in the lowest obedience rate?
When the experimenter was replaced by an ordinary member of the public in everyday clothes (20%).
