Situational Factors on Obedience Flashcards
Proximity
Milgram #7 - Experimenter leaves the room then phones in instructions. Obedience drops from 65% to 22.5%
Location
Milgram #10 - Setting in shabby office block rather than prestigious Yale University. Obedience drops from 65% to 45%
Culture
AO1 - Individualism and collectivism. Indivualism may result in lower obedience.
PDI
How accepting people are of heirarchal order and inequality in society. May be high obedience in high PDI countries
Studies -
Shana & Yahya (1978): Replicated Milgram’s study in Jordan. 48 Students, difference w Milgram’s was the experimenter’s sex always matched the ppt. & half of ppts. were in a Control Group that had no instructions to give shocks
62.5% went to 450V, compared to 65% in Milgrams. 12.5% in the control group went to 450V even though there was zero instruction to do so (nutters lol)
There was no observed moral strain in Ppts. Milgram stated he saw lots of ‘shaking, hysterical laughing’. The lack of this in Jordan suggests there are cultural differences affecting obedience.
Authoritarian Personality & Eval.
4
Adorno (1950) believed harsh parenting style resulted in an authoritarian personality (toughness obedience and prejudice).
Measured this using the F-Scale
Said this style of parenting was rife during the early 20th century in Germany.
Strength
Elms & Milgram (1966) used F-Scale with ppts. from Milgrams past studies - 20 who were obedient & 20 who were not.
Obedient ppts. scored higher on the f-scale
W - Confounding variables. Hyman & Sheatsley said that obedience and authoritarian personality may have both been caused by a lower level of education
Locus of Control + Eval.
3
Rotter (1966) - internal LOC = more responsibility for actions, external LOC = less responsibility for actions, blame it on others
Strength -
Miller (1975) showed that Internals more likely to defy orders, while externals more likely to follow them. High or low status experimenter told ppt. to grasp a live wire, externals obeyed high status more than low status, internals unaffected by status
Can be applied to real life in HR roles. Some jobs require higher or lower obedicne. Organisations may use a LOC scale to test this
Weakness Schurz (1985) ppts. told to give painful ultrasound doses to a female. Ppts. who were fully obedient did not differ from those who were not on a questionnaire measuring LOC
Gender
3
Sheridan & King (1972)
ppts. ordered to give electric shocks to a puppy. 100% females obedient, 54% males obedient
Kilham & Mann (1974)
Replicated Milgram’s study in Australia. Found 40% of males obedient, 16% of females
Gilligan
Ethic of justice is followed by men, ethic of care by women
Gilligan & Attanucci (1988) Asked questions about moral justice. Significant difference in men following Justice & Women following Care
W - However, Blass (1999) summarised findings of 9 milgram-style studies, finding no significant gender difference
Situational Factors Eval.
2 Strengths
Strengths
Neeus & Raajmakers (1995) asked ppts. to deliver insults to a Confederate applying for a job. Over 90% deliver insults when confederate is in the room, 36% when he leaves and 16% after seeing 2 rebellious stooges.
To apply countryside rules. Gramann (1995) found that if info is provided on the reason behind rules then it increases compliance. Signs provide immediacy, even though there is nobody present, and provide power as well
Weakness
- Individual differences in all of milgrams studies, showing that personality is key despite situational factors
Culture Eval.
Strength
Kilham & Mann (1974) found 28% obedience of Australia, which scores 36% in Power Distance, while a replication in Poland (Dolinski), with Power Distance of 68% had obedience of 90%
Weakness
Most nations have similar obedience. Blass (2012) found average obedience for 8 non-us experiments was 66% compared to 61% in US replications. Thus culture doesn’t affect obedience much
