Situational variables Flashcards
Define the term situational variable.
Features of the immediate physical and social environment which may influence a person’s behaviour (such as proximity, location and uniform).
What happened in the proximity situational variable?
Milgram had the teacher and learner in the same room. Obedience dropped to 40%.
Touch proximity variation - The Teacher had to force the learner’s hand onto an ‘electroshock’ plate if they refused to put it there themselves when they got the wrong answer. Obedience dropped to 30%.
Remote instruction variation - The experimenter wasn’t in the same room, instead giving orders by phone. In this variation, obedience dropped to 20.5%. Some even lied claiming they gave shocks.
Why did the obedience drop with further proximity?
Allows people to psychologically distance themselves from the consequences of their actions.
When Teacher and Learner were physically separate the Teacher was less aware of the harm they were causing.
What happened in the location situational variable?
The experiment was moved from the prestigious Yale University to a run-down office block. Obedience fell to 47.5%.
Why did the obedience drop in the location situational variable?
The prestigious university environment gave Milgram’s study legitimacy and authority. Participants were more obedient in this location because they perceived that the Experimenter shared this legitimacy and the obedience was expected
What happened in the uniform situational variable?
The experimenter was called away to answer an ‘important telephone call’ and was replaced by a ‘member of the public’ (another confederate) wearing ordinary clothes, rather than a lab coat. Obedience dropped to 20%.
Why did the obedience drop in the uniform situational variable?
Uniform encourages obedience because they are widely recognised symbols of authority. We accept that someone in a uniform is entitled to expect obedience because their authority is legitimate (i.e. it is granted by society). Someone without a uniform has less right to expect obedience.
What are the strengths of situational variable research?
Research support - Bickman (1974).
Cross-cultural replication - findings have been replicated in other cultures.
Explain Bickman (1974) research support.
Used field experiment in New York City.
Passers-by were asked to perform actions (e.g. picking up litter) by a confederate dressed as a security guard, milkman, or just in a jacket and tie. There was more obedience in the security guard condition, showing the effect of uniform.
Explain the cross-cultural replication of Milgram’s study.
Meeus and Raaijmaker (1986) used a more realistic procedure than Milgram’s study.
Studied obedience in Dutch participants.
The participants were ordered to say stressful things in an interview to someone (a confederate) desperate for a job. 90% participants obeyed.
Give a counterpoint on situational variable research being cross-cultural replicable.
Smith and Bond (1998).
Identified 2 replications between 1968 and 1985 that took place in India and Jordan - culturally different from US. Whereas the other countries (Spain, Australia, Scotland) are culturally quite similar to the US.
Not appropriate to conclude that Milgram’s findings apply to people in all countries.
