Situational variables affecting obedience Flashcards
Who conducted RTS?
Bickman using a field experiment in New York
What did Bickman have his ppts do?
He had confederates dress in 3 different outfits (security guard, milkman and business) and ask passers by to give money to pay for parking or pick up litter
What did Bickman find?
It was found that participants were twice as likely to follow instructions of the confederate wearing a security guard uniform than the business man - supporting the power of uniform
What bias does Milgram’s research have?
Gender bias - androcentric sample
Why is gender bias a weakness?
It is difficult to generalise the findings to females, as they may have obeyed different for example research suggest females may be more obedient as their role suggests they be more submissive - weaken external val
What did Sheridan and King find?
Found that women when order to give electric shocks to a puppy obeyed 100% compared to 54% of males
What did Orne and Holland believe?
Believed obedience was due to demand characteristic and extra manipulation of variables e.g member of public replacing experimenter, ppts recognise situation is staged and worked out truth - limiting internal val
What is an alternative explanation?
Dispositional factors e.g Authoritarian personality
What would the dispositional factors argue?
That obedience is due to internal characteristics of the person rather than just proximity, location and uniform wearing the research as it is not the sole explanation
Who criticised Milgram’s research?
Mandel
How does Mandel criticise Milgram’s research?
Milgram suggests that obedience decreases when the proximity between the teacher and learner increases however the mass killing of Jews in the holocaust was conducted in close proximity. Milgram also states obediences increases due to the presence of a uniform but Mandel suggests that this offers an excuse or ‘alibi’ for evil behaviour
In Mandel’s view, why is Milgram’s findings offensive?
It is offensive to survivors of the holocaust to suggest that the Nazi’s were simply obeying orders and were victims themselves of situational variables beyond their control
